Frocks, Flocks and Feasts. On being a body in Thomas Moore’s Utopia

This paper looks at the bodies in Thomas More’s Utopia. As part of my on-­‐going postdoctoral research on the relation between bodies and utopianism, I ask: how does More describe the dress, food, sexuality, gender relations and physical activities of Utopia’s inhabitants? How does he refer to individual bodies versus bodies as a collective? What does he say about death? I provide historical context by outlining how these factors diverge from and are similar to what we can know about ‘being a body’ in More’s real immediate environment. What would have been perceived as possible; what was impossible at the time? As a point of focus, I will offer an analysis of the presentation -­‐to each other -­‐of the naked potential bride and bridegroom in More’s text. What understanding of the human being and the body does Utopia account for?