Utopian and Dystopian Themes in Tolkien's Legendarium by Mark Doyle

Abstract

Reviewed by: Utopian and Dystopian Themes in Tolkien's Legendarium by Mark Doyle Jay Rimmer Utopian and Dystopian Themes in Tolkien's Legendarium, by Mark Doyle. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2020. vii, 195 pp. $90.00 (hardcover). ISBN 978-1-4985-9867-5. Mark Doyle's Utopian and Dystopian Themes in Tolkien's Legendarium is an interesting but flawed work of scholarship. Doyle draws from a wide-ranging array of numerous sources, but while the research and the treatment of the sources is impressive, the arguments constructed from them are highly dubious and detract from the overall [End Page 255] work. Doyle is at his best introducing a source to the discussion and showing his reader how to fit the new source alongside the others. The weakest moments tend to come soon after the introduction of a source, as Doyle constructs arguments that are often unimaginative and occasionally self-contradicting or highly subjective. It is also difficult to know what audience this book is written for: one constant thread is that Tolkien is better than other authors for a plethora of reasons, and most of Doyle's high-level, overarching arguments are variations on this theme. Overall, this book could make an excellent starting point for further research, as Doyle does an admirable job of showing what a great many sources can contribute to the conversation, but his own arguments do not contribute greatly themselves. Doyle's central thesis is that Tolkien synthesizes a number of different and disparate influences in his works, and the outcome of this synthesis is a depiction of utopian and dystopian societies which is unique among contemporary works; according to Doyle, Tolkien's depiction and deployment of these themes and motifs is also superior to these contemporary works. The basis of this argument is one of Doyle's most interesting ideas. A significant number of Tolkien scholars have attempted to place Tolkien in the contexts of various Germanic traditions or of that of Tolkien's predecessors and contemporaries. In chapters dedicated to each approach, Doyle claims that Tolkien's Victorian, pagan, and environmentally conscious leanings are just as important as any other thread of influence you might care to follow. This by itself is not groundbreaking, but using this discussion to complement a discussion about utopias and dystopias is a compelling way to view Tolkien's works. By showing how all these varied approaches intersect in Tolkien's legendarium, Doyle helps illustrate the richness of these works. Along these lines, another strength of this book is Doyle's care in establishing terms and conditions for his discussion. In particular, Doyle devotes several pages to establishing definitions of "utopia(n)" and "dystopia(n)," which may seem nitpicky at first; however, Doyle justifies the discussion by showing how the precision in terminology and definition actually reveals interesting nuances. At one point, Doyle makes the argument that while many utopian stories feature a break with the past and prior ways of living, Tolkien "departs from most fictional utopian states in his emphasis on tradition and traditional wisdom" (21). Even though the utopia is often defined in shorthand as "the best possible society," there can be something sinister in its very core, Doyle argues in conjunction with his sources, and by the same [End Page 256] token, the idea of a dystopia is rich with narrative potential which extends beyond a standard "woe is us" plot. This care with definitions and distinctions in the scholarship behind this book is matched by the wide variety of sources. It's clear that Doyle has spent a lot of time considering not only the original texts at the core of this book, but also the wide variety of Tolkien scholarship from the past few decades, as well as sources involving Christian theology, pagan myths, and environmental conservation of many stripes. The variety and number of his sources add a lot to the book. Doyle also does a great job of introducing these other voices to the conversation while showing where they fit into the overall picture. Doyle's writing is strongest when he is discussing these sources and providing context. By including some of the most well-known names in Tolkien scholarship...