Erewhon

<p>2017 Reprint of 1935 Penguin Edition.  Full facsimile of the original edition not reproduced with Optical Recognition software.  Originally published in 1872 the greater part of the novel consists of a description of Erewhon.  The nature of this nation is intended to be ambiguous.  At first glance Erewhon appears to be a Utopia yet it soon becomes clear that this is far from the case. Yet for all the failings of Erewhon it is also clearly not a dystopia such as that depicted in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.  As a satirical utopia <em>Erewhon</em> has sometimes been compared to <em>Gulliver's Travels</em> (1726) a classic novel by Jonathan Swift; the image of Utopia in this latter case also bears strong parallels with the self-view of the British Empire at the time. It can also be compared to the William Morris novel <em>News from Nowhere</em>.</p><p>                         <em>Erewhon</em> satirizes various aspects of Victorian society including criminal punishment religion and anthropocentrism.  For example according to Erewhonian law offenders are treated as if they were ill whereas ill people are looked upon as criminals.  Another feature of <em>Erewhon</em> is the absence of machines; this is due to the widely shared perception by the Erewhonians that they are potentially dangerous.  Inspired by Samuel Butler's years in colonial New Zealand and by his reading of Darwin's <em>Origin of Species</em> <em>Erewhon</em> is a highly original irreverent and humorous satire on conventional virtues religious hypocrisy and the unthinking acceptance of beliefs.</p><p> </p>