Character guide

Plato

major

Ancient Greek philosopher whose Republic is a foundational utopian text discussed throughout the book.

Edward Bellamy

major

Also known as Bellamy

Author of Looking Backward, a key utopian novel analyzed in the book.

Charles Fourier

major

Also known as Charles François Marie Fourier, Fourier

French utopian socialist whose phalanx system is examined in the text.

Sir Thomas More

major

Also known as More, Sir Thomas

Author of Utopia, the book that gave the genre its name and is a central reference.

Johann Valentin Andreae

supporting

Also known as Andreae, Johann Andreae

German theologian and author of Christianopolis, a utopian work discussed in the book.

James Buckingham

supporting

Also known as Buckingham

British author and reformer who proposed a model utopian community.

William Morris

supporting

Also known as Morris

Artist, writer, and socialist whose utopian novel News from Nowhere is analyzed.

H. G. Wells

supporting

Also known as Mr. H. G. Wells, Mr. Wells, Wells

Author of utopian works like A Modern Utopia, discussed in the book.

Francis Bacon

supporting

Also known as Bacon

English philosopher and author of New Atlantis, a key utopian text examined here.

Étienne Cabet

supporting

Also known as Cabet

French utopian socialist who wrote Voyage to Icaria and founded Icarian communities.

Robert Owen

supporting

Also known as Owen

Welsh social reformer and utopian socialist whose New Lanark experiment is discussed.

Raphael Hythloday

supporting

Also known as Hythloday, Raphael

Fictional traveler in More's Utopia who describes the ideal island society.

Julius West

minor

Also known as West

Editor or commentator whose notes appear in the book's apparatus.

Aristotle

minor

Greek philosopher whose political ideas are referenced in utopian discussions.

Thomas Spence

minor

Also known as Spence

English radical and land reformer who proposed a utopian commonwealth.

Socrates

minor

Classical Greek philosopher who appears in Plato's dialogues on ideal states.

Karl Marx

minor

Also known as Marx

German philosopher and economist whose socialist theories are discussed in context.

Tommaso Campanella

minor

Also known as Campanella

Italian Dominican friar and author of The City of the Sun, a utopian work.

Patrick Geddes

minor

Also known as Professor Patrick Geddes, Professor Geddes

Scottish biologist and urban planner whose ideas are referenced in the book.

Theodor Hertzka

minor

Also known as Hertzka, Dr. Hertzka

Austrian economist and author of Freeland, a utopian novel discussed here.

William Butler Yeats

minor

Also known as Mr. William Butler Yeats, Mr. Yeats

Irish poet and mystic whose utopian visions are mentioned in the text.

John Amos Comenius

minor

Also known as Comenius

Czech philosopher and educator who wrote about utopian educational systems.

Hippodamus

minor

Ancient Greek architect and urban planner, considered a father of city planning.

John Ruskin

minor

Also known as Ruskin

English art critic and social thinker whose utopian ideas are referenced.

François Rabelais

minor

Also known as Rabelais

French Renaissance writer whose Abbey of Thélème is a utopian satire.

Max Beer

minor

Also known as Beer

Marxist historian whose works on socialism are cited in the book.

Charles Dickens

minor

Also known as Dickens

English novelist whose social criticism is briefly referenced in the text.

Albert Brisbane

minor

Also known as Brisbane

American Fourierist who promoted phalanxes in the United States.

Ebenezer Howard

minor

Also known as Mr. Ebenezer Howard, Mr. Howard, Howard

English urban planner who conceived the Garden City movement.

W. H. Hudson

minor

Also known as Mr. W. H. Hudson, Mr. Hudson

Naturalist and author of A Crystal Age, a utopian novel mentioned here.

Thomas Carlyle

minor

Also known as Carlyle

Scottish philosopher and social critic whose ideas are briefly discussed.

Henry David Thoreau

minor

Also known as Thoreau

American transcendentalist whose Walden experiment is referenced.

Denis Vairasse

minor

Also known as Denis Vayrasse, Vayrasse

French author of The History of the Sevarites, a utopian novel.

Thorstein Veblen

minor

Also known as Mr. Thorstein Veblen

American economist and sociologist whose theories are cited in the text.

Jeremy Bentham

minor

Also known as Bentham

English philosopher and utilitarian whose ideas are referenced.

Henry Morley

minor

Also known as Morley

English academic who wrote about utopian literature and is cited here.