Is Utopia A Perfect Society - 822 Words

The book Utopia by Sir Thomas Moore, tells the concept of a â€Å"perfect† society. It is told from the perspective of a man Tomas moore is talking to. This man is Raphael Hythloday, who was a voyager and went to an island with very different rules and way of life. The book talks about the way these people live, and the way other countries live. Questions on this topic are what will be addressed. What are big problems that other countries have that Utopia doesn’t? What are some of the ways of life the utopians live by? Is this Utopia perfect, or achievable? What are big problems that other countries have? Raphael said, â€Å"...who took occasion to runout in a high commendation of the severe execution of justice upon thieves, who , as he said, were†¦show more content†¦Lastly, everyone gets what they need, because they make plenty for everyone. If one person mainly farms, others can come and take what they need, because the farmer is able to go and take what he needs from them, that he cannot produce for himself. With this, no one goes hungry, is cold, or has anything to complain about, because everyone is doing their part. This is very different from anywhere else, because money is used to buy what we need, and we earn that money from what we did or made, so if one doesn’t have enough, they go hungry. Is this Utopia perfect, or achievable? The idea of a perfect society comes into everybodys minds at some point in their lives. Not having to worry about getting a job, money, a house, or food, never arguing or disagreeing with anyone, or anything that causes people to stress or be sad. Raphael believes this is the answer, â€Å"...So easy a thing would it be to supply all the necessities of life, if that blessed thing called money ...was not really the only thing that obstructed their bing procured.†(Moore 80). It wouldn’t be impossible to get rid of all of the money in the world, but would it solve all of the problems? Even if life was like this book and all of our need were taken care of, people would still have disagreements on what is fair, the babies going to different homes, slavery, and other things. At the beginning of the book, Raphael said people were very idle and thatShow MoreRelatedA Perfect Utopian Society Is Not A Utopia850 Words   |  4 PagesIn a per fect utopian society everyone gets what they need because communication, understanding, and open mindedness of different ideas would be key. In order for a society to be a utopia, everyone has to be comfortable and be provided with their wants and needs and everything needs to function perfectly. In order for function and equality, people must compromise in thoughts and ideas to provide for everyone. To do that, one must have a good understanding of why others may think differently and haveRead MoreThe Perfect Society In Sir Thomas Mores Utopia790 Words   |  4 Pages What is a Utopia? When people think of the term Utopia they think of an ideal or perfect Society. In Sir Thomas More’s â€Å"Utopia† we are introduced to such a society. However, today’s reader can see that the society More’s mention’s is filled with many underlying problems that make it seem less ideal or perfect, because it puts too much stress on the freedom’s and rights of its citizens. Such an act is detrimental in creating a utopia, because if the citizens are not happy with their freedom’s andRead MoreThe Idea Of A Perfect Society, Or Utopia, By Sir Thomas More880 Words   |  4 PagesThe idea of a perfect society, or â€Å"utopia,† was first introduced in Sir Thomas More’s book Utopia, written in 1516. In the book, More described a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean through the character Raphael. On the island everything and everyone has a specific place and purpose. There is no private property, all of the houses on the island are the same; you can walk in the front door, through the house, and out the back door. All necessary items are stored in warehouses, where people onlyRead MoreUtopia is defined as a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social1000 Words   |  4 PagesUtopia is defined as a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions, (merriam-webster.com). Utopia is a mindset that people are conditioned to believe is achievable, when in actuality it isn’t. In a utopian society when people believe that they have reached idealized perfection, there will still be things or people that make the society imperfect. â€Å"Every utopia faces the same problem: What do you do with the people who dont fit in?† (Margaret Atwood, a novelistRead MoreEssay about There is no Universal Utopia1608 Words   |  7 PagesThe idea of a utopia is one which has spanned many millennia. The first example of a utopia was the Garden of Eden, and since then mankind has endeavored to reach this perfect existence, a world without problems, where everyone can abide in peace. Just the word ‘Utopia’ summons up a whole assemblage of images, images which differ from person to person. This is why the concept of a utopia has been so tossed around, because no one can truly say what a utopia is. From Platos republic in 380BC rightRead MoreHumans Are Naturally Born Imperfect1680 Words   |  7 Pagessinners, and we must make our way to achieve the idea of a perfect human being, whether it take our whole life time, or not. Throughout our life it is within ourselves, to use our free will to make morally good choices in order for us to be considered as perfect. However, along with our free will to make morally good choices in our life, the laws set by our government, and standards expected of by our community help shape us into this perfect human being. Though by the laws, and standards with liveRead Mo reEssay on Brave New World696 Words   |  3 PagesBrave New World George Santayana once said, â€Å"Ideal society is a drama enacted exclusively in the imagination.† In life, there is no such thing as a â€Å"complete utopia†, although that is what many people try to achieve. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is an attempt at a utopian society. In this brave new world, mothers and fathers and family are non-existent. Besides being non-existent, when words of that sort are mentioned, ears are covered and faces of disgust are made. In a report to theRead MoreSimilarities Between The Truman Show And Animal Farm1717 Words   |  7 PagesHow should power be balanced out amongst a society? What balance of power can result in a beautiful utopia? How can we all lead a good life without stripping others of their own? The answers to these questions must be known if we want to lead a good, functioning society today and the answers can be found in the book, Animal Farm, written by George Orwell and the movie, The Truman Show, directed by Peter Weir. Both fictional stories help us understand where we need to set boundaries in our lives andRead More Utopian Dreams Essay1391 Words   |  6 Pages Throughout the ages, man has come to idealize a word that is most commonly related to ‘heavenly’ or ‘perfect’ without actually picking up the book and realizing for themselves that there is no such thing. A Utopian society could never exist because man is made to want, to desire success. Man is competitive by nature and would never be happy in a society where everyone is equal and there is no chance of advancement. Sir Thomas More dreamt of a land that was much like England but could neverRead MoreUtopia, by Thomas More: Your Wost Nightmare Essay1419 Words   |  6 PagesUtopia is a brilliant novel written by Thomas More. The idea of a utopia seems impossible, how can anyone live in a perfect place when perfection is in the eyes of the beholder? The Utopia in this novel is nothing more than abundant of already established ideas therefore it can’t not truly be a Utopia. The abolition of private property is one of Mores chief criticisms of Utopia; it seems to mimic the common understandings of communism, which Thomas More’s character Raphael has been accused of protecting

Defenders Of Art And Life Differ On Everything In Between Free Essays

In Robert Browning’s â€Å"Fra Lippo Lippi†, a 15th century painter discusses the illogic of his patrons who want him to paint less of the real world—in turn for more spiritually uplifting scenes.   This poem gives Browning a platform to put forward his philosophy on art, which holds equal respect for the high and the low alike.   Similarly, in â€Å"Why The Novel Matters†, D. We will write a custom essay sample on Defenders Of Art And Life Differ On Everything In Between or any similar topic only for you Order Now H. Lawrence forms a postulation that there is more to life than just the label of â€Å"spirit†.   But he goes further to say that there is a difference between that which is alive, and that which is inanimate. He contends life is more important—and a well-written novel is the equivalent of life.   He puts novels on a pedestal, while everything else is lesser than the living things.   Browning’s character Lippi, however, while also detesting the barrier of the word â€Å"spirit† , does not go so far as to say the material mortar of the world is somehow more important than the soul.   He merely defends its equivalence.   He does not believe his paintings are more important than living things; he believes that they share equal value. Although Lawrence is willing to include the human body in with the word â€Å"spirit†Ã¢â‚¬â€he draws a line at the fingertips, and calls everything else (except for the novel) of lesser substance; alternately, Lippi is more liberal in his view, for he does not dwell overlong on the delineation between life and immaterial things—but just on their symbiosis.   Ultimately, Lippi is more humble about his art and life in general. For Lippi, painting for his patrons is only half of a life: carousing about town is the other part.   This is why he regularly escapes for release from the dogged work.   Although the religious service is a career for him, he cannot sustain it without proper romps on the town.   Therefore, by living in worlds both saintly and debauched, Lippi is able to see through the Prior’s facade, when he is asked to only paint the spirit—not the body.   The Prior says: â€Å"Your business is not to catch men with show †¦Ã‚   Your business is to paint the souls of men† (Lines 175-184).   Lippi, however, would rather include everything in his art, and therefore more accurately reflect the world—and make better use of art.   â€Å"Now is this sense, I ask?†(198) Lippi says. â€Å"Why can’t a painter lift each foot in turn, †¦ Make his flesh liker and his soul more like †¦ You should not take a fellow eight years old / And make him swear to never kiss the girls.†(224-225).   Lippi rails against simplifying existence into a word or an image: â€Å"The world and life’s too big to pass for a dream †¦Ã‚   The only good of grass is to make chaff†(251-257).   Lippi cannot settle for a narrow view of the order of things—while Lawrence only partly concedes that there is more to â€Å"spirit† than just vapor.   Lawrence contests that life’s ether is as vital as the shell—and by singling out, labeling—or falsely idolizing any one part of its essence, we are hindering ourselves from fully living.   For instance, Lawrence rants on the fallacy of labels: â€Å"We think of ourselves as a body with a spirit in it †¦ Mens sana in corpore sano.   The years drink up the wine, and at last throw the bottle away, the body, of course, being the bottle†(2446).   Indeed, Lippi’s dead shell of a horse is Lawrence’s empty bottle of spirits—and the two of them seem to agree that definitions of the â€Å"spirit† are just distractions from the truth of existence. Lawrence, however, sets aside one exception, being that the Bible itself, when read as an entire piece, achieves some spirit similar to that of the humankind: â€Å"The Bible †¦Ã‚   [It sets] the whole tree trembling with a new access of life, [it does] not just stimulate growth in one direction†(2448).   Herein lies one key difference, then, between Lippi and Lawrence, which is that Lawrence makes exception for the novel as being at the rank of a living entity—while Lippi does not go so far as to suggest that art is exclusive from the rest of the lifeless world, although he does believe it is as important as life.   After all, Lawrence says the novel can â€Å"make the whole man alive tremble. Which is more than poetry, philosophy, science, or any other book-tremulation can do†(2448).   Moreover, while he does not specifically call out painting as one of the lesser â€Å"tremulations†, it seems safe to say this is implied—since he even excludes poetry from his sacred circle of life—which, ironically, is the medium through which Browning’s Lippi is experienced.   In contrast, Lippi says that life’s everyday details are â€Å"better, painted—better to us †¦ Art was given for that†(300-304).—and again, Lippi does not put art above life—only beside it.   He says: â€Å"Do you feel thankful, aye or no, / For this fair town’s face, yonder river’s line, †¦ What’s it all about? / To be passed over, despised? or dwelt upon†(286-291). Of course, Lawrence, does distinguish the particularization of his own body, and how each part is equal to the whole—but nothing beyond himself: â€Å"Why should I imagine that there is a me which is more me than my hand is?†(2446).   But Lawrence’s â€Å"me alive† theory excludes the static objects of the order of things as merely props—that are not to be confused with life or novels. Ultimately, Lippi sees no place for the soul without the bodily elements, and rhetorically argues: â€Å"What need of art at all? A skull and bones, / Two bits of stick nailed crosswise†(321).   Lawrence, however, sees the various mediums of communication as â€Å"words and thoughts and sighs and aspirations that fly from [us], they are so many tremulations in the ether†(2447).   Lawrence merely concedes that the lifeless elements are â€Å"tremulations† that may â€Å"reach another man alive† and â€Å"he may receive them into his life, and his life may take on a new color†(2447). So, while Lawrence agrees with Lippi that the baser elements are important, he goes on at length to flesh out the reasons why life and the novel are substantially more important:   â€Å"All things that are alive are amazing.   And all things that are dead are subsidiary to the living†(2447).   He builds a wall between life and the novel—and the rest of existence: â€Å"I, who am man alive, am greater than my soul†(2447).   In this way then, while Lawrence agrees with Lippi that the parts cannot be distinguished from the whole, without excluding the essence—he differs in that he goes further to impose a privileged position upon the energy of life and novels, whereas Lippi simply thinks that art and the lesser units ought to have equal exposure in the spotlight life. So Lawrence is circular in his theory, insisting â€Å"spirit† is limiting in its language—while touting the transcending power of the novel.   Indeed, despite arguing that limitations abound under labels, and that any â€Å"particular direction ends in a cul-de-sac†(2448)–Lawrence is still making divisions: â€Å"A character in a novel has got to live, or it is nothing†¦.   We likewise, in life have got to live, or we are nothing†(2449).  Ã‚   Plus, he is proud of his specialness as an artist, in a way that Lippi is too humble ever to approach: â€Å"Being a novelist, I consider myself superior to the saint, the scientist, the philosopher, and the poet, who are all great masters of different bits of man alive, but never get the whole hog†(2448). Ultimately then, at the root of their respective philosophies on art and life, Lippi is more adverse to divisions of all kinds, not putting himself or his art above the world, put equal to it.   One senses that he is not likely anymore proud of himself than the subjects he paints about, while Lawrence is more proud of the novels he writes than the objects described in them. How to cite Defenders Of Art And Life Differ On Everything In Between, Essays

Hopeless Romantic free essay sample

Her friends know it, her parents know it even Laura acknowledges she lives either with her head In the clouds or buried in a romantic novel. Its proved harmless enough, even if it hasnt delivered her real-life dashing hero yet.But when her latest relationship ends n a disaster that cost her friendships, her Job and nearly her sanity, Laura swears off men and hopeless mantic fantasies for good. With her life in tatters around her, Laura agrees to go on a vacation with her parents. After a few days of visiting craft shops and touring the stately homes of England, Laura is ready to tear her hair out. And then, while visiting grand Charley Hall, she crosses paths with Nick, the sexy, rugged estate manager. She finds she shares more than a sense of humor with him In fact, she starts to think she could fall for him. But Is Nick all he seems? R has Laura got It wrong again? Will she open her heart only to have it broken again? Amoys pregnant, Laura Dan released her, and Laura could feel the dampness his hands left on the side of her face. We will write a custom essay sample on Hopeless Romantic or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He was quite sweaty, she thought as If watching this scene Idly from another room, another life. Laura, are you listening? Dan said sharply. Yes.. . Laura cleared her throat. You Her eyes filled with tears, and one ran down her cheek. She gave a tiny cough, almost a gasp, and sat up straight. No, she wouldnt cry. She would not cry. Laura I wanted to tell you, Eve been trying to- Laura. You know who its is. She hadnt seen Amy for so long, hearing her voice came as a huge shock. Sickly sweet, slightly rasping, scary. It didnt sound violent, or overly emotional, or hormonal. It sounded in control. Dont you hang up on me, bitchy, Amy hissed. Mimi fat, spotty, spineless bitchy. Dan finally told me who hes been screwing, like I couldnt guess anyway. Okay? Youre too bucking coward to talk to me after what youve done, are you? Fine. Let me spell it out for you. I know what you did. If you ever go near him again, Ill find you and Ill make your life misery. Even more miserable than it must be now. You fat, stupid dog.He told me how you chased him, how you egged him, Just like the ugly dog that you are. Like you were at school, always begging. Youre pathetic, Laura. You are pathetic. My darling girl, Mary said. Stop crying. Stop it. From what you tell me, I imagine you have luckiest of escapes. Now, dry your eyes, and sit still, and Ill get you another drink. Its over now, dont you see? Isnt that wonderful? What? said Laura, wondering what on earth she could mean. Its not wonderful. I feel like a complete fool. Eve lost my best friend, Eve lost my Job, Eve behaved like an idiot. l think its wonderful, said Mary, standing up.She went into the kitchen. Mimi fell in love, well, thats wonderful. All right, it was with a completely wrong man. But its over now, and the best of it is, no more secrets. No more living your life in half shadow, which is what it seems to me youve been doing these last few months. miss, Laura said, staring into the gloom of the kitchen. l hadnt thought of it like that. But Im always doing it, always falling for the wrong person. Im so stupid. No, youre not, said Mary. Muff Just havent met the right one yet. And until then, at least youre not lying to everyone you know anymore. The quality you castigate yourself most about your tendency to fall in love with the most inconvenient people is what I love about you darling. Oh Grand, said Laura, trying not to sound impatient. Thats Just not true. Its awful I should get a grip, not- Mary banged her ring hand on the arm of her chair, as if she were Elizabeth I inspecting the English fleet. No darling. You have a great capacity to love. Be careful. Use it wisely. But be proud of it. So much love in your heart. Thats why I worry about you. She coughed. Laura listened, relieved to be talking about it at last, but not really owing what to say. L worry you will walk away from that. That this will close you up, make you forget how wonderful falling in love can be. Dont. Right, said Laura. So I have to meet them to get started with - She stopped, suddenly remembering what she said before. Them And, and My boyfriend, I mean. Nick raised an eyebrow at her. He smiled sardonically, his eyes glittering with amusement. So you dont have a boyfriend ,then, he said, throwing his keys up in the air and catching them. miss, Laura said hotly. He likes tea towels too. Hes Just not here. Hes, ere Oh, God. Never mind. Never mind, Nick agreed politely.