UTOPIA AND PLEASANTVILLE COMPARATIVE UTOPIAS ESSAY.docx

Analyse the way each text, Utopia and Pleasantville, demonstrates a particular attitude towards the concept of Utopia.
Utopian literature is contextually focused as it provides the composer opportunity to comment on the nature of their world. The notion of utopia is employed in both Pleasantville (1988) by Gary Ross and Utopia (1516) by Thomas More to respectively reflect values of the 1990s and critique issues of the early sixteenth century, particularly gender roles and individuality. Utopia satirises 16th century gender and family structures through assigning women more progressive roles. Furthermore, More critiques the increasing individualism and autonomy as a product of the renaissance by depicting conformity as an important value within Utopia. Pleasantville, a post-modern film, reflects values of 1990's America within a 1950's ostensibly utopic society. Contemporary feminist values contrast outdated gender roles, and modern individualism and autonomy is juxtaposed with conformity.

Through the presentation of progressive female roles in Utopia's society, More critiques the constraining gender structures of the 16th century. Women had limited opportunities to explore wider roles in the sixteenth century; women largely engaged in domestic pursuits; were morally confined to virtues of innocence and morality and education was generally discouraged. In the text, Utopian women are granted a measure of equality through their military service and choice in divorce and marriage. The didactic nature of Utopia allows More to authoritatively inform his audience- "their marriages are seldom terminated except by death, though they do allow divorce for adultery or for intolerably difficult behaviour". More instructs the reader in this example through an egalitarian law, in which both sexes are given an equal choice in divorce. This option wasn't available to women in the sixteenth century and demonstrates More's support of an early form of gender equality. Furthermore, More uses high modality language in "premarital intercourse, if discovered and proved, brings severe punishment on both men and women" promoting a rigid, egalitarian punishment for both genders. Comparison is used in "[j]ust as no man is forced into a foreign war against his will, so women are allowed to accompany their men on military service". More constructs a form of equality between the sexes and their duties in Utopian society, in contrast to the confined roles of women in the 16th century. In Utopia, More utilises the concept of utopia to satirise gender issues of the 16th century, paralleling Ross' purpose by promoting gender equality.

In an argument for gender equality, Ross reflects contemporary feminist values within in a 1950's anti-progressive and ostensibly utopic society, Pleasantville., These progressive perspectives represent a major shift in attitudes and values since Utopia's publication. Widespread poverty and increased levels of criminal violence in the 1990's led to a nostalgic push for the reiteration of a 1950's conservative culture and "family values". Whereas More advocates a form of gender equality through presenting more progressive gender roles in Utopia, Ross juxtaposes outdated gender perspectives with the feminist ideals of contemporary society. Throughout Pleasantville, Ross demonstrates each character's shift from conservative 1950's attitudes to progressive perspectives through the transitioning from black and white to colour, juxtaposing the feminist and conservative values in a sustained argument for gender equality. Early in the film, Ross manipulates the mise-en-scene in the breakfast table scene. The costuming of Betty and the excess amount of food as props establishes the subservience of the housewife in the 1950's who cooks and cleans for her family, paralleling similar patriarchal values in More's time. Later, Betty's masturbation scene in the bathtub is symbolic of her transcending sexual repression in her marriage to George, and her broader escape from masculine oppression. Swelling music and the use of rotating shots emphasises Betty's deviation from her confined female role in 1950's society, the zenith of the juxtaposition between 90's feminist and 50's conservative values. The tree bursting into flames as Betty orgasms is symbolic of Betty's sexual discovery and gained feminist perspective. The extent of feminist perspectives and argument in this example, especially the emphasis on self-determination through sexual pleasure, is explored more deeply than More's limited presentation of gender equality. In Pleasantville, Ross's purpose of employing the notion of utopia parallels More's; Ross reflects and advocates contemporary feminist values that satirise patriarchal perspectives within his ostensibly utopic society, 1950's America.

Conformity exists in Utopia as a governing value, which More advocates over the increasing individuality of his own society. Utopia was published during the Renaissance directly prior to the Protestant Reformation which exalted the autonomy of the individual Christian against the authority of the Church. These changing ideas regarding the autonomy of an individual influenced More's utopic society where there is a clear bias of conformist collectivism at the expense of individual freedom. More uses critical tone in unison with satire to place emphasis his own contextual issues, including its basis in individuality rather than conformity. Moreover, the use of lexical chain of 'alike', 'same' and 'all' in "she cherishes alike all those living beings to whom she has granted the same form" puts emphasis on the uniformity and conformity within Utopia, further highlighting the perceived issue of increasing individualism and autonomy within More's own society. Parallelism and listing is used in "wives are subordinate to their husbands, children to their parents, and younger people generally to their elders" to highlight the regimented hierarchical social structure in Utopia, in comparison to the increasingly autonomous social structure in the sixteenth century. More uses the concept of utopia to advocate conformity over the increasing autonomy and individualism of his own society, critiquing this perceived issue.

Conversely, Ross advocates individualism and autonomy by reflecting individualistic values of the 1990's within his conformist utopic society, Pleasantville. The transition of black-and-white characters to colour in the film has multiple layers of significance and can be interpreted as a depiction of characters gaining individuality. In the first classroom scene, cinematography is used to depict the acme of the juxtaposition between 1990's individualism and 1950's conformity. The high-angled shot of students sitting uniformly with straight backs, interlocked fingers and looking at the teacher in an obsequious manner highlights the conformity of the students and their subservience to authority. This depiction of 1950's conformist values parallels More's ideal society. The Pleasantville students are starkly contrasted with Mary Sue's relaxed posture and perplexed facial expression implying a defiance of the intellectual conformity and simplistic attitudes of Pleasantville. In the same vein, Ross alludes to the courtroom scene in To Kill a Mockingbird and racial intolerance in the 1950's by placing the "coloureds" in the top balcony, and the black-and-white characters below. This allusion is used to reinforce the conformist nature of 1950's society, and its need to oppress deviation from white middle class values. In Pleasantville, Ross uses his utopia to advocate modern individualism in contrast with the conformist attitudes of the 1950's, while conversely More critiques this movement towards social autonomy.

The concept of utopia is used in Utopia as a mouthpiece for More's critique of individualism and confined female roles of the 16th century, whereas in Pleasantville Ross reflects and advocates the feminist and individualistic societal values of the 1990's, within the context of in particular feminism and autonomy, within the context of a conservative 1950's society.