Henry Neville’s "The Isle of Pines" is a provocative and early example of the utopian satire, presented as a found manuscript that claims to be a true account. The narrative is framed as a letter from a Dutch sea captain who has discovered a lost English colony on a remote island. The story within the story is told by George Pine, the sole male survivor of a shipwreck off the coast of this unknown island. Pine was stranded with four women: his master’s daughter and three female servants. In this isolated paradise, free from the laws and morals of European society, Pine cohabits with all four women, who bear him many children. Over the decades, this single patriarch becomes the progenitor of an entire society, numbering in the hundreds. The account details the development of this new race, their simple laws, their religious beliefs, and their social organization. However, by the time the Dutch ship arrives, the society has begun to fracture, with different factions descended from the four original mothers vying for power. Henry Neville uses this scenario to explore and satirize contemporary European anxieties about sexuality, colonialism, social hierarchy, and the nature of government. The work’s sensational premise forces the reader to question the foundations of civilization and the fragility of social order.

Table of Contents:

• The Isle of Pines. Part 1

• The Isle of Pines. Part 2

• The Isle of Pines. Part 3