Friendship and Tyranny in the Writings of Sir Thomas More

Author: Smith Stephen W.  

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

E-ISSN: 2398-4961|50(Number193-194)|3-4|9-39

ISSN: 0047-8105

Source: Moreana, Vol.50(Number193-194), Iss.3-4, 2013-12, pp. : 9-39

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Abstract

The essay analyzes the themes of friendship and tyranny in Thomas Mores writings. The essay begins with a consideration of three major classical sources on friendship and tyranny, and then examines Mores writings in light of these sources. The essay proposes that Mores writings manifest both his understanding of tyranny and his understanding of the author as prospective friend of the reader, the two potentially united in a common project to bring about the renascence of learning, friendship, and especially wise and virtuous citizenship in England. Mores lifelong opposition to tyranny, then, stands revealed as surprisingly yet naturally connected to his understanding and presentation of himself as author and potential friend of the reader.