Utopian Writers of the 17th Century

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses and analyzes the utopian literature and ideas put forth by writers and philosophers in the 17th Century. It reviews and analyzes this literature from the perspective of literary critics and the writers who carve out utopian ideology and circumstance. It discusses the views that pinning down a definition for utopia is an exercise in opinion and not substantive fact.

Table of Contents:
Definitions Of Utopia: James Holstun
Definitions Of Utopia: Sir Thomas More
Definitions Of Utopia: J.C. Davis
Definitions Of Utopia: J.H. "Jack" Hexter
Eastern Definitions Of Utopia: Buddhism, Daoism, And Confucianism
Utopian Luminaries: Francis Bacon
Puritanism As Utopia
Utopian Luminaries: Mary Astell

From the Paper:

"Once she had pulled herself out of the black hole she had been in, Astell was determined to do something positive for other women; and moreover, she wanted to help women in ways that transcended mere economic issues. She saw the "moral and spiritual destitution of many more" women than those she counted among the very poor and homeless, and she was very concerned for wealthy women who lacked humanistic values, according to Sutherland's critique. As Astell got her feet in the ground and became solvent, and later moved in high society, she "was deeply shocked by the superficiality of the lives of most women." Many of these wealthy women were just as impoverished morally as Astell had been impoverished materially and financially. In Proposal Astell describes in excellent narrative that she was "horrified by the waste of time, of intelligence, of talents given by God," Sutherland continues. And so, the book proposed the establishment of a "Protestant Nunnery" where women who were not married "could take refuge in a life of holiness and service.""

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bacon, Francis. New Atlantis. 1626. Retrieved April 30, 2007, from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/bacon/atlantis.html.
• Bender, Daniel. "Sir. Thomas More." Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 281: British Rhetoricians and Logicians, 1500-1660, Second Series. Ed. Edward A. Malone. Rolla: University of Missouri, Gale Group (2003): 201-214.
• Campanella, Tommaso. "On State Controlled Marriage." Excerpted from The City of the Sun In Total Commonwealths. Retrieved April 29, 2007, from http://www.radicalacademy.com/adiphilpolitics21es.htm.
• Davis, J.C. Utopia and the ideal society: A Study of English utopian writing 1516-1700. London: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
• Eliot, John. "The Christian Commonwealth." Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 24: American Colonial Writers, 1606-1734. Ed. Emory Elliott, Princeton University. The Gale Group (1984): 109-116.

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