Overview

Utopia and Dystopia in Tolkien’s Legendarium explores how Tolkien’s works speak to many modern people’s utopian desires despite the overwhelming dominance of dystopian literature in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It also examines how Tolkien’s malevolent societies in his legendarium have the unique ability to capture the fears and doubts that many people sense about the trajectory of modern society. Tolkien’s works do this by creating utopian and dystopian longing while also rejecting the stilted conventions of most literary utopias and dystopias. Utopia and Dystopia in Tolkien’s Legendarium traces these utopian and dystopian motifs through a variety of Tolkien’s works including The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Book of Lost Tales, Leaf by Niggle,and some of his early poetry. The book analyzes Tolkien’s ideal and evil societies from a variety of angles: political and literary theory, the sources of Tolkien’s narratives, the influence of environmentalism and Catholic social doctrine, Tolkien’s theories about and use of myth, and finally the relationship between Tolkien’s politics and his theories of leadership. The book’s epilogue looks at Tolkien’s works compared to popular culture adaptations of his legendarium.

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9781498598675

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Reviews

Like his religious thought, Tolkien's sophisticated political ideas on the organization and governance of society are nuanced, rarely plainly stated, and best discovered through a close reading of his fictional texts. In this book, Mark Doyle demonstrates that while Tolkien was not writing explicitly in the utopian mode, many societies in Middle-earth and his other writings may be usefully read as utopian or dystopian, complicated at all times by the frailties and free will of the individuals constituting them. Utopias and Dystopias traces influences on Tolkien's political systems primarily from medieval and Victorian-medievalist sources, pre- and post-WWI modernity, environmental stewardship, his Catholic faith, and his strong sense of the fallenness of man and the dangerous temptations of the desire for power. -- Janet Brennan Croft, Rutgers University, editor of Mythlore

Author Information

Mark G. Doyle is professor of English and chair of the Humanities Department at Marion Military Institute.

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