ABSTRACT
In 1515, Thomas More, Under-Sheriff of London, traveled to the Netherlands in order to conduct trade negotiations on behalf of King Henry VII. This chapter suggests that the conflict between friendship and family is, in a psychoanalytic sense, the unconscious content of Utopia, or part of it. The chapter suggests that More's Utopia expresses the tension he felt between marriage and family life on the one hand, and the social, intellectual, professional, and emotional bonds he enjoyed with his friends on the other. In the opening pages of the Utopia, More mentions that the friendship and hospitality of Peter Giles helped to mitigate More's homesickness while abroad. Erasmus was an important friend to More in many senses-one who encouraged and supported his younger colleague's intellectual and creative aspirations, and one who, as the pre-eminent humanist of Europe, was in an excellent position to promote such aspirations to a larger audience.
