Utopian Dreams and Dystopian Nightmares: An Overview of the Seemingly Opposite Societies

Abstract

Utopias and Dystopias are not literally opposites; they are the different dimensions of projecting the problems in a society. The dystopias aim at projecting the seamy side of the society which has not been experienced or predicted by the writers of a utopian living. The aim of the dystopian fiction is to highlight the effects in the existing system and therefore the dystopian novels aim to revamp the socio-political structure of the entire plot. When Thomas More wrote his work, Utopia in 1516, little did he expect that his dreams would be taken as the role model for a perfect society. One has to understand that the literal meaning of Utopia is, nowhere, which means he talks about a society which is nonexistent.