Description

Discover a new way to read classics with Quick Read.

This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each chapter.

- Reading time of the complete text: about 14 hours

- Reading time of the summarized text: 35 minutes

"Equality" is a utopian novel by Edward Bellamy, published in 1897 as a sequel to "Looking Backward: 2000-1887." The story continues with the main characters from the first novel, Julian West, Doctor Leete, and Edith. West shares his nightmare of returning to the 19th century with Edith, who sympathizes with him. In the new America, West's citizenship is recognized, and he obtains a "credit card" that allows him to draw his equal share of the national product. The society has undergone significant changes, including revolutionary clothing made of strengthened paper and a three-year general labor period for everyone. Julian learns that women have equal opportunities in various trades, and they visit a tenement house as a reminder of the evils of private capitalism. The world of the year 2000 is described, with advancements such as phonograph records replacing handwriting, the elimination of jewelry and meat consumption, and the use of television-like devices called electroscope. The book concludes with lectures on how the idyllic state was achieved. "Equality" received mixed reactions, with some criticizing its lack of fiction elements and others praising its populist and democratic themes.