New Atlantis Essay Questions

What is the narrator's role in New Atlantis?

Despite being told from the perspective of a first-person narrator, New Atlantis has little to do with the person telling the story. On the contrary, the central points of the text are raised through the narrator's various interlocutors like the Governor of the House of Strangers, Joabin, and the Father of Salomon's House. These interlocutors help explain the utopian vision of Bensalem to the narrator, who becomes a vessel by which the reader can understand how this (fictional) society has perfected its understanding of humanity. In this way, the narrator serves as a stand-in for the reader themself, who at the time would have been, like the narrator, an educated European.

Why are the people of Bensalem so secretive?

New Atlantis begins on a mysterious note: the narrator and his crew of men, lost at sea, happen upon an island with which they are unfamiliar. The people who meet them are at first resistant to the idea of allowing outsiders to land, and even when they are permitted on the island, information is revealed to them slowly through a number of interlocutors. While this secrecy helps foster suspense in New Atlantis as a literary text, it is also an element of the utopian society itself. The Governor of the House of Strangers explains that the ancient King Solamona wanted to protect his people from the corruption of the world while still making advancements in exploration, innovation, and science. Thus, the island remains a well-kept secret where outsiders are invited to stay, provided for by the state.

Why do the inhabitants allow the sailors to land on the island?

When the sailors first spy the island, they are met by a boat of eight inhabitants, one of whom hands them a note. The note tells them that they are not permitted to land on the island, but that provisions may be brought to them at sea. The note also contains the sign of the cross, which intrigues the Christian sailors. When they inform the inhabitants that they have many sick men aboard their boat, the inhabitants ask if they are Christians. Only then – when the sailors confirm their Christianity – are they permitted to land on the island. This moment foreshadows the importance of Christianity to the people of Bensalem, while showcasing Christianity as a means of connection and shared experience.

What is a utopia and how does Bensalem embody it?

New Atlantis never uses the term "utopia," and not because the term did not exist. Indeed, Thomas More coined the term in his 1516 text Utopia, nearly a century before Bacon was writing, describing an island society in the New World. While Bacon does not market his "New Atlantis" as a utopia, the island appears to maintain all the ideal attributes of a utopian – or perfect and harmonious – society: the people are kind and morally righteous, money is often negligible, families are celebrated, there is no corruption, and the society is dedicated to advancement and prosperity. Perhaps Bacon avoids the term "utopia" in the text because his utopian vision is not simply about a harmonious society – it is rather about a society made harmonious by its dedication to scientific inquiry and exploration.

How is New Atlantis critical of early modern European society?

Because the island of Bensalem is a rather perfect incarnation of human society, it is often compared favorably to the unsavory, corrupt, and morally lacking society of early modern Europe (and specifically early modern England). The text lambasts European culture for its devaluation of central bonds like marriage and family, alluding to the prevalence of brothels and family feuds. More than that, however, the text criticizes early modern Europe for its inability to develop a state in which religion and science can coexist, as they do in Bensalem. Finally, the authoritative powers in New Atlantis are not kings or queens, but instead devout Christians with a dedication to forwarding scientific progress on the island. As such, the text subtly questions the role of the English monarchy, which at the time (under Charles I) was criticized by Englishmen themselves for forwarding the notion of the divine right of kings. Charles I was later executed for treason in 1649.