New Atlantis

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1627

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Literary Devices

Allegory

Just as Plato did in his works Timaeus and Critias, Bacon uses the story of Atlantis as an allegory for spiritual and social reforms he would like to see in his native Europe. In a vacuum, New Atlantis is little more than a story of a merchant ship crashing on an island belonging to an incredibly advanced civilization. Yet when viewed through an allegorical framework, the customs and systems of Bensalem serve as counterpoints to contemporary European beliefs and mores. The most explicit counterpoint is expressed by Joabin, who presents his society as a model for chastity that Europe would do well to emulate. In a broader sense, Bacon intends to inspire European nations—or perhaps even the colonies in the new world—to embrace the institutional harmony found on Bensalem between the church, the state, and academia. Such an embrace would mean rejecting what Bacon views as a false binary between religion and the empirical study of the natural world.

Interlocution

Interlocution is a form of dialogue often used to convey philosophical concepts. It is a convention pioneered by Socrates and immortalized by his student Plato in numerous philosophical dialogues. In New Atlantis, Bacon uses the technique on three occasions to convey three major elements of life on Bensalem. In each of the three examples, the narrator participates in the dialogue as an audience surrogate. The first interlocution with the governor of the Strangers’ House expresses Bensalem’s religious and historical foundations, including the island’s dramatic conversion to Christianity. The second interlocution with Joabin expresses the island’s social and moral customs, which prize chastity and patriarchal familial bonds above else. The third and final interlocution with the Father of Salomon’s House expresses the scientific principles undergirding the institution’s astounding technological achievements, including the Baconian method of induction and an emphasis on applied sciences that help humankind.

Genre

As the European sailors stumble upon an uncharted island showcasing astonishing social and scientific progress, the early pages of New Atlantis firmly place the work in the genre of the utopian novel. Pioneered by Thomas More with his 1516 work Utopia, utopian fiction projects an ideal society designed to inspire real-life nations to work toward a more perfect state. In this respect New Atlantis is no different, as Bacon clearly intends to depict the kind of political, social, and scientific forms he would like to see in Europe. As mentioned elsewhere in this guide, however, utopian fiction—particularly that which was written at the height of European imperial power—can be a vehicle for harmful colonialist ideas, as navigators invade lands for the purpose of building a utopia for themselves, while destroying existing Indigenous civilizations.