I think an exceptionally important premise that has evolved from this course that studies utopias is that these perfect societies did/do not actually exist. We have analyzed readings and books and case studies, all about individuals striving to create a flawless community, but none of the communities have lasted. Robert Owen spent years planning his own perfect society in the United States, New Harmony, and it lasted only two years. Individuals entering into the society had such high expectations for perfection, when their expectations were not met, they gave up on the society. While examining the plans of the utopian thinkers, our class was always able to pinpoint certain flaws that led to the downfall of their dream society. Robert Owen’s new Harmony certainly possessed some of these flaws.

Owen preached to his followers that his new community would be one of total equality and human happiness. The women entering New Harmony expected parity and pleasure just as much as their husbands, but they did not receive it. They were forced to perform domestic work day and night and were even separated from their children so the children could be educated communally. They quickly became dissatisfied with their new lifestyle, and for this reason, many families left New Harmony and other Owenite communities that presented their inhabitants with false promises. Owen’s flaw was that he did not look at women as equals. Even in Owen’s The Book of the New Moral World he discusses his plans to work towards the universal happiness of human kind, but never explicitly suggests women were included in the happiness New Harmony would provide to all. The nineteenth century was an era of female oppression, and the women entering New Harmony, seeking an egalitarian lifestyle, quickly realized they would not be offered one, which is one of the many reasons New Harmony disbanded.