A connecticut Yankee Essay
A Lunge Toward Utopia
In “A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court”, after being hit in the head, Hank Morgan, the main character, moves back through time twelve centuries. In the novel, Hank Morgan journeys to sixth-century England to enlighten Arthurian society with the advancements of his era. Hank’s conjuring of scientific advancements, although a major theme of the novel, becomes greatly mocked by twain. In many instances throughout the novel, Twain lampoons Hank’s love for nineteenth-century ideas. Hank brings advancements and improvements such as soap, man-factories, and Guns with the intention of creating an ideal society that will benefit all peoples of the kingdom. In “A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court”, Twain pokes fun at Hank’s attempt to use technological advancements, improvements, and political ideas in the sixth-- in order to produce a utopia.
Even though Hank introduces many ideas from his industrial age, the introduction of soap affects the kingdom greatly. Hank first introduces soap to sixth-\ England as a means of establishing social reform. Soon, soap catches on, forcing Hank’s factory to enlarge its amount of employees. He presents soap to the nobility hoping it will implement an application of cleanliness among the nobility, which will eventually move its way to the lower classes without being punished by the Church. Hank uses soap as his first step to removing the controlling church from the lives of the lower class people. Hank holds fear of the Church throughout the novel. “And besides I was afraid of a united Church; it makes a mighty power, the mightiest conceivable, and then when it by-and-by gets into selfish hands, as it is always bound to do, it means death to human liberty, and paralysis to human thought” (Twain 72). Hank ultimate fear of the church holds to be a key theme in the novel. Twain mocks Hank at his attempt to use soap as a separation between Church and allow for freedom from the Church. In order to
In “A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court”, after being hit in the head, Hank Morgan, the main character, moves back through time twelve centuries. In the novel, Hank Morgan journeys to sixth-century England to enlighten Arthurian society with the advancements of his era. Hank’s conjuring of scientific advancements, although a major theme of the novel, becomes greatly mocked by twain. In many instances throughout the novel, Twain lampoons Hank’s love for nineteenth-century ideas. Hank brings advancements and improvements such as soap, man-factories, and Guns with the intention of creating an ideal society that will benefit all peoples of the kingdom. In “A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court”, Twain pokes fun at Hank’s attempt to use technological advancements, improvements, and political ideas in the sixth-- in order to produce a utopia.
Even though Hank introduces many ideas from his industrial age, the introduction of soap affects the kingdom greatly. Hank first introduces soap to sixth-\ England as a means of establishing social reform. Soon, soap catches on, forcing Hank’s factory to enlarge its amount of employees. He presents soap to the nobility hoping it will implement an application of cleanliness among the nobility, which will eventually move its way to the lower classes without being punished by the Church. Hank uses soap as his first step to removing the controlling church from the lives of the lower class people. Hank holds fear of the Church throughout the novel. “And besides I was afraid of a united Church; it makes a mighty power, the mightiest conceivable, and then when it by-and-by gets into selfish hands, as it is always bound to do, it means death to human liberty, and paralysis to human thought” (Twain 72). Hank ultimate fear of the church holds to be a key theme in the novel. Twain mocks Hank at his attempt to use soap as a separation between Church and allow for freedom from the Church. In order to
Cited: Mark Twain 's Machine Politics: Unmetaphoring in "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur 's Court" Thomas H. Fick American Literary Realism, 1870-1910 Vol. 20, No. 2 (Winter, 1988), pp. 30-42 Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur 's Court. New York: Oxford UP, 1996. Print.