Mizora
Encyclopedia
Mizora is an utopian novel
by Mary E. Bradley Lane, first published in 1880–81, when it was serialized in the Cincinnati Commercial newspaper. It appeared in book form in 1890. Mizora is "the first portrait of an all-female, self-sufficient society," and "the first feminist technological Utopia."
The book's full title is Mizora: A Prophecy: A Mss. Found Among the Private Papers of Princess Vera Zarovitch: Being a True and Faithful Account of her Journey to the Interior of the Earth, with a Careful Description of the Country and its Inhabitants, their Customs, Manners, and Government.
Mizora is one element in the wave of utopian and dystopian fiction
that distinguished the later decades of the nineteenth century.
The novel is "the second known feminist utopian novel written by a woman," after Man's Rights (1870) by Annie Denton Cridge. The concept of an all-female society dates back at least to the Amazons
of ancient Greek mythology
— though the Amazons still needed men for procreation. In Lane's Mizora, reproduction is by parthenogenesis
.
The book depicts an all-female "utopia" existing within the Earth. The Mizorans practice eugenics
; all of them are blonde "Aryans," who disdain people of darker skin. (In modern terms their society is deliberately racist
. That term is perhaps applicable to the book as well.) In its ancient history, the land was ruled by a military general elected president (a version of Ulysses Grant). When the general ran for a third term (as Grant was urged to do in 1880), the society of Mizora descended into chaos. Eventually a new all-female social order arose in Mizora. The last men were "eliminated" — though it is not clear whether they were overtly killed or left to die out. It is said that men are more forgotten than hated.
The novel also refers to political repression in contemporary Russia, and the suppression of the Polish revolt of 1863. The first-person narrator, Vera Zarovitch, is a young wife and mother, but she has fallen foul of the Czarist regime and has been sentenced to exile in Siberia
. She escapes northward into the Arctic
, where her kayak is swept over a vast waterfall to Mizora. She spends fifteen years there, learning the ways of the culture; at the end of that time she longs to return to her husband and child, and teach her own society what she has learned.
As a utopian novel, the book devotes some time to the futuristic technology such as "videophones." The Mizorans can make rain by discharging electricity into the air. Though Mizora has no domestic animals, its women eat chemically-prepared artificial meat — an innovation that is only under development in the early twenty-first century.
Lane plays with the customs and conventions of her own society, as utopian writers normally do. In Mizora, a narrow waist is considered a "disgusting deformity" — reversing the preference of Lane's own time for tightly-corseted women.
Lane's book anticipates some of the features of Charlotte Perkins Gilman
's famous Herland
by three decades. It was closely followed by other feminist utopian works, Mrs. George Corbett's New Amazonia: A Foretaste of the Future
(1889), and Unveiling a Parallel
(1893) by collaborators Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Merchant. Simultaneously, some male utopian writers published works that involve feminist issues and questions of gender roles; Charles Bellamy's An Experiment in Marriage (1889) and Linn Boyd Porter's Speaking of Ellen (1890) are examples.
Mizora also belongs to the curious class of hollow Earth
literature.
The second edition of Mizora appeared in 1975, and it was re-released in 1999 by the University of Nebraska Press
. Little is known of the author; Mrs. Lane did not want her husband to find out she was writing about the world being better off without men.
Utopian and dystopian fiction
The utopia and its offshoot, the dystopia, are genres of literature that explore social and political structures. Utopian fiction is the creation of an ideal world, or utopia, as the setting for a novel. Dystopian fiction is the opposite: creation of a nightmare world, or dystopia...
by Mary E. Bradley Lane, first published in 1880–81, when it was serialized in the Cincinnati Commercial newspaper. It appeared in book form in 1890. Mizora is "the first portrait of an all-female, self-sufficient society," and "the first feminist technological Utopia."
The book's full title is Mizora: A Prophecy: A Mss. Found Among the Private Papers of Princess Vera Zarovitch: Being a True and Faithful Account of her Journey to the Interior of the Earth, with a Careful Description of the Country and its Inhabitants, their Customs, Manners, and Government.
Mizora is one element in the wave of utopian and dystopian fiction
Utopian and dystopian fiction
The utopia and its offshoot, the dystopia, are genres of literature that explore social and political structures. Utopian fiction is the creation of an ideal world, or utopia, as the setting for a novel. Dystopian fiction is the opposite: creation of a nightmare world, or dystopia...
that distinguished the later decades of the nineteenth century.
The novel is "the second known feminist utopian novel written by a woman," after Man's Rights (1870) by Annie Denton Cridge. The concept of an all-female society dates back at least to the Amazons
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
of ancient Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
— though the Amazons still needed men for procreation. In Lane's Mizora, reproduction is by parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction found in females, where growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization by a male...
.
The book depicts an all-female "utopia" existing within the Earth. The Mizorans practice eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
; all of them are blonde "Aryans," who disdain people of darker skin. (In modern terms their society is deliberately racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
. That term is perhaps applicable to the book as well.) In its ancient history, the land was ruled by a military general elected president (a version of Ulysses Grant). When the general ran for a third term (as Grant was urged to do in 1880), the society of Mizora descended into chaos. Eventually a new all-female social order arose in Mizora. The last men were "eliminated" — though it is not clear whether they were overtly killed or left to die out. It is said that men are more forgotten than hated.
The novel also refers to political repression in contemporary Russia, and the suppression of the Polish revolt of 1863. The first-person narrator, Vera Zarovitch, is a young wife and mother, but she has fallen foul of the Czarist regime and has been sentenced to exile in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. She escapes northward into the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
, where her kayak is swept over a vast waterfall to Mizora. She spends fifteen years there, learning the ways of the culture; at the end of that time she longs to return to her husband and child, and teach her own society what she has learned.
As a utopian novel, the book devotes some time to the futuristic technology such as "videophones." The Mizorans can make rain by discharging electricity into the air. Though Mizora has no domestic animals, its women eat chemically-prepared artificial meat — an innovation that is only under development in the early twenty-first century.
Lane plays with the customs and conventions of her own society, as utopian writers normally do. In Mizora, a narrow waist is considered a "disgusting deformity" — reversing the preference of Lane's own time for tightly-corseted women.
Lane's book anticipates some of the features of Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a prominent American sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform...
's famous Herland
Herland (novel)
Herland is a utopian novel from 1915, written by feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The book describes an isolated society composed entirely of women who reproduce via parthenogenesis . The result is an ideal social order, free of war, conflict and domination...
by three decades. It was closely followed by other feminist utopian works, Mrs. George Corbett's New Amazonia: A Foretaste of the Future
New Amazonia
New Amazonia: A Foretaste of the Future is a feminist utopian novel, written by Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett and first published in 1889. It was one element in the wave of utopian and dystopian literature that marked the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.-The plot:In her novel, Corbett...
(1889), and Unveiling a Parallel
Unveiling a Parallel
Unveiling a Parallel: A Romance is a feminist science fiction and utopian novel published in 1893. The first edition of the book attributed authorship to "Two Women of the West." They were in fact Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Merchant, writers who lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.-Genre:The novel is...
(1893) by collaborators Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Merchant. Simultaneously, some male utopian writers published works that involve feminist issues and questions of gender roles; Charles Bellamy's An Experiment in Marriage (1889) and Linn Boyd Porter's Speaking of Ellen (1890) are examples.
Mizora also belongs to the curious class of hollow Earth
Hollow Earth
The Hollow Earth hypothesis proposes that the planet Earth is either entirely hollow or otherwise contains a substantial interior space. The hypothesis has been shown to be wrong by observational evidence, as well as by the modern understanding of planet formation; the scientific community has...
literature.
The second edition of Mizora appeared in 1975, and it was re-released in 1999 by the University of Nebraska Press
University of Nebraska Press
The University of Nebraska Press, founded in 1941, is a publisher of scholarly and popular-press books. It is the second-largest state university press in the United States and, including private institutions, ranks among the 10 largest university presses in the United States...
. Little is known of the author; Mrs. Lane did not want her husband to find out she was writing about the world being better off without men.
See also
- ArqtiqArqtiqArqtiq: A Story of the Marvels at the North Pole is a feminist utopian adventure novel, published in 1899 by its author, Anna Adolph. The book was one element in the major wave of utopian and dystopian fiction that marked the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.-Genre:Arqtiq participates...
- The DiothasThe DiothasThe Diothas; or, A Far Look Ahead is a 1883 utopian novel written by John Macnie and published using the pseudonym "Ismar Thiusen". The Diothas has been called "perhaps the second most important American nineteenth-century ideal society" after Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward .-Synopsis:The novel...
- The Republic of the FutureThe Republic of the FutureThe Republic of the Future: or, Socialism a Reality is a novella by the American writer Anna Bowman Dodd, first published in 1887. The book is a dystopia written in response to the utopian literature that was a dramatic and noteworthy feature of the second half of the nineteenth...
- 28942894 (novel)2894, or The Fossil Man is an 1894 utopian novel written by Walter Browne. It is one entrant in the major wave of utopian and dystopian literature that characterized the final decades of the nineteenth century....