E X T E N S I O N ISLANDS IN LITERATURE Islands have inspired the human imagination for thousands of years (think of Ithaca in the Odyssey). They are the perfect places for fiction and for mythology. In some works, the island functions not simply as a scenario, but as a character in itself. Islands may also represent eutopias (positive utopias) or dystopias (negative utopias). The former are free from human vices1; the latter are terrifying places. The following are some of the most famous islands in English-speaking literature. Utopia (1516) Thomas Moore s island is a place where society has overcome2 the great vices of the old world. It is an egalitarian society which celebrates religious freedom and condemns private property. Utopia is more like a totalitarian state than a land of freedom and happiness. 1. vice: evil or immoral behaviour or quality. 30 2. overcome (overcome-overcameovercome): to defeat or succeed in controlling something.