All That Glitters: Devaluing the Gold Standard in the Utopias of Thomas More, Francis Bacon, and Margaret Cavendish.

Francis Bacon's and Margaret Cavendish's ideal societies unexpectedly follow Thomas More's Utopia in eliminating the exchange value of gold and replacing it with a knowledge economy. Bacon's New Atlantis (1627) and Cavendish's Blazing World (1666) similarly pursue new "light" and shun selfish profit...

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Published in:Renaissance & Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme Vol. 41; no. 3; pp. 137 - 164
Main Author: MARTIN, CATHERINE GIMELLI
Format: Article
Published: Iter Canada 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: All That Glitters: Devaluing the Gold Standard in the Utopias of Thomas More, Francis Bacon, and Margaret Cavendish.
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        au: MARTIN, CATHERINE GIMELLI
        affil: University of Memphis.
      su:
        Gold standard
        Utopia (Book : More)
        Bacon, Francis, 1561-1626
        Newcastle, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of, ca. 1624-1674
        17th century English drama
        Information economy
        New Atlantis (Book)
        Blazing World, The (Book)
        Drama criticism
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          Gold standard
          Utopia (Book : More)
          Bacon, Francis, 1561-1626
          Newcastle, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of, ca. 1624-1674
          17th century English drama
          Information economy
          New Atlantis (Book)
          Blazing World, The (Book)
          Drama criticism
      ab:
        Francis Bacon's and Margaret Cavendish's ideal societies unexpectedly follow Thomas More's Utopia in eliminating the exchange value of gold and replacing it with a knowledge economy. Bacon's New Atlantis (1627) and Cavendish's Blazing World (1666) similarly pursue new "light" and shun selfish profit, private trade, capital accumulation, and conspicuous consumption. Unlike More, they allow gold to retain its traditional decorative and symbolic functions, but its "use value" completely trumps its exchange value. Cavendish uses gold to construct and glorify her Blazing World and to forge astonishing defensive weapons, but it cannot be bought, sold, or even earned since it remains exclusively imperial. Bacon restricts gold to buying new "light" or knowledge and honouring thriving families with symbolic golden grape clusters, but like the Fathers of Salomon's House, all three societies value only beneficial knowledge and the collaborative virtues taught by their new or improved religions to further universal peace and brotherhood.
        Les sociétés idéales imaginées par Francis Bacon et Margaret Cavendish emboîtent étonnamment le pas à l'Utopie de Thomas More lorsqu'elles éliminent la valeur monétaire de l'or pour la remplacer par une économie du savoir. La New Atlantis de Bacon (1627) et le Blazing World de Cavendish (1666) proposent de façon comparable la quête d'une nouvelle lumière et le refus du profit égoïste, du commerce privé, de l'accumulation du capital et de la consommation ostentatoire. Toutefois, à la différence de More, ils permettent que soit maintenue la valeur esthétique et symbolique de l'or, qui éclipse ainsi complètement sa valeur de monnaie d'échange. Cavendish utilise l'or pour construire et glorifier son univers flamboyant et pour créer d'étonnantes armes défensives, mais il ne peut être ni acheté, ni vendu, ni même gagné, puisqu'il est exclusivement impérial. Bacon limite l'usage de l'or à l'achat d'une nouvelle lumière, c'est-à-dire de la connaissance, et à l'hommage des familles florissantes en leur offrant de symboliques grappes de raisins en or, mais tout comme les Pères de la Maison de Salomon, cettes trois sociétés valorisent uniquement la connaissance bénéfique et les vertus de collaboration qu'enseignent leur religion nouvelle et améliorée afin de favoriser la paix universelle et la fraternité.
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    language: English
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