Utopia and
Dystopia
UTOPIA
Two Greek words: “oi” (not) and
“topos” (place) = “nowhere”
The word was created by Thomas
More in 1516 when he wrote a book by
that title
• The story recounts how the author himself encounters a
Portuguese sailor during his travels. The sailor tells him how
he ended up on the island and in the ideal country of Utopia.
• Utopia turns out to be an exemplary place with perfect order
in politics and in society. There is no private ownership, for
example, and men and women have the same opportunities
for education and work. This was completely different from
the prevailing conditions in sixteenth-century England,
where More lived, which was ruled by the House of Tudor
royal family and dominated by religion. As a result, the
contrast between the real world and the land of Utopia was
rather dramatic, and at that time it could be dangerous to
express such harsh criticism openly.
UTOPIAN CONCEPTS
A beautiful society with a general
pacifistic attitude = no violence
Poverty and misery are removed
Very few laws are necessary
Money is not necessary
People do only work that they enjoy
and which benefits the common good
RELATED IDEAS:
RELIGION
• The Judeo-Christian concept of the
Garden of Eden and Heaven
• The Buddhist concept of Nirvana
DYSTOPIA
The antonym (word that means the
opposite) of utopia
An imaginary place where people
lead dehumanized and often fearful
lives (a worst-case scenario for
society)
DYTSTOPIAN CONCEPTS
Totalitarian dictatorship
Glorification and justification of
violence
Technology replaces humanity
Negative social trends are taken to
nightmarish extremes
CHARACTERISTICS OF
DYSTOPIAN LITERATURE
• Fictional and futuristic
• Dystopias serve as warnings to
comtemporary man
• Comment on our own current
society
UTOPIAN LITERATURE
• Utopian and dystopian
societies are often present
in science fiction literature.
• A utopia refers to a perfect
society that does not exist
or can never exist
INTIME (UTOPIAN OR DYSTOPIAN?)
• Welcome to a world where time has
become the ultimate currency. You stop
aging at 25, but there's a catch: you're
genetically-engineered to live only one
more year, unless you can buy your way
out of it. The rich "earn" decades at a time
(remaining at age 25), becoming
essentially immortal, while the rest beg,
borrow or steal enough hours to make it
through the day.
TOMORROWLAND (UTOPIAN OR
DYSTOPIAN?)
• In order to save our world from
danger, a curious teenage girl with a
high interest in science, and a former
genius inventor embark on an
adventure packed journey filled with
evil machines, robots and, a
technology paradise known as,
"Tomorrowland"!
MY UTOPIA
1. Imagine that you have been hired to plan and create an
"ideal" society.
a. Give your "perfect" community a name, a system of
government, a physical description, and an account of
how people spend their days.
b. Think about how that community would change and
grow.
c. What are the rules or laws? What happens if someone
breaks them? How would these rules affect individuals?
Schools? Families? Government? Include as many details
as possible.
d. What would be lost in this quest for perfection?