Utopia And Dystopia

A utopia is a place of ideal perfection. However, according to the Merriam-Webster, it is also an impractical scheme for social improvement. Though dating back to the earliest days of U.S. history, utopian communities became a part of American thought by the 1840s. Various groups that were struggling because of urbanization and industrialization, challenged the traditional norms of American society with a desire to create a world without capitalism, immigration, and the tension between communities. However, these attempts failed due to individualism, materialism, the lack of growth, and little balance.

Utopia, according to Google, is defined as an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. The biggest concept to understand as a person analyzing literature is that a utopia cannot ever exist, there is always going to be flaws and they will often be destructive. In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley uses the utopian society archetype to show that the citizens give up their identity and give into conformity. Through this, Huxley reveals that in any society we assimilate to the social norm of society to be happy, thus compromising our identity for happiness.

The word utopia originates from Sir Thomas More’s novel of the same name, Utopia. Sir Thomas More created the term as an intentional homophone of the word “eutopia”, which is a Greek word meaning “good place”. (Sterling, 2015) “Utopia”, on the other hand, means “no place”, which implies either an impossibility of existence or the results of attempting to bring about such existence. The reasons why a utopia is so destructive to societies are that each person has their own vision of perfection and it is impossible to make everyone agree; if everyone made their own utopias there would be conflict between their objectives. Also, human nature is flawed and cannot accommodate perfection.

Authors wanted to revolutionize arts and audience worldwide. This was done by the creation of tools that helped excel the “American Dream”. Some of the major authors in this time included T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and Gertrude Stein (Modernism). There are two different groupings of modernism, which are modernism and post modernism. In the beginning, “early modernists used elements of experimentation, freedom, radicalism, and utopianism” (Modernism). After the war, “post-modernists, however, rebelled against many modernist elements and instead depicted disillusionment and elements of dystopian ideas—dehumanized and fearful lives” (Modernism). Many different historical aspects influenced the upcoming of the modernist movement such as publications of scientific theories, technological inventions that globalized society, Sigmund Freud’s change in the discipline of psychology, new concepts of ethics, morality, and ideals, and artistic movements (Modernism).

Modernism is when writers proclaimed a new "subject matter" for literature and the writer feels that its new way of looking at life required a new form, a new way of writing. The writers of this period tend to pursue more experimental and usually more highly individualistic forms of

An impractical scheme for social improvement. This is the third definition of the word utopia in the Mirriam-Webster dictionary. Anatole France says it best with this quote regarding utopian societies, „Without the Utopias of other times, men would still live in caves, miserable and naked. It was Utopians that traced the lines of the first city· Out of generous dreams come beneficial realities. Utopia is the principle of all progress, and the essay into a better future.„ The world has been constantly changing over time, new ideas pave paths that lead to better living. Most of the ideas are expressed through science fiction stories written by authors looking to change the world in some way or another. Authors begin with an idea, and then move towards placement of thought and scheme into somewhat of a reasonable reality. Authors such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Octavia Butler use the stories they write as ways to express their problems that they have with the present world. Advances in the present day world can only be reached through dreams and desires. These dreams and desires come to life as authors present their ideas on paper.

Each person has their own vision of utopia. Utopia means an ideal state, a paradise, a land of enchantment. It has been a central part of the history of ideas in Western Civilization. Philosophers and writers continue to imagine and conceive plans for an ideal state even today. They use models of ideal government to express their ideas on contemporary issues and political conditions. Man has never of comparing the real and ideal, actuality and dream, and the stark facts of human condition and hypothetical versions of optimum life and government.

Dystopia and Utopia can be explored in many forms of media such as artwork, film, music, poetry and even dance. The easiest and most vivid way to depict these genres to the audience is in films. Films specifically incorporate visual symbolism through colors and settings and screenshot width and filters. Films may also incorporate a subliminal message to the reader through background music used in different scenes. Displaying utopian and dystopian societies through film leaves some imagination to the audience while allowing them to visually compare with the real world around them. For the purpose of exploring aspects of utopia and dystopia through films, I have chosen the films Metropolis by Fritz Lang (1927) and the episode Nosedive from

A Utopian society was an imagined community that would posse highly desirable or nearly perfect civilization for people. There were many in America but none of them fully made it as a Utopian society. The first three Utopian cities created were called New Harmony, New Philadelphia Colony, and Nashoba. All three of them have gone through many challenges, but if these Utopian communities worked out it would have helped for so much in providing for the citizens that lived in the community. It would change how everything started into who we are now.

Modernism is the term of deviating from the norm. In the early 1900s, modernism influenced women’s role in society by providing more opportunities, jobs, and role models for girls today, in society.

The mistrust of the world which is at the center of modernism can be attributed to the world wars and the psychological effect that it had on the individual. The horrors and violence altered public perceptions of life, a change that is evident within writers of the time period. The focus of writing shifted from the outward world to inner thoughts and feelings and overall representation of an individual’s stream of consciousness which are themes associated with modern text. In “Impact of Modernism”, focuses on the idea that world needed new outlets for expression and in finding them rejected the tradition that was already there with the quote, “Many modernists believed that by rejecting tradition they could discover radically new ways of making art.” (Impact) .The world no longer had the beauty it once did so a a discovery of new arts were needed. The mind of an individual became that new found inspiration and beauty that modern writers needed and for that reason it was one of the main focuses of modern

Modernism was a movement that was developed during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Modernism developed due to the changes happening in societies at the time. Around the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century there was a rise in the industrial society’s where there were advancements in technologies and machines, and a rapid growths in cities. This lead to a change in cultural trends and philosophies, which is known as modernism. Modernism was well known for the rejection on traditional way, such as the arts and beliefs. It rejected the idea of realism and religious beliefs. During these years modernism could be distinguished by two aspects, High and Low Modernism.

Name: Tanner Hill Period: B3 Date: Nov 16 Differences between Utopias and Dystopias There are many differences and similarities between utopias and dystopias. some are evident and some are not. But some people argue that a utopia for one is a dystopia for others. Utopias are an ideal world and dystopias are a nightmare world.

Before examining the modernist elements in the above mentioned novels, I would like to look at some of the features of Modernism.

The world in any society has two sides, Utopia which is defined as the perfect world and the peaceful life that is free from disasters. This word " Utopia " is derived from Greek roots by Sir Thomas More which means "a good place" (More 37). Merriam Webster defined Utopia as "an imaginary place, all life aspects are perfect, as the world suffers from nothing" (Webster 19). while Dystopia is defined as an imagined universe in which the unequal society controls the fancy of an ideal society which are maintained through technological, moral, corporate or totalitarian control " Beauty of dystopia is that it lets us vicariously experience future worlds but we still have the power to change our own" (Condie 75). in which the genre challenges utopia’s