Looking Backward

Bellamy’s utopia includes many improvements in women’s freedoms compared to the 19th century. Yet in what ways are women still second-class citizens in the novel’s version of 2000 Boston? How does the role of women in 2000 Boston inform your view of Bellamy’s utopia?

Identify the strategies with which Bellamy appeals to his 19th-century readers in his assertions that an economy based on public capital is better than their economy based on private capital. What specific appeals may work on a 19th-century reader that are now historical artifacts today?

Bellamy chose to present his utopia in the form of a novel rather than an essay. How does the genre add to the way his readers approach his ideas?