Utopian Societies: Brook Farm

Throughout history, many utopian societies have been established in hopes of creating a protected and uniform environment. In order to maintain a perfectly equal and errorless environment, some basic human rights are often violated. Many of the utopian principles put in place are based on the fear that the citizens will gain knowledge and notice the absence of their basic human rights. Unfortunately, once the citizens figure out that the government has infringed on their civil liberties they become disillusioned and want to revolt. This ultimately causes dissention and unhappiness throughout the utopia, which defeats the sole intention the leaders had when creating it. To avoid the rebellion, leaders of utopian experiments infringe on

One of the major themes Mitchell plays with in his novel is the concept of a utopian society, and what it is comprised of. In each story, there is a setup for a ‘perfect’ society, but humanity, or humanity’s spirit got in the way. Each story represents how the interpretation of things can shape a society, depending on how literal they take the events. In the story “Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Everythin’ After”, the tales are in place to develop the role of each character. Zachry fights his inner demons, just as Truman Napes does with Old Georgie. Zachry chooses to protect and befriend Meronym, even though it goes against his initial judgement. Meronym fights for the overall good of the people just as the crow does in “Prescient yarnie”. She goes out and lives with the villagers to gather information, and saves Zachry’s sister. She is making diplomatic decisions to take on the risk of changing the course of things by helping her. The function of Zachry and Meronym are to be foils of each other, even the story is told from the biased perspective of Zachry. Meronym is focused on long term goals, and the redevelopment of society, while Zachry is very much focused on the present time, and the folklore that affects his day to day life.

After 1815, the female was viewed in a more respectful persona in society. Women’s rights were beginning to grow. They were helping more in religious growth, and helping in the abolition of slavery. “On every principle of natural justice, as well as by the nature of our institutions, she is as fully entitled as man to vote and to be eligible to office.” (Document F). Many females were involved in the growth of religion, including the Second Great Awakening. With the females being the ones who take the children to church, they were prone to having a deeper belief for their religion. And with that, they would try to inspire religious growth. The Second Great Awakening spurred reform, prison, church, temperance, abolition, women’s rights, and Christianizing Indians. With women fighting for what they believe in, the women were finding themselves to have a new found respect; from both themselves and men. Document E illustrates this by females walking down a street with a sense of confidence.

Lee knew that she would have to stand against others who had no faith in their reform plan. Many people said that “celibacy was seen as inherently contrary to nature, God, and the sanctity of marriage”. Also, traditional families felt threatened by the prominent role of women in the church. Since the Shakers’ first leader was a woman, this defied social norms by giving women equal authority as men. Even more radical was their belief that God was both male and female, and that Ann Lee had been the feminine incarnation of Jesus. Unlike the usual opinion at the time, the Shakers believed “as in the natural order of man, the desire of all nations, which is glory and perpetuity, is completed by the female.” They claimed that this also applies to “the spiritual order of Christ” since “the desire of all nations for glory and immortality can only be completed by the

In nineteenth century America, women were not given the same rights and freedoms as their spouses/ men. Women were expected to be submissive to their husbands though they did have some authority within the private sphere. The private sphere is comprised of the home and family. During this time, women were responsible for being a mother and wife; however, with the Second Great Awakening, women were being to have more freedoms and responsibilities. New roles allowed for mothers to teach their children religion in their homes and women took up an interest in attending religious revival meetings (Hewitt, Lawson 357). A fair number of women were enticed with the religious revival movement because it allowed women to leave their private sphere and participate in the public sphere. Women were given an opportunity to conjugate with each other and practice their beliefs that allowed them to slowly partake in the reform (Hewitt, Lawson 352). The religious revival meetings attracted thousands to attend, most of who were women, and “pray” in a group (Frances Trollope – Description of a Revival Meeting, 1832). In Document 11.7, Frances Trollope, English author,

During the early 1900s the Puritans and Quakers were two of the most common religions in America. The Puritans were known for trying to keep their community as close to their beliefs as possible. That meant their laws came from the bible and that if they were broken then there were to be serious consequences. They also believed in witches and other supernatural beings at this time; this is why they had the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. At this time women were still seen as weak and inferior to the men of the day so they didn’t have many rights.

Shakers were religious groups that formed to escape the corruption within society. The Shakers were the most successful of all of the religious communities. In the 1840’s Shaker communities stretched across the country with 5000 members. Shakers thought that men and women were equal and that God was both part male and female (Text 343). Within the Shaker religion, men and women lived in separate areas and ate i]n large dining halls. As the leader of the Shakers Ann Lee gave the Shakers a boost of members by adopting children, the

In the Northern states, and during the Second Great Awakening, many Americans became involved in evangelical work and had become eager to share the Protestant faith. Although, the Second Great Awakening “reasserted the egalitarian ideals which drew more women than men”, and it also favored women and their reform activities (DuBois & Dumenil, 2012, p.151). Therefore, the revivalism that expanded during the antebellum period is what introduced a number of social reform movements to improve America overall. With the new conversions and the growing interest in religion, women were influenced to help improve all aspect of life including the political, economical, and social problems; therefore they started by “supporting their husband in missionary

Have you ever dreamed of a community so perfect where you could live, work, and go to school on a daily basis? A community filled with so much happiness and peace among the society? A society where jobs are available as well as proficient teaching for citizens in that society. A place where citizens have the options of choice for which career they choose. A place filled with intelligent people who have high morals. Brook Farm was created to unite human relationships together.

The cult of true womanhood was a set of beliefs about gender roles in the 19th century America. The cult of domesticity decreed that a woman 's place was in the home. Women were extremely limited in this time and they normally did not speak in public. Women at the time could not hold male occupations and one exception was woman could be teachers which they felt was an extension of a mother 's role. Women cannot own property in their own name legally, cannot sign contracts, any money that she would make would go to her husband and certainly she could not vote. At the time legally a husband and wife were considered one person and the person was the husband.

Women during the 19th century were held up to four virtues of a true woman: “Piety, Purity, Submission and Domesticity.” Piety was valued because religion did not disrupt the roles of women, and the church is an intuition that instills gender ideologies. The purity of a woman is her greatest assets and shows commitment to their future husbands. Women were to be submissive to their husbands as men to God and lastly, a proper place for a woman was her home. The home is the center of the family where children and men alike, are taken care of, along with any other household duty. Other characteristics that describe women were soft, weak and passive. However not all women were subjected to the same standards across the U.S. The upper and middle classes have been submitted to these virtues more so than the lower or working class. Nor was women in the South, whose “slave mastery and patriarchal

In our lives today, we take advantage of all the luxuries that are presented daily. Freedom alone is one of the greatest luxuries we possess as an American nation. In Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs and Utopia by Thomas Moore, we are presented two life styles, which some might consider very similar in various ways. Both authors focus on a peaceful living lifestyle, to better the people of the nation. Although some of their specific details are different, I believe that Jacobs would definitely approve of the features that More develops in Utopia.

     Sir Thomas More writes, in his book Utopia, about a society that is perfect in practically ever sense. The people all work an equal amount and everything they need for survival is provided. Most importantly is that everyone living in this perfect society is happy and content with their everyday lives. In this society everybody supports everyone. The community is only as strong as its weakest link. For society to progress everyone must work together. Opponents of the Utopian system, however, feel that the strong should not have to look after the weak. Progress would be maximized if all the resources are spent on the people most qualified to help society. A Utopian society, as perfect as the one

Firchow, Peter Edgerly. "George Orwell's Dystopias: From Animal Farm to Nineteen Eighty-Four." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 11 Mar. 201

Thousands and thousands of years from now in a time when humans no longer walk the Earth, how will future beings know what their role in this large, vacant world should be? An imperative message that future people must discover and obey shall be their only way of knowing what once was, and what soon shall be, as long as they don’t mimic the actions of the Plutarch people. Future beings must heed the warnings of the Plutarch society and follow the guidelines set for them in this message, since the Plutarchs are the original reason for the conveyance of this fundamental message.