Staging Utopia

The argument can most definitely be made that More's Utopia is a work that can't be properly translated to a stage production. Just at a first glance, the narration and dialogue is somewhat long winded; the structure between Book 1 and Book 2 could make an incredibly awkward transition to stage; and last but certainly not least, the actual plot of Utopia (especially Book 2) wouldn't be desirable to any general audience. But, while it may not break any box office records, I think Utopia could be done on stage in a very innovative way that could really captivate an audience while staying true to the original work.
If there's one problem with transitioning Utopia to the stage it's the fact that it's in no way archetypal. There's no real antagonist, there's not really any emotional revelations that the characters go through, and when you really get down to it, it's just a few guys sitting around talking. Not to mention the fact that if it's narrated as it is in print, then the play would go on for about five hours. Just to put that in perspective, the extended edition of Return of the King was a little over four hours. So obviously, cuts would need to be made just to trim down on the time. However, there would really be no way to add any extra characters or drama without totally defacing the actual work itself.
But how exactly would you portray such a work? It was really never meant to be adapted to the stage to begin with. The first book is relatively straight forward and could be achieved with simple backgrounds and props. But, the second book would definitely be a bit more tricky. It could be set up so that the narration is continuing over live acting of the actual events being narrated. But, the narration moves so quickly from one thing to the next that it would be near impossible to use conventional stage productions to portray it all by using just actors and props.
The best and probably most appropriate way to portray the second book of More's Utopia is by using projections along with physical props and actors. People go to the theater to see actual theater, so the play would have to rely heavily on the actual actors and props as much as possible to depict the inhabitants of Utopia. But, this alone wouldn't be enough to truly captivate the audience. There's so much that is said during the narration that it would be impossible to portray it all at once with normal stage conventions. Using projectors to visually depict some of the more complex or unattainable moments while actors physically act out the scenes at the same time would be the best way to do justice to both the original work and the medium of theater at the same time.
Reading More's Utopia, is really like a taking a lucid journey to the island itself, where the audience not only sees this foreign civilization, but also experiences it at the same time. Watching Utopia on stage should be the same way.

A Rough Transition into Literacy

As the Norton pointed out, the advent of the printing press was a major contributor to the sharp increase in the literacy rate during the fifteenth century. The importance of this new innovation would gradually become more and more apparent over the next several centuries. But, while widespread literacy is an absolutely great thing for a society regardless of context, it was, in this case, a huge problem for those in power at the time.

With a growing literacy rate, the ruling state of England saw a very noticeable increase in public criticism in formal articles and even hidden deep in the satirical works of Shakespeare and John Donne. Essays detailing political theory, historical events, and current news allowed a degree of public intelligence and awareness that would make the actions of the government somewhat more transparent and much more susceptible to public outcry. Once the Civil War broke out, the informed public needed to maintain the flow of information and relied heavily on the technology of print to keep up with the events. Of course, the widespread use of the printing press also allowed for a much easier, much more direct way to convey good old fashioned propaganda to the common people; a practice that had long been considered a necessary tool of government.

However, a more literate and intelligent society does lead to many problems within the society itself. Religious and political texts were much more readily available, but these new sources of information would inevitably cause all sorts of ideological quarrels between the state and citizens and also among the citizens themselves. Religious disagreement would go on to divide the citizens, and also alienate them from their religious government. The sort of "inquisitions" that followed in order to preserve the Church of England as supreme over the many splintered groups, would cause immediate dissatisfaction among the people, many of whom would go on to express their unhappiness in public print.

The personal transformation that one underwent through the process of education, as well as the increased likelihood of having one's writings actually published and widely read, allowed the entire public to have their voices and stories heard. Literate people were able to record, collect, and even observe their own thoughts in order to better understand and reflect on both the world around them and their introspective selves. This also allowed the ability to actually make profit of an incredible experience by putting it into print for all to share. Not only could people learn more about religion, politics, and history; but now they were more able to learn about their fellow people.

Praise Gold: Fascination and Industry in the Age of Exploration

England emerged from the Middle Ages as a very well organized, well funded, and country under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I. With France suffering from their own problems, the glory of England could only be rivaled by that of Spain. Of course, between increasing military and exploration costs, and inflation caused by a huge influx of New World gold, Spain soon found itself scraping at the bottom of the financial barrel. With neighboring countries in varying degrees of turmoil, England was quite free (despite relatively small scuffles involving Spain, Ireland, Catholicism, etc.) to develop their country and explore new territories for mainly economic and industrial purposes.
One obvious change in English literature of this time is its general content. While early literature was mainly concerned with matters of military and state, and later (including this exact time period) works relied heavily on social and political commentary, this era of English literature saw a great increase in matters of exploration. The governments of this era were much more concerned with the financial and industrious gains that could be made from New World exploration, however the general public was quite enamored with the romance and fantasy of a new untouched world as they were also curious (with much less enthusiasm) about the inhabitants of these foreign lands.
Works like Drayton's "Ode. To the Virginian Voyage" and Donne's "Elegy 19. To His Mistress Going to Bed" seemed to embody the romance that was equated with the exploration of the New World. One interesting new trend is the emphasis on geographical description found in both of these works, which could have possibly been derived from accounts received from explorers of this time. Both poems dwell on the overwhelming emotions involved with traveling to new lands but both also approach the subject from two slightly different angles. Donne describes the exploration of the Americas in a satirical way (lines 27-30), emphasizing in line 29 the importance of the land's precious resources, and also emphasizing its superficial importance as a great addition to the English Empire. Drayton, on the other hand, is very genuine in his admiration. He admires the explorers that colonize these new fantastical worlds in the name of England, just as he is in awe of the great natural beauty of the New World.
Of course, the actual accounts of these explorations written in prose painted a much different, less idealistic portrait of the New World exploration. While the geographical descriptions are quite similar, albeit the accounts in prose are much more concerned with gold than anything else, the prose describe actual encounters with native peoples. The idealistic nakedness of the New World (that is in land and attire) would have been praised by someone like John Donne, however Sir Francis Drake and his crew seem to abhor the nakedness of the natives on arriving in modern-day California. While the natural surroundings are described with great heartfelt accounts in these prose just as they are in the poetry, the actual inhabitants of the natives are described in (to put it lightly) less than flattering ways throughout the accounts.