New Atlantis

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1627

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Symbols & Motifs

Bensalem

Held up as a utopia, Bensalem exists to offer implicit and explicit rebukes to contemporary Europe, in areas related to the spiritual, the social, and the scientific. This is seen early in the text when officials repeat the mantra “twice paid!” (6) in response to the Europeans’ efforts to reward them for their help. While bribery may be customary for European delegates merely engaging in official duties, the Bensalemite delegates firmly reject this practice. When Joabin describes the island’s customs surrounding chastity and modesty, he does so to draw a stark distinction between the chaste Bensalemites and the lustful Europeans. Moreover, the island’s political structure, which suggests a power-sharing dynamic between the church, the state, and academia, serves as a model for how Bacon would like to see European societies structured.

Finally, the word “Bensalem” recalls the holy city of Jerusalem, with the prefix “ben” meaning “son.” This suggests that Bensalem is a successor to Jerusalem and therefore the new seat of the kingdom of heaven on Earth.

The Cherubim and Other Christian Symbols

The earliest Christian symbol shown in New Atlantis are the cherubim found on a scroll given to the narrator. In the Bible, cherubim are agents of God assigned to various earthly and unearthly tasks, including guarding the entrance to the Garden of Eden. In addition to expressing to the narrator that the island is a Christian society, the cherubim are a fitting symbol for a society framed by the author as a paradise. Other Christian symbols emerge throughout the work, including the metaphor of Jonas and the whale used to describe the Europeans’ divine deliverance from starvation at sea, and the ecclesiastical crosier wielded by the Salomon’s House Father’s attendant.

These symbols are a matter of intense debate for scholars. Many believe that Bacon’s intent is to co-opt these symbols in service of supplanting religion with a secular and materialistic framework, embodied by Salomon’s House. Other scholars, including the University of Florida history professor Stephen A. McKnight, strongly believe that Bacon is sincere in his use of Christian imagery and iconography, drawing support from the author’s own views of religion and science as complementary (McKnight, Stephen A. The Religious Foundations of Francis Bacon. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press. 2006).

Oaths and Prayers

Throughout New Atlantis, the Europeans and Bensalemites alike are asked to swear to various oaths. The first instance comes as the Europeans’ approach the island, and the delegates from Bensalem compel the strangers to take an oath that they are neither pirates nor heathens. The citizenry—aside from a select few Salomon’s House representatives—are required to take an oath never to leave the island, for fear that the outside world may discover it. Finally, even the Salomon’s House researchers who represent the elite of the society are required to take an oath of secrecy to protect the details of Salomon’s House discoveries even from the island’s government.

The preponderance of oaths and the importance placed on keeping them reflects the extent to which Bensalem is a nation held together by compliance with laws. This is not to downplay the importance of another crucial form of utterance on Bensalem: prayer. In the governor’s telling of Bensalem’s conversion to Christianity, he describes a prayer that lifts the invisible barrier around the pillar of light. Prayer even plays an important role in Salomon’s House, as described by its Father: “We have certain hymns and services, which we say daily, of Lord and thanks to God for his marvellous works: and forms of prayers, imploring his aid and blessing for the illumination of our labors, and the turning of them into good and holy uses” (39). Thus, on Bensalem, laws and prayers are of equal importance, reflecting Bacon’s broader view on the complementary nature of church, state, and science.