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While there are real, historical aspects of Sir Thomas More’s life in Utopia, the events described by the character of More are fiction. Though occasional readers mistook Hythloday for a real man, Sir Thomas More had no intention of hiding the fictiveness of his story. Sir Thomas More gives a subtle clue that while the character of More bears his name and perhaps some of his views, Hythloday (the "he" who is also an "I") also embodies aspects of Sir Thomas More's beliefs and ideas. The fictional frame of Utopia thus allows Sir Thomas More to dramatize the discussion of issues and thereby explore those issues from multiple sides. Furthermore, the fictional frame allows Sir Thomas More to explore issues that, in a non-fiction work, might get him into trouble.
It is no accident that Sir Thomas More gave his name to one of the conservative characters in the book that basically defends the status quo. The fictional More vociferously disagrees with Hythloday’s more radical propositions such as the eradication of private property, and in doing so provides a sort of cover for Sir Thomas More. The disagreement by his namesake seems to imply, at least on the surface that Sir Thomas More also disagrees with Hythloday. Of course, this is not true, but the simple fact of More’s disagreement with Hythloday would make it hard to attack Sir Thomas More for Hythloday’s views.
