Utopian fiction has been the center of much literary discussion ever since the publication of its first manifestion in Thomas More’s Utopia from 1516.
Utopian novels aim to show the reader alternate and improved concepts of life by emphasizing the moral and political inadequacies of the society to which it is contrasted. They are usually concerned with sociopolitical issues such as the organization of life in a society, its government and social structures and the distribution of wealth and power.
At a glance
- Grade: 2.0 (1.0 is the best grade)
- Compares Mattapoisett and Gilead through social organization, nature and fundamentalism
- Examines daughters as a device for representing social change
Contents
1 Introduction
2 Utopia and Dystopia
2.1 The Function of Utopian Fiction
2.2 The Reversion of Utopia – Dystopian Fiction
3 Utopia and Feminism
4 Woman On the Edge of Time
4.1 The Depiction of Utopia in the Plot of Woman On the Edge of Time
4.2 Piercy’s Message in Woman On the Edge of Time
4.2.1 The Contigency of Piercy’s Utopia
4.3 Central Themes in Woman On the Edge of Time
4.3.1 Gender Roles
4.3.2 Ethnicity
4.3.3 Age
4.3.4 Societal Organization
4.4 Summarizing the Discussion of Woman On the Edge of Time
5 The Handmaid’s Tale
5.1 The Depiction of Dystopia in the Plot of The Handmaid’s Tale
5.2 Atwood’s Message
5.3 Central Themes in The Handmaid’s Tale
5.3.1 Gender Roles
5.3.2 Societal Organization, Nature and Fundamentalism – A comparision of Woman on the Edge of Time and The Handmaid’s Tale
5.3.3 The Daughter Theme
6 Conclusion
Objectives and Themes
This paper critically compares Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, asking how the novels convey utopian and dystopian ideas and what readers can gain from them. It examines their political messages through plot, characters and recurring social themes.
- Utopian and dystopian fiction as social criticism
- Feminism and gender expectations
- Race, age and social hierarchy
- Government, ecology and fundamentalism
- Individual agency and resistance
- Daughters as figures of social change
Excerpt from the Book
4.1 The Depiction of Utopia in the Plot of Woman On the Edge of Time
On first sight, the plot of Woman on the Edge of Time seems to follow the classic structure of a utopian novel – a person from the writer’s contemporary time manages to time-travel and is being shown around in the future by a guide from that time who is familiar with the person’s situation.
The protagonist in Woman on the Edge of Time is Connie Ramos, a 37 year old Latina living on welfare who is brought to a mental hospital after beating up a violent man who prostitutes her niece. She is picked as a medical guinea pig by a group of psychiatrists who claim to be wanting to cure their patients by operating on their brains to manipulate their emotions. While she is hospitalized, Connie suffers greatly under the circumstances and the medication and while she reflects on her life and her sad role in a patriarchial, discriminating society, she makes contact with Luciente who is a woman from the future.
Connie is chosen to be taken to Mattapoisett, a village in a futuristic setting of Massachussetts in the year 2137. Luciente calls herself a sender which means that she is able to contact people from the past and she has chosen Connie as a catcher, for Connie proves to be sensible for Luciente’s signals. Like many protagonists of utopian fiction, Connie is guided through Mattapoisett and everything is explained to her by the people who are very educated and often set things in contrast to things how they exist in Connie’s society in the New York City of the 1970’s.
The people of Mattapoisett know about the past and are able to relate things as they are in the future to things how they used to be and how Connie knows them.
Like many utopian novelists, Piercy makes use of time shifts to emphasize the differences between the society that Connie is a member of and the world of Mattapoisett. The reader can thus directly compare the two worlds and understand Connie’s mental and emotional developments that explain her actions.
Chapter Summaries
1 Introduction: The introduction sets out the comparison of the two novels and asks how they express utopian and dystopian thought and engage readers.
2 Utopia and Dystopia: This chapter introduces the genre, its critical function and the contrast between utopian possibilities and dystopian warnings.
3 Utopia and Feminism: The paper connects feminist utopian fiction to questions of sexuality, gender roles and women’s position in society.
4 Woman On the Edge of Time: The analysis considers Piercy’s plot and political message, then examines gender, ethnicity, age and social organization in Mattapoisett.
5 The Handmaid’s Tale: The discussion explores Atwood’s Gilead, its gender roles and political structures, and compares the novels’ treatment of society, nature and daughters.
6 Conclusion: The conclusion brings together the comparison and reflects on the novels’ attention to individual action and critical thinking.
Keywords
feminist literature, utopia, dystopia, Marge Piercy, Margaret Atwood, gender roles, social hierarchy, individual agency, ethnicity, fundamentalism, ecology, political resistance, literary comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this work about?
It compares the depiction of utopia and dystopia in novels by Marge Piercy and Margaret Atwood.
What are its central themes?
Its themes include gender roles, social organization, ethnicity, environmental relations, fundamentalism and individual agency.
What is the main research question?
The paper asks how the novels convey utopian or dystopian thought and what readers can gain from such fiction.
What method does the author use?
The author uses comparative literary analysis, discussing plot, characters, themes and political messages alongside published criticism.
What does the main analysis cover?
It examines Piercy’s imagined society of Mattapoisett and Atwood’s Republic of Gilead, comparing their social and political arrangements.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include feminist literature, utopia, dystopia, gender roles, social hierarchy, fundamentalism and individual agency.
Why is Mattapoisett important to the discussion?
It provides the imagined future society through which the paper explores Piercy’s treatment of equality, community and social change.
How are daughters discussed in the two novels?
The paper considers the protagonists’ daughters as figures of futurity and as motivations for their mothers to question oppression.
- Quote paper
- Wiebke Uhlenbroock (Author), 2007, The depiction of utopia and dystopia in modern feminist literature by Marge Piercy and Margaret Atwood, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/75594
