The Voyages of Lord Seaton to the Seven Planets
A 1765 feminist utopian novel set in the Solar System.
Marie-Anne de Roumier-Robert’s 1765 novel *The Voyages of Lord Seaton to the Seven Planets* is a romantic utopian work presented as travel literature set across the Solar System. It explores feminist ideas that were innovative for its era.
The story follows a heroine named Monime, who is guided through space by a genius called Zachiel. This initiatory journey to seven planets is meant to prepare her for a royal destiny. The novel functions as a bildungsroman: Monime tours the solar system and encounters peoples who embody various human failings, such as frivolity, a love of war, greed, or an obsession with science. On Saturn, she finds an ideal, hardworking, and caring society.
Guided by feminist principles, Robert criticizes female ignorance as the root of women’s subordination in society. She depicts an egalitarian society on Venus, where women’s education has allowed them to hold all public offices. At the journey’s end, Monime—now wiser and more experienced—returns to Earth to reclaim her father’s throne. Through this, Robert argues that women are fully equal to men in their capacity for great deeds through will and courage, contradicting the beliefs of contemporary thinkers. Female emancipation is presented not as an obscure or guilt-inducing idea, but as a force that should lead to a utopian society.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Marie-Anne de Roumier-Robert
- Pub Date
- 1765
- Language
- French
- Country
- France
- Genre
- Science fiction
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Marie-Anne Robert describes a journey made by a heroine, Monime, guided by a genius named Zachiel. This initiatory journey which takes her into space to visit seven planets is supposed to teach her the skills she needs for her royal destiny. The novel is a bildungsroman in which the heroine tours the solar system. She discovers people who demonstrate different failings of humanity, such as frivolity, a taste for war, a taste for money or the cult of science. Her journey takes her to Saturn where she discovers an ideal, hardworking and caring society.
Reader's Guide
Guided by feminist ideas, Marie-Anne Robert deplores female ignorance, at the origin of the submission of women in society. She describes an egalitarian society established on Venus, where the education of women allowed them to occupy all public positions. At the end of her journey, Monime, grown by her experience and her wisdom, decides to return to Earth to recover her father's throne. Marie-Anne Robert thus demonstrates that women are completely equal to men in their capacity to achieve great deeds through their will and courage, contrary to the beliefs of contemporary thinkers. The emancipation of women no longer becomes an obscure and guilt-inducing idea, but rather a force which must lead to a utopian society.
Did You Know?
- The heroine Monime is guided by a genius named Zachiel.
- On Saturn, Monime discovers an ideal, hardworking and caring society.
- The novel describes an egalitarian society on Venus where women occupy all public positions.
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