Table of Contents
Introduction
Three different visions of society
Techniques and methods used by the authors
Society and its Citizens through the eyes of More, Boyle and Altman
Conclusion
Introduction
The problem of the creating of an ideal society has occupied the minds of the
people through the centuries. Thinkers, philosophers, politicians and artists
gave different visions of the idea of ideal society. Different authors used
different means and techniques to bring their ideas to the audience. Despite
the difference in the means choices all the authors who ever wrote about the
society and its citizens had one and ultimate aim –they wanted to make
this society better. This is true to the works, the book Utopia by Thomas More,
the film Gosford Park directed by Robert Altman and The film The Beach directed
by Danny Boyle, analyzed in this works. The authors of these works give their
own, unique visions of the society with its problems, vices and pitfalls.
Three different visions of society
The meaning of the word Utopia has gained a negative connotation nowadays. The
term is used to describe unrealistic projects or plans, which are not likely
to become true. Originally the term drives from the name of the popular work
under the same title written by Thomas More. The work belongs to the period
of English Renaissance. Literary the term means “nowhere” and Thomas
More used it to describe an ideal land where everybody is happy. Sad irony is
in fact that perfect land exists nowhere. The work is written in a form of a
dialog between two characters, Raphael Hythloday and More himself. Hythloday
describes his journey to the ideal land. In the society described by More people
live in ideal society and everyone is happy. Men are farming and leaning trades,
boys are following their fathers, women make easy work, which doesn’t
require physical strength, etc. The Utopian society described the principles
of modern socialism as all the citizens of the country worked in equal conditions
and were paid accordingly. Such a work division was described as extremely effective
and productive.
The film called The Beach is another attempt to describe an ideal society. The
film was directed by Danny Boyle and it went on screens in 2000. The movie is
composed of two parts, which create an antithesis. The first part is a romantic
story of search for ideal land, search for the ideal place to live. The protagonist
Richard arrives to Bangkok in search for the adventures and receives a secrete
map of the lost island. Soon he meets new friends and together they start looking
for a wonderful beach surrounded by the sea nobody knows about. Finally they
succeed in their search and find an international community of young travelers
living in a distanced island nobody knows about. Very soon they realize that
ideal place seems a paradise only from the first sight. The protagonist meets
a lot of internal and internal conflict on this “ideal” place.
Gosford Park is another movie concerned with the issue of ideal society. The
movie is set up in 1932 and tells about an elite party of eclectic public which
takes place in the luxurious mansion.
Formally the murder which occurs after the splendid dinner is a central theme
of the plot. In reality the movie is a deep survey of the English social system
of the beginning of the 20th century. Complicated social hierarchy is presented
in all its splendor and the audience has a rare opportunity to see the way the
members of this hierarchy interact with each other during the weekend they spend
in the country house. Two different worlds – higher British society and
servants meet together and overlap in this film. This gives the authors the
opportunity to show vices and counterparts of the British society of the time
described.
Techniques and methods used by the authors
More’s work is full of wit and is rich with metaphors. He uses these techniques
in order to deliver his message to the readers. Nicolas Paine described his
work as a masterpiece of wit, written by a man who knew the world, and sent
forth this book, inspired by Colet and Erasmus, not as a sure prophecy of the
form civilization must take in a thousand years or less, but as a quickener
of human sympathy and a stimulus for thought and faith in man (Gilman, 353).
Utopia is a complicated literary work. Wit and irony are used to describe the
social life of the Sixteenth Century. More mocked and scoffed at the contemporary
society. Utopia is a written in a form of the converse of three characters.
At times More’s style can be difficult for comprehension, as it becomes
hard to define whether the authors is mocking or speaks seriously. “For
undoubtedly he beside his learning had a great wit, but it was so mingled with
taunting and mocking that it seemed to them that best knew him, that he thought
nothing to be well spoken except he had ministered some mock in the communication.”
(Wegemer)
The book is written in a form of a dialog. Such an unusual form gave the author
additional opportunities in delivering his message to the readers. Three people,
who have a dialog about Utopia, present different points of view on the subject,
discuss possible pitfalls and answer possible questions which may arise. Such
a form makes the narration vivid and bright and makes the reader involved into
the conversation. The reader becomes the invisible participant of the dialog.
The society described in the book is well thought by the author. He spent much
time thinking about the society, which would give the opportunity to escape
vices caused by ill human nature. Individual interests are subdued to the interests
of the society as a whole.
The Beach tells about the illusiveness of the paradise on the Earth and discovers
the themes of human nature, which always spoils even the most ideal undertakings.
The authors of the movie use the language of the metaphor and include a lot
of Biblical motives in the subject of the film. The authors show the way the
society passes from loud words and nice ideals to hatred and violence and they
also show the way the protagonist meets this changes. In the movie we see both
an utopian ideal land and the back side of living there at the same time. The
authors use contrast and opposition in order to narrate their story.
The Gosford Park is interesting because it shows the transitional period of
the British history. The decline of the British Empire has changed a lot of
destinies and we can see the effects of this changes reflected in the movie.
Light, setting and muted colors help to create the necessary atmosphere of decline
and ruing of the old way of life. The authors managed to show the way the life
of many characters has been basically transformed during the one weekend. It’s
necessary to keep in mind that these changes occur shadowed by the major changes
in the political and social life of the country. Strong social order and hierarchy
slowly became rudiments same as they did in the movie. Such changes proclaimed
the beginning of the new era.
Society and its Citizens through the eyes of More, Boyle and Altman
More tried to prove in his work that ideal society can be constructed not only
out of ideal people. He states that even ordinary people can live in ideal society
if this society is well constructed. The people are left little freedom in the
Utopian society. Despite they possess certain freedoms and liberties these privileges
are conditional as they can not even leave the cities without the permission
of the prince. People in such a type of society are left little moral and ethical
choices. The main their choice is to follow the order and regulation of the
society they have once created. People in the described society are conscious
and obey all social rules and regulations. Citizens of the prosperous cities
voluntary help those who are in need sending supplies to them. The society is
constructed in such a way that it fulfills a basic socialist principle where
everybody works as he is able and gets as much as he needs. The effectiveness
of work is also provided by the system of punishment. This is explained by the
fact that Utopia can be an ideal land but it doesn’t mean that only ideal
people inhabit it. The author points out to the possible pitfall of such a time
of society but his interlocutor Hytholoday refutes them.
In The Beach the group of people lead secluded life on the secret isle far away
from civilization. People who live there are close to nature and from the first
sight it seems that they live in peace and harmony. It seems that they managed
to create an ideal community. The huge field of marijuana is only one of pleasant
surprises, which Richard find on this Island. Ideal life soon turns to be an
illusion and paradise turns to hell. The ideal existence is broken by internal
and external forces. Richard is attracted to Francoise, his friend’s girlfriend
and starts an argument with the girl who governs the island and her boyfriend.
Sal who runs the community is threatened by external interference and is ready
to sacrifice anything for the sake of conspiracy. The price becomes too high
sometimes. “In the perfect beach resort, nothing is allowed to interrupt
the pursuit of pleasure, not even dying.” The community represents a micromodel
of the society and on the example of this community we can see how unwillingness
to change can give a start to nazism. Betray, hatred and isolation turn the
paradise to hell and the main character starts seeking the ways to escape it.
Richard can not enjoy the paradise he’s found and it’s his own mind,
who prevents him from reaching the happiness which seemed to be so close. The
protagonist becomes obsessed by his own fears. One of the main themes of the
movie is the way ill human nature prevents people from being happy and spoils
the most ideal perspectives. “As Richard quickly learns, though you may
be able to get man out of civilization, it is difficult to get the civilization
out of man.”( Leong)
In Gosford Park servants, who are addressed by the names of their masters and
seat at the same hierarchical order as their masters do, and other minor details
give the idea about inequality of the society presented in the movie. Stupid
rituals, which are played among the groups of people, and established order
are broken by the sudden murder. “This is no less than a comedy about
selfishness, greed, snobbery, eccentricity and class exploitation, and Altman
is right when he hopes people will see it more than once; after you know the
destination the journey is transformed.“(Ebert)
Conclusion
The book and two movies are very different. They differ in their structure,
in the range of themes they touch, in them methods used by the authors. There
is one thing, which unties them all. All three pieces of art present the view
and analyses of the social structure. In Utopia by Thomas More it’s an
ideal society described like an example to follow. In The Beach the ideal society
is described like a thing which can not be achieved and which is always spoilt
by ill human nature. The Gosford Park gives a perfect account of the British
complicated social hierarchy and the type of relations, which existed inside
of it in the period between the two world wars. Despite so many differences
all three works try to answer the questions about the ways to make the society
better and to means to make the society to serve for good al all its citizens.
Sources
1. Gerard B. Wegemer, Thomas More on Statesmanship (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic
University of America Press, 1996), p. 13
2. http://www.thebeachmovie.com/
3. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280707/
4. Gilman, P. Nicholas. Socialism and the American spirit. New York: Houghton,
Mifflin and. Company, 1893.
5. Leong, Anthony, The Beach Movie Review http://www.geocities.com/aleong1631/beach.phpl
6. Ebert, Roger. Gosford Park / January 1, 2002
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20020101/REVIEWS/201010302/1023
