Early Modern Utopian Fiction

Abstract

Abstract This chapter offers an overview of the development of utopian fiction in the early modern period. It begins with an examination of the meaning of ‘utopia’ during this time; as the word developed satiric connotations, the utopian form was frequently rejected as a vehicle for serious political thought, though it nonetheless proliferated in a variety of genres, including political philosophy and travel literature. Having considered how More’s Utopia (1516) questions its own capacity for truthful representation, this chapter then turns to Henry Neville’s The Isle of Pines (1668). Neville’s utopia bears little obvious relation to Utopia, but nonetheless demonstrates how deeply More’s presentation of his fictional island influenced later utopias. This overview suggests that while utopia developed into two strands, namely political and fictional, these forms are not entirely distinct, sharing an interest in critiquing the world within a mode of writing that questions its own capacity for accurate representation.