Utopia/Dystopia
by Stephanie Jünger and Antonia Stichnoth
Definition:
“Utopian literature. Greek outópos, no place, nowhere. Literature describing an ideally
perfect place or ideal society. The word Utopia is the title of a speculative essay by Sir
Thomas More, published in 1516. ”
(Scott: Current Literary Terms- A Concise Dictionary of their Origin and Use. New
York. 1967)
Utopian literature creates an imaginary- sometimes admittedly impracticablegovernment, often to satirize real governments”
(Barnet, Berman, Burto: A Dictionary of Literary Terms. London. 1964)
Theoretical Basis:
 Plato: The Republic (360 B.C.)
o Structured as a dialogue between philosophers (“Socratic Method”)
o Equilibrium: no rich, no poor
o Guardians (who govern the city): no possessions, no work in own interest
o Everybody finds his place in society (classes acc. to abilities)
o Happiness is not the priority, eventually comes by itself
o Sacred marriages: create ideal offspring (eugenics), equals mate with
equals, reproduction controlled by rulers, institutionalised child care
according to the children’s abilities, disabled are hidden
 Thomas More: Utopia (1516)
o A man who has visited it gives account of the island “Insula Utopia”
o Sacred marriages: divorce is only permitted as an exception, it is the
couple’s duty to live a happy marriage, process of choosing a partner is
controlled, presentation of the partners to each other
 Tommaso Campanella: The City of the Sun (1602)
o A sailor tells about an island (poetical dialogues) → rebellion against
Spanish and Catholic rulers in Calabria
o Education for everyone, importance science: ideals of the Renaissance
o To achieve stability of the state, everyone is supposed to be alike: mating
of “opposites”, no offspring permitted due to affection, there are no ugly
people: no need to strive for beauty ideals
Literary works (utopian and dystopian, science fiction):
 Jonathan Swift: Gulliver’s Travels (1726)
o Gulliver is shipwrecked and gets to know different societies, e.g. the
kingdom of the Lilliputs → criticism of British society in 18th century
o Children are an involuntary product of lust (parents mate like other
animals); institutionalised upbringing of the children according to the sexes
and their parent’s rank (no education for low classes); strict education
without love by professors; welfare system for the old and weak
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Mary Shelley: Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus (1818)
o At the North Pole, Captain Walton picks up a man who tells his story
o While studying science, Victor Frankenstein learns how to bring dead
things to life through galvanisation
o He creates the “monster”, but abandons it due to its ugliness
o The monster becomes aware of being different, feels lonely; Frankenstein
refuses to create a female companion: fears they could procreate
o The monster seeks vengeance and kills Frankenstein’s family, wife and
best friend, Frankenstein follows the monster to the North Pole
o After Frankenstein’s death, the monster destroys itself out of sadness
Aldous Huxley: Brave New World (1931)
o Set London in year 632 “after Ford”(26th century): mass production/
consumption and belief in science and technology have replaced religion
o Motto of the World State: Community, Identity, Stability
o Static society, hierarchy of 5 classes: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon
o Trough eugenics and cloning, people are supposed to be “standardized”;
they are artificially bred and conditioned to fit their classes
o Sexual promiscuity as entertainment and ideal, true love is condemned
o people are kept happy in their caste and “stable” by the drug “Soma”
o those who do not fit in live in “reservations” where traditional structures
were kept: a “savage” from a reservation is confronted with this society
George Orwell: 1984 (1948)
o The protagonist Winston Smith starts to rebel against the authoritarian
regime of Oceania (formerly Great Britain and the USA)
o System of supervision (“Big Brother is watching you”)
o Development of the language “Newspeak” for manipulation and mindcontrol: with this language, the articulation of criticism is impossible
o Extinction of individualism; uniformity and love only for “Big Brother”
o Rewriting of history according to the regime’s aims
Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
o Society without laws or morals: people have fun killing other people
o Focus on entertainment and overstimulation (e.g. multi-screen TVs and
loudspeakers in public space); intellectuality and books are forbidden
o The firemen’s job is to burn books: paper burns at 451° Fahrenheit
o The formerly loyal fireman Guy Montag gets interested in books,
questions and finally fights against the system
Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)
o Theocracy developed in the USA
o Focus on the ambiguous position of women: the handmaids are the only
women who can still fall pregnant and are therefore protected and of
central importance, but are reduced to their biological function and do not
have any rights compared to their master’s wives
Terminology: Genetic Engineering
 Genetic engineering: artificial alteration of the genetic composition (genome) of
cells or organisms (perceived as major step of development, like the Industrial
Revolution or the Age of Pyrotechnology)
 Cloning: not strictly genetic engineering- the genome is not altered, but artificially
multiplied. (In nature, single-celled organisms use cloning to reproduce)
 Reproductive cloning: cloning with the aim to create living offspring
 Therapeutic cloning: cloning in order to create cells or organs for medical treatment
 Gene cloning: isolation of certain genes from a donor cell, implementing them onto a
vector (“transport cell”) to transport them to a receptor → essential technique of
genetic engineering
 Eugenics: “selective breeding”- creating “ideal” offspring by mating selected
partners
 Genetically modified (GM) food: food which is modified to have better taste,
appearance, nutritious value and greater yields
 Transhumanism: belief that the human condition can be fundamentally changed and
brought to an new level of evolution trough technologies that enhance physical and
mental capacities
 Hubris: extreme pride or arrogance that leads to overestimation of own abilities
Pro
Ethical
 Opportunity to stop suffering
from genetic defects
Con
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Religious
 structure of a family becomes 
more important than the sexual
progress
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Scientific/practical use
 better/more efficient/cheaper
production (mass production)
 combat food shortages
 greater variety of species
 gay/infertile couples can have
children more easily
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feelings of clones are neglected (family, strive for
identity, treated as objects)
differentiation of worthier and less worthier life:
discrimination, making use of life
loss of life’s dignity, if scientists “dabble” in cells
when does a cell become a living organism?
diversity is lost due to a longing for an ideal (life
becomes a process)
humans should not intervene with nature and “play
God”
ideal of Christian marriage is violated, if a third
party is involved in the process of reproduction
every individual should be worth the same
creates unemployment (African farmers)
may lead to environmental or health dangers not yet
expected (damage of gene pool?)
not yet developed enough to be save
“patents” and rights on cells (who owns something
everyone possesses)
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scientific research with
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unexpected positive outcome
medical opportunities (organs, 
insulin)
increased nutritional value of
food (knowledge concerning
the understanding of life)
combat of environmental
pollution
normal relationship between parents and child is
impossible
rich people are advantaged
Analysis of a Play
Task 1: Comprehension
 Introductory sentence (Title, author, time, text type)
 Brief synopsis/central idea
 Contextualisation of the excerpt (if taken from a longer play: Much Ado About
Nothing)
 Brief summary (content level), according to the task
Task 2: Analysis
 Content
o Course of action (Structure + development) → Is there potential for
conflicts?
o Characters (“flat” and “round” characters; “archetypes”)
o Character Constellation
o Leitmotifs
o Time & Place
 Form
o Stage directions (gestures, facial expression, movement, body language
o Arrangement of the scene (props, costumes, scenery/stage design,
music, sounds, light)
o Dramatic tension
 Language/Style
o Dialogues, monologues, asides → Communication of the characters
among each other and with the audience
o Stylistic devices
o Diction/tone
o Humour/irony/sarcasm → dramatic irony (audience knows more than
character)
Task 3: Evaluation/Re-creation of text
 “Creative task”: letter, diary entry, dialogue, poem…
 Evaluation/personal opinion: comment, argumentative text
 Refer to task 2 and additional information; refer to a larger context, compare
 Pros and Cons!