This striking scene in which Raphael describes how Utopian men inspect the women they are betrothed to before marrying them has some parallels to a scene in Boccaccio’s famous story of Griselda from the Decameron. In this story, Griselda is an obedient and meek peasant woman who becomes the wife of a nobleman, Gualteri, and is tested by him. Before marrying her, Gualtieri forces Griselda to strip naked in front of him. Only after she has does this, does he marry her. This paralleled imagery between these two works is representative of certain themes that run throughout both. One theme is that women’s virtue can be physically represented by their bodies. A woman who was free from deformity or sickness was not only a healthy choice of wife she was also likely seen as a virtuous one. This ties into why in both stories a man inspects a woman naked before he decides if he wants to marry her.

It is notable that here More specifies that both men and women in Utopia were expected to spend the time they did not spend working, reading. This is in keeping with More’s own personal beliefs that women should receive an education, as evidenced in the education of his daughters. Despite, his advocacy for women’s education he still did not see women as men’s intellectual equals and saw their education as preparation only for their roles as Christian mothers and wives. His daughters received an education that had some elements of humanist curriculum including some classical texts. They also studied Christian texts such as scripture and writings of the early church fathers. More thought that women should receive an education which is reflected in this description of Utopian society.

Here Raphael is describing how he felt it was his duty to return to Europe after discovering Utopia despite the fact that he would have been happy to stay there. He felt that it was his duty to bring what he learned in Utopia back to Europe. This is in keeping with a historical theme that can be observed throughout this time period. Not only is the era that More was writing in one of exploration, it is also one of exploration with the goal of some betterment or gain. European countries did not invest in global exploration purely out of a spirit of discovery, there were also economic gains that could come from these explorations. It is clear from accounts of early explorers such as Hariot and Vesspucci, that their expeditions sought to bring back resources from the new places they discovered. Here Raphael is bringing back something valuable he gained from his exploration in the form of knowledge and insight.

More makes many references to Plato throughout the first book and it is clear that More was greatly influenced by Plato's writings and thought. From these references, it is clear that More studied Plato’s writing in depth and thought highly of it. Here, he references Plato’s philosophy that kings should be philosophers. It is important to note that here More wrote this section with two individuals debating one of Plato’s ideas. By having his characters debate Plato, he is not only discussing Plato’s works, but also referencing Plato’s form of writing in dialogue. This goes back to the classical idea that educated individuals can learn and establish truths through conversation. The idea of learning through conversation started in antiquity and was very much a valued part of humanist education and skill sets during More’s time. This theme of conversation and learning from debate is a theme that is prevalent throughout Utopia.

Although More did not use the English word “commonwealth” in the original Latin text of Utopia, the use of this word in translation is still indicative of an important theme of what is “common” or shared in Utopia. According to the OED the standard definition of this word commonwealth or it’s earlier form “commonweal” is “The people of a nation, state, etc., as a whole; a state, nation, or independent community, esp. viewed as an entity in which the whole population has a voice or interest”. It is also worth noting the word commonwealth, usually with a capital “c”, is used in the official titles of some American states such as Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia and when used in the phrase “Christian Commonwealth” it refers to all Christian people. This indicates that it is used as a title for a place that idealizes the common good of the people. In More’s Utopia, Utopian society is built around the idea of common good. Everything is shared between everyone for the good of the community. More idealized a society built around shared property while living in a society that was very much focused on personal interest and gain. His idea of a society where wealth was shared by everyone was both radical and influential.