Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

Description

When the Square found out about a three dimensional world so different and filled with so many wonders beyond what his own 2D world of Flatland could offer, he immediately began envisioning dimensions beyond the third, while his counterparts down in Flatland silently acknowledged the existence of another dimension, and tried to suppress the knowledge as much as possible.

This is, in essence, what Edwin Abbott Abbott’s remarkable story, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is about. Depicting a fictional two-dimensional world where the inhabitants are all geometric figures of various types, the novel is also a satirical portrayal of the rigid class divisions that existed during the Victorian era.

In Abbott’s story, social ascent is the goal of each of Flatland’s inhabitants, and the danger presented by a Sphere appearing and disappearing to provide a sign of a higher dimension is a threat for the higher members of society which attempt to control and regulate the social development of other geometric shapes.

This presents somewhat of a comparison between Flatland and Victorian culture, stressing on the limitations of the culture in terms of the roles of women in society and the class divisions between men.

The idea of Flatland quickly caught on and became a popular example given in science as well, particularly in recent years, when scientists have struggled to describe the extra dimensions predicted by String Theory. However, its social allegory is the most widely recognized meaning that still is valid when discussing certain cultures today, including many highly civilized regions, where the division between classes has seemingly melted throughout the years, but is still perceived adversely by many individuals today.

This remarkable little romance about geometry and classes touches deeply upon psychological and cultural issues that are still very current today.
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