Meet the Cast
Raphael Hythloday
First, a caveat: Utopia is not a character-driven story the way, oh, Hamlet or even Harry Potter are. We don't hear about anyone's childhood, their (non)relationship with their parents, anything ab...
Thomas More
Okay, so is this guy our author or some character? Can't he just decide? Well, no actually—because he's totally both. And that fact is actually pretty important. More enjoyed playing with the ide...
Peter Giles
Like Thomas More, Peter Giles is also a real, historical figure. Unlike Thomas More, very few people have heard of him. In fact, if he's known at all, it's for being Thomas More's friend in Utopia....
Cardinal John Morton
This guy shows up in Hythloday's story about his last visit to England. And yes, he is yet another actual, historical figure, a former Chancellor to Henry VIII (the same king More works for). Kind...
King Utopus
King Utopus has the distinct honor of being the only actual Utopian character in the whole book. Odd, it seems, for a book supposedly all about Utopia. Or maybe not. Consider that Hythloday identif...
A Fool
The fool makes a brief, but memorable, appearance during Hythloday's story of the Cardinal's dinner party, where he ends up rather badly insulting another guest, the friar. Wondering why in the wor...
A Lawyer
This unnamed guest of Cardinal Morton is pretty much the exact opposite of Morton's consummate politeness; this guy is completely annoying. He's rude, he's defensive, and he isn't open to new ideas...
A Friar
Mainly remembered for getting in an argument with the fool, the friar is the opposite of the Cardinal. While the Cardinal represents a figure of Catholic authority who makes the Christian life comp...