Erewhon · Chapter
The Colleges of Unreason explained
The narrator, now living with the Nosnibors for several months, grapples with his love for Arowhena and the impossibility of marrying her in Erewhon due to strict customs.
What happens
The narrator, now living with the Nosnibors for several months, grapples with his love for Arowhena and the impossibility of marrying her in Erewhon due to strict customs. After a painful conversation, he resolves to run away with her to Europe. He accepts an invitation from Mr. Thims to visit the city of the Colleges of Unreason, where he learns about their educational system, which emphasizes 'hypothetics'—the study of imaginary and impossible contingencies—and the deliberate cultivation of unreason as a complement to reason.
Themes in this chapter
Critique of Education
The Erewhonian system of 'hypothetics' and the study of unreason satirize the impractical and rigid educational practices of Victorian England, emphasizing the waste of human energy on barren exercises.
Inversion of Morality
The society values unreason as a complement to reason, inverting the typical moral and intellectual priorities, and justifying inconsistency and evasion as necessary for daily life.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
Reflects on his love for Arowhena and plans their escape; visits the Colleges of Unreason with Mr. Thims.
- Arowhena
Shares a poignant moment with the narrator in the garden, expressing sorrow for their situation.
- Zulora
Mentioned as the Nosnibors' hope that the narrator would fall in love with her.
- Thims
The cashier who invites the narrator to the city of the Colleges of Unreason and explains the educational system.
- The Nosnibors
The family with whom the narrator has been staying; they encourage his interest in Zulora.
Key passages
“Heaven forbid that I should be flippant, but it appeared to me to be a wanton waste of good human energy that men should spend years and years in the perfection of so barren an exercise, when their own civilisation presented problems by the hundred which cried aloud for solution and would have paid the solver handsomely”
The narrator criticizes the Erewhonian focus on studying a hypothetical language as a pointless use of time, given the many pressing issues in their society that need solving.
Reflects the narrator's frustration with the impracticality of the educational system.
“Unreason is a part of reason; it must therefore be allowed its full share in stating the initial conditions.”
The Professors of Unreason argue that unreason is essential to reason itself, so it should be given equal weight in determining foundational principles.
Highlights the Erewhonian inversion of logic and the justification of irrationality.
“The words were few and simple, but the manner with which they were uttered was ineffable: the scales fell from my eyes, and I felt that I had no right to try and induce her to infringe one of the most inviolable customs of her country, as she needs must do if she were to marry me.”
Arowhena's heartfelt words make the narrator realize he cannot ask her to break Erewhonian marriage customs, prompting him to consider escape instead.
A turning point in the narrator's relationship with Arowhena and his plans for the future.