Late Victorian Utopias: A Prospectus

This collection of literary utopias calls for a complete overhaul of existing assumptions about utopian writing in this period.

The most famous of the genre, William Morris' "News From Nowhere" (1890), has until now stood as the supposed representative of trends in utopian writing in this period.

The representation of utopian texts in these volumes shows that William Morris is far from "representative" of basic trends in the genre in this era.

Most utopias do not involve the revival of a medieval ethos, "pace" Morris, but instead rely on the future discovery or invention of scientific and social schemes of improvement.

The scientific work of Charles Darwin and the rise of socialism were important influence on the Utopian literature of the time which reflects an increasing focus on technological solutions to social problems, coupled with novel approaches to both the problems of poverty and social, economic and political organization.