I think that this was my favourite story of the three as I really enjoyed the epistolary framework and I thought that the narrative voice was the most interesting. Dutch explorers find the island lacking in industrial and technological advancement and discover that they can learn nothing from this isolated island. However, the society is also unproductive, uncreative, and rather violent which is what makes me think that this is definitely more of a dystopia rather than a utopia. The idyllic island allows the residents to live in comfort, never worrying about food or shelter. Although they have laws and Christianity (what a surprise), the society that the explorers find is based on a system of idleness and sexual freedom. I’m not even sure if Neville depicts a utopian or dystopian world in The Isle of Pines because it has elements of both genres. This was the shortest and weirdest story in the collection. The Isle of Pines by Henry Neville (1668) I really liked the writing style too as it was simple, straightforward, and logical. It’s an interesting concept and I enjoyed reading it. There’s no real plot to speak of, maybe because the novel is unfinished, but you find out about the history of the island and its principles.
All of the utopian nation’s experiments are conducted in the Baconian method as they attempt to understand and control nature. Science and religion are at the heart of Bacon’s New Atlantis but he stresses the importance of science by showcasing an ‘ideal’ society which has a state-sponsored scientific institute, something which England definitely did not have in Bacon’s own time. I found Bacon’s utopia to be really interesting because he was essentially just stating the importance of his own scientific method. More is clearly satirising the lifestyle and ideas of Early Modern Europeans, made obvious by the playful asides that run throughout the story, but so much of the piece seems to be at odds with More’s own views and actions that I just don’t know what to think.īacon’s utopian novel is incomplete and was published by William Rawley after Bacon’s death in 1626. This all sounds ideal but More also puts slavery in his utopian society, makes premarital sex punishable by life-long celibacy, and eradicates privacy altogether.
SEVEN DAYS IN UTOPIA BOOK SUMMARY FREE
There’s a welfare state with free healthcare, women have a more liberal role than in English society in the 16th century, and the Utopians attempt to avoid war where possible. Of course, a traveller, Raphael Hythlodaeus, attempts to convert the Utopians to Christianity because that’s what European colonists did but religious tolerance is at the heart of Utopian society. Utopia practices religious tolerance, especially of pagan religions, and even atheists are allowed to inhabit the island (even if they are despised). More, a devote Catholic who persecuted Protestants, seems to advocate for easy divorce, female priests, married priests, and euthanasia in his utopia. I really enjoyed reading Utopia but I did find a lot of the story rather puzzling. Each utopian world reveals a lot about its author and about the society in which they live(d). More’s prose satirises unrelenting idealism by creating a utopia or ‘no place’, an ideal society which cannot exist in reality.
While it is not the first work of utopian fiction, it did give us the term ‘utopia’. Utopia is a wonderfully satirical, yet odd, piece of prose. I’ve provided links to where these stories can be read online for free. This is a collection of utopian stories but they’re all very different so I’m going to give my thoughts on each story individually. This edition reprints Ralph Robinson’s 1556 translation from More’s original Latin together with letters and illustrations that accompanied early editions of Utopia. Enormously influential, it remains a challenging as well as a playful text. Summary: With the publication of Utopia (1516), Thomas More provided a scathing analysis of the shortcomings of his own society, a realistic suggestion for an alternative mode of social organisation, and a satire on unrealistic idealism. Author(s): Thomas More, Francis Bacon, Henry Neville
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