This line is very similar to Bernal Diaz del Castillo’s personal account of the Native’s Spain “discovered” in South America. In his account, Castillo spoke about the land the Native’s lived on, and what their houses looked like. He described their demeanor and their gift-giving manners. He also described the way they lived their lives, and their lack of an established government and religion. The questions asked in More’s quotation are very similar to Castillo’s description of the Native’s in South America.

The word “governor” is very interesting in this quotation because it seems very political, especially in the context of family life. It is abundantly clear that More is calling upon the clear hierarchy in actual society where men are the only ones allowed in the government, therefore they “govern” the household as well. This emphasizes More’s humanist ideals, as this is very close to what life was like in antiquity. More even goes on to say that the women in Utopia’s main traits are “virtue and loyalty” (94-95) which emphasizes the notably similar traits in Antiquity, in which women were supposed to serve their husbands, and show their utmost loyalty to them. This is interesting in comparison to the word “governor”, because a governor, or anyone in a government position, would want virtue and loyalty from their supporters. The juxtaposition between homelife and political life is present, even if women and the government were supposed to be entirely separate beings.

John Clement was one of Thomas More’s wards, whom he met at St. Paul’s school. Clement was an avid Humanist, and had the same ideals as More. More invited Clement into his family and made him the tutor to his children. He went on to study medicine and became a physician. More treated him as a son, and as emphasized here, was very proud of his accomplishments.

The word “Eutopie”, the post-classical Latin version of “Eutopia”, was created by Thomas More in 1516, and adds more depth to the meaning of the quotation. The etymological meaning of Eutopie is, “A perfect (imagined or hypothetical) society or state of existence; a place of supreme happiness. Also: a literary work describing such a place; a vision of an ideal state of existence”. (OED, 1.) The meaning of the word itself is important to know in this context because it tells readers the meaning of Utopia and what More’s goal was in writing it. It literally means a perfect society and a literary work describing said society. This is important today because people still think about ways to create a perfect society, and it shows that humans are always looking for ways to improve.

This quote references Plato’s work, The Republic, in which he maps out his ideal and perfect society. This is particularly important in comparison to More’s Utopia because it, too, narrates More’s ideas of a perfect society. The reference to Plato is particularly important in correlation to Thomas More because it shows the Humanist side of More, and the resurgence of studying ancient classics. More implemented Humanist ideas into Utopian society including his views on luxurious clothing, the hierarchy in family/filial piety, and his focus on agriculture and the economy.