Raphael Hythloday vs. Folly

Paper Summary:

The use of Raphael Hythloday and Folly, although both spring from documents that attempt to highlight a truth about "real" society through the construction of fictional worlds, differ substantially in the way that these characters are used in their respective Christian tales. This paper explains that, while Folly is a allegorical name whose title represents his character and the world he is located within, Raphael Hythloday functions in a more multi-faceted fashion as an "everyman" and also an idealized conception and model for the reader to follow through Utopia. It shows how Folly is all the reader aspires not to be, while Raphael Hythloday is a guide.

From the Paper:

"The differences between these two characters is primarily evidenced by the fact that More attempts to construct a genuine Utopian vision, while Erasmus' work uses his titular character to take the reader on his satirical vision through a world even more wrong-headed than the true world. Although both men were colleagues and Christians, these two individual's ways of expressing their mutual dislike with the current state of Christianity in the political environment around them had a completely different narrative and tonal gloss than the other author's and Christian's vision. More perceives idealism, with certain gentle notes of humor to be the best way to guide a Christian reader to truth. Erasmus sees a scathing wit to be the best way of forcing the reader to look within him or herself and apply a critical eye upon his or her character."

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