The Island: Isolation - Renaissance Context

The Renaissance saw an expansion of horizons. Some people began to question aspects of society, while others attempted to transcend the achievements of others by thinking in new ways. In Sir Thomas More's Utopia, he questioned civilization as he knew it, especially its political corruption, and presented an imaginary vision of a new society. Utopia was a man-made society created as a separate government from the rest of the world; however, More's book does not idealize a separate, self-providing island dependant on no one, but rather a community that perfectly exists because of the individuals' commitment to a co-dependence on each other. This ideal is also present in John Donne's Meditation XVII. As More explains the necessity of a trustworthy interdependence to live well in the earthly life, Donne expresses an interconnectedness that transcends earthly life into heaven under God. More's Utopia, while illustrating a small isolated community, focuses on the larger theme that in order to live a fulfilling earthly life (or even after life as Donne suggests) an interdependence must exist. It was the lack of interdependence in Britain and the rest of Europe during More's time that led him to write his book, influencing later Renaissance writers such as Donne.

With the invention of the Adline Press in Switzerland in the 1480s, print materials became much more accessible throughout the world. Therefore, More's Utopia became a prominent reading source which presented an alternative to the society Europeans lived in each day. Through the character Raphael Hythloday, More tells the story of an ideal society; however, before Raphael even begins the story, More focuses on the lack of interconnectedness in Europe during the time. For example, eating lunch with a cardinal and English lawyers, Raphael begins to comment on the unfair punishment given to thieves. During More's time period, thieves were often given the death sentence. Raphael mentions that the punishment is unfair because society's unfair distribution of wealth forces hungry families to steal in order to stay alive. He further mentions that this type of punishment causes people to murder, rather than just steal, because the punishment is the same. The law forces people to murder the ones they are stealing from so that they are not caught. In this example, More comments on the lack of interconnectedness between members of mankind. As Donne points out in his Meditation: "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind." In this story by Raphael, a person can see the truth in this statement.

A second story that Raphael Hythloday discusses while at lunch with the cardinal and English lawyers is the sheep story. Raphael mentions that the English aristocrats often drive poor farmers off of their land so that the aristocrats' sheep can graze on the fields, producing elaborate robes for them to wear. The aristocrats often force the poor farmers to become thieves as their families starve to death. More writes, "Make provisions by which every man might be put in a method how to live, and so be preserved from the fatal necessity of stealing and dying for it." This lack of co-dependence and unbalance in the distribution of wealth is emphasized later in the book when Raphael is discussing the houses and clothing of the Utopian people. He points out that all Utopians wear the same clothing without any distinctions. Fashion never changes, therefore clothing is seen as a necessity that everyone must have, rather than a distinguishing factor. Raphael continues: "The buildings are good, and are so uniform that a whole side of a street looks like one house." Looking as if it were one house, Raphael's description exemplifies More's ideal of unity and interconnectedness. If Donne were to analyze this passage, he would focus on the one house being the house of the Lord and each individual person one of the buildings that look as if they merge into the house of the Lord.

As part of the Renaissance period, Thomas More focuses on the importance of an interdependence in his Utopia. Similarly, John Donne transcends this interdependence by making the statement that all of mankind is interconnected under the name of God. These ideas, introduced in the Renaissance, greatly influenced writers and scholars of the time period.

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