Both Thomas More’s Utopia and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels attempt to address the problems with English society. The first work, is set in the idealized land of Utopia and describes the author’s vision of the perfect society. In many ways this tale rejects normally accepted values and beliefs of the time in favor of logical solutions to modern problems. The second work, describes a fictional account of a journey to several lands by an Englishman named Lemuel Gulliver. On these journeys the title character encounters a number of people whose strange and often humorous actions are used to satirize the state of England and its rulers. When reviewing both works one finds a number of differences between the two authors ideas about how society could be run better. Specifically, they differ in the type of story used to present the information, the role of God in society and their view of how society should manage punishments and rewards. However striking these differences seem, both authors seem committed to illustrating the need to reform contemporary society, and the value of applying logic and human knowledge to everyday life.
Their are a number of differences in the way that these two author’s present their view of society. The easiest difference to recognize is the form that the information is presented in. More, paints an ideal picture of the perfect land and sets about the task of describing its workings. Swift, on the other hand, uses satire to point out the flaws of his society by poking fun of its members and their actions. Also, their is a great difference between the two authors view of social control. In Utopia we see a land that is dependent on a system of institutional slavery to punish the unlawful and provide cheap labor to support the population. This severe level of punishment is not seen in Swift’s work. Instead, in Gulliver’s Travels the main character agrees with the somewhat less practical notion of Lilliputian, “Justice, [which is represented symbolically as carrying]... a bag of gold open in her right hand, and a sword sheathed in her left, to show she is more disposed to reward than to punish” (Norton 2359). Swift’s ideas about crime also come off as less harsh compared to More’s concept of punishment. More views slavery as acceptable punishment for crimes against the will of God. Whereas, Swift states that many crimes are already punished too harshly when he describes the threat of the Lilliputians blinding Gulliver as being less worse than the fate of most political prisoners (Norton 2368).
Another difference between the two works is how the concept of God is described by the two authors. More, himself a devout Catholic, writes a great deal about the importance of religion to the people of Utopia. This is most easily seen in his treatment of a group of Utopians that voluntarily dedicate themselves to a life of chastity and servitude in the name of God. According to More these people are valued above all others in Utopia. In contrast, Swift shows the strange customs of the people Gulliver encounters to make the reader think critically about the sometimes odd rituals of the Church. Specifically, he uses the religious system of the Brobdingnag people to point out the oddities of English system of worship. These people are buried head down in the hope of being reincarnated on the other side of the world many years from now.
There are a great number of similarities between the two works. First, both authors address the present state of the political world and attempt to change it for the better. More gives us an entire story based on his view of the ideal society which attempts to define the perfect civilization. Swift also tries to change the world for the better but, he does it by illustrating the absurdity of the present society. One of the best examples of this absurdity is the method the Lilliputians use to select government officials. The narrator describes this process which is a contest to see who can jump the highest while suspended on a tight-rope relatively high off the ground. By using devices such as this, Swift attempts to change society for the better by making its people more questioning of the world around them.
Additionally both works are similar in relying heavily on reason rather than custom to guide them in defining the ideal State. On example of this comes from More’s treatment of gold and silver in the nation of Utopia. He argues that gold is easily bent and unfit for industrial use therefore, it is used by the people of Utopia to make their chamber pots. For similar reasons silver is used in making the chains for slaves in Utopia (Norton 514).
Both social critics make an effort to address the way they saw society mismanaged in their work. More’s efforts produced an image of a religiously devout society in which the inhabitants toiled for the common good of their fellow man. This contrasts sharply with Swift who used an entirely different form of writing to express the problems he saw facing England at the time in his humorous novel. The two also deviate in the way they viewed religion and social control. However, both works rely on logic and reason over custom and tradition in describing their ideal society.

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