Utopia: remote cabin on the beach, the kingship of a vast empire, .
Nirvana; Heaven, the Happy Hunting Grounds, paradise, perfection. What .
exactly is Utopia? According to Webster it is "1, an imaginary and indefinitely .
remote place" or " 2, often capitalized : a place of ideal perfection esp. in laws, .
government, and social conditions". Where is this perfect place? Will my dog .
live forever there? Will I never grow old? If I never grow old there does that .
mean I never mature? What if my idea of perfection differs from my neighbor .
there, will it still be perfect for both of us? Utopia is a nonexistent, but .
absolutely perfect place, as we can see from the beginning of the word in 1516 .
by Sir Thomas More. More was one of Henry VIII's main councilors. He fell .
out of favor with the king when he did not sign a letter urging the pope to .
divorce Henry and Catherine. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London .
because his going against the king was treason; he was beheaded. It is strange .
that a man with such a life, and such an end, was the creator of the perfect .
world as well as a commonly used word in our language. In his writings Utopia .
was a place of absolute perfection. He described a poor king who cared more .
about the riches of his people than his own welfare, much different than the .
dystopia that he lived his life in. This Utopia of More sounds very similar to that .
that Gonzalo speaks of in Shakespeare's Tempest "All things in common nature .
should produce without sweat or endeavor. Treason, felony, Sword, pike, .
knife, gun, or need for any engine Would I not have; but nature should bring .
forth of it own kind, all foison, all abundance, to feed my innocent people".
(Shakespeare 334) There have been many attempted Utopias. One of these .
can be seen in the book Brave New World. This book takes place on earth in .
the future. In this future everything is dominated by science and technology. .
There is no Religion or art.