Robert Burton/Democritus Junior and Thomas More

Abstract

This article studies the different ways in which Thomas More and his writings appear in Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy. Democritus Junior, Burton’s reinvented persona, links Burton with More, whom Erasmus associates with Democritus in the preface to his Praise of Folly. Burton also draws directly upon two of More’s humanist works, his epigrams and the Utopia. The article traces the connections between these works in detail and discusses Burton’s “poeticall commonwealth” in relation to the Utopia: there are overlaps in theme, structure, and movement of thought. Though very different from More, Burton was an active and engaged reader, and the Utopia is an indispensable part of the Anatomy.