Bacon’s tale of the New Atlantis is a “blueprint” of the results of the Christian Reformation and Luther’s new view on how Christianity should be interpreted and understood. In addition, Bacon lived at the beginning of the Renaissance - a time of “new” change, change in thought, beliefs, and enlightenment. In particular, Bacon created an ideal world to reflect this “new world” blueprint, showing both the highs and lows of such a new world. This essay is a literary review of The New Atlantis (1627). To complete this review the following literary elements will be used: tone, diction, syntax, formality, satire/irony, worldview and implicit authorial philosophy.
Bacon’s story cannot be considered without a good understanding of how the Reformation and Renaissance came to be. In the simplest of tales, it was Martin Luther, considered the founder of the protestant reformation who gave Bacon many of the founding “facts” of his story. Primarily, Luther’s belief that the church did not own the soul of a person, but that a person was responsible for their own salvation led to people finding answers to God on their own. This started the Renaissance as now free thought was permissioned and with this a new scientific period of discovery came about. Of course, according to Green (2012) it was only those of the upper classes who experienced the “true” Renaissance. Notably this was also a time of trade, and in particular what we have come to understand as the orient/occident, with particular reference to the Turks (Green, 2012). According to Green (2012), it was the Ottoman Empire that most heavily influenced the writers of this time – Bacon is one of those writers.
Bacon’s tone and formality are that of a storyteller who from what we understand is of a traveller/explorer out to find new knowledge and enlightenment. There is a casual tone in the narrator’s voice, gentle and wide-eyed in his discoveries about what he sees, hears, and experiences with the new peoples of Solamona. Surprisingly for the age of the text, even in 2017 this makes an easy read. While the diction and syntax reflects the style of writing of Bacon’s time, I imagine it was also simplistic in its format.
In conclusion, Bacon’s story is very much a “blueprint” for the massive restructuring of thought and behaviour in the Christian world – including spirituality, logic, and enlightenment.
Works Cited
Bacon, F. (1627). The New Atlantis. The Project Gutenberg [Ebook]. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2434/2434-h/2434-h.htm. [Accessed 20 January 2017].
Green, J. (21 June 2012). The Renaissance: Was it a Thing? – Crash Course World History #22. [Youtube Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vufba_ZcoR0. [Accessed 20 January 2017].
Green, J. (29 November 2014). Luther and the Protestant Reformation: Crash Course World History #218. [Youtube Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o8oIELbNxE. [Accessed 20 January 2017].
