The genesis of dystopian literature can be traced back to the burgeoning industrial age, where rapid technological advancement and societal upheaval began to stir deep-seated fears and anxieties about the future. Thomas More's "Utopia," published in 1516, though fundamentally a work about a perfect society, ironically laid the groundwork for its antithesis, dystopia, by presenting a world so perfect that it ironically highlighted its unattainability.
