Square comes to realize the ignorance of the Pointland and Lineland monarchs. Sphere tells Square that there is nothing to be done to save Point from his omniscient view of himself. Any communication that takes place, Point believes, is from his own mind, implying that he lacks the ability to imagine anyone but himself. In this one, Sphere appears to him again, this time taking him to Pointland where the point is the only resident and is the universe and the monarch. Sphere does not pursue this line of discussion and returns Square to Flatland. He attempts to persuade Sphere that there could be fourth and fifth dimensions and even beyond. Many witnesses to this announcement are killed or put in prison including B, who is the brother of Square.Īt this point in the narrative, Square has become open to the idea of additional dimensions. From Spaceland, they can see the leaders of Flatland as they talk of knowing there is a third dimension and threating anyone who spreads word of its existence. It turns out that Sphere appears in Flatland at the beginning of each millennium and teaches a new follower about the concept of a third dimension hoping to one day educate everyone in Flatland. Square does not know what to make of this until he sees the three-dimensional Spaceland firsthand. A three-dimensional sphere, named appropriately, A. The monarch in turn tries to kill Square rather than put up with him. In the dream, he imagines killing the monarch ruling the realm but is unsuccessful. It is New Year’s Eve and Square dreams of visiting Lineland, a one-dimensional world where “lustrous points” live. That women are but simple line-segments and men are polygons with many sides gives the book a symbolic and metaphoric slant right from the start. Square, is a member of the professional caste in society and begins the story leading his life in a two-dimensional world. The actual author of the 1884 book is Edwin Abbott Abbott, an English schoolteacher. Square also imagines a land with four dimensions, which is considered a subversive concept. Some of the places he ventures into are Spaceland, which has three dimensions, Lineland, which is one-dimensional, and Pointland, which does not have any dimensions. Square together with numerous other geometric shapes. Men are polygons and the number of sides they have is dependent on their ranking in the social hierarchy. Women are straight lines and are considered the lowest of shapes. Square (a pseudonym originally given as the author of the book), a mathematician who lives there.

Flatland is a two-dimensional world chronicling the adventures of A.

It is a math- and science-based novella that creates a fictional land while at the same time satirizing Victorian culture and introducing theories of space’s multi-dimensional nature.

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is a literary hybrid.

Abbott abbott flatland