In Utopia, More criticises the war-mongering of kings such as Henry VIII, who was in the midst of a war with France. As the Dutch humanist Erasmus wrote: “The god of nature, created the human animal not for war, but for love and friendship not for mutual destruction, but for mutual service and safety…” The Utopians condemn war in the same terms as More’s humanist friends, as “fit only for beasts”.įor the humanists, people ought to be united by common bonds of humanity and Christianity, not torn apart by greed and self-interest, which they saw as the primary motivators for most European wars. The value in this, however, lay primarily in the cultivation of their womanly virtues, including obedience to their fathers and husbands. This was part of More’s own vision for the education of his daughters, whose humanist schooling won them fame across Europe. The only major gender-equality innovation in Utopia is that both sexes are educated together and in the same way. Read more | What was life like for Tudor women?.The Reformation expanded women’s role in religion and within the household, while the reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I elevated women’s positions in the court and set a precedent for their involvement in politics.
Although there would not be major advances in equality between the sexes for centuries, Utopia sits on the precipice of changes that would see women’s choices and influence in early modern England grow.
To More, women’s equality implied anarchy.
In both countries, women’s role was directly subordinate to men. Utopia was egalitarian in many ways, but on the issue of gender there were few differences from More’s England.
0 kommentar(er)
