Flatland: Difference between revisions

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* [[2-D Space]]: Flatland.

* [[A God Am I]]: The sole inhabitant of Pointland spends all his time making these speeches to himself, since he has no way of being convinced that anything else even exists.

* [[Alien Geometries]]: The third dimension is unfathomably alien to the Flatlanders, and so is the second dimension to the Linelanders.

* [[A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away]]: Despite being a satire of [[Victorian Era|Victorian England]]'s culture, it takes place that's ~~difficulte~~ to ''describe'' to humans. Plus, it's clearly ~~no where~~ near Earth.

* [[A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away]]: Despite being a satire of [[Victorian Era|Victorian England]]'s culture, it takes place somewhere that's difficult to ''describe'' to humans. Plus, it's clearly nowhere near Earth.

* [[Animated Adaptation]]: Oddly, two were released in the same year (2007). ''Flatland: The Film'' was a feature-length indie film. ''Flatland: the Movie'' was a big-budgeted edutainment short with an [[All-Star Cast]].

* [[Black and White Insanity]]: the ruling caste enforce a [[Black and White Morality]] worldview to the point where they outlaw color, enforcing the world to literally be black and white. Their excuse for this draconic law is that it's needed for preserving the sexual purity of their women.

* [[Fantastic Racism]]: More precisely, fantastic classism and fantastic sexism-- polygons with more sides are the higher classes; triangles -- especially isosceles ones -- are servants or soldiers; circles (technically many-many-many-sided polygons) are priests; women of all classes are just lines. It is a satire, thinly veiled, of Victorian society.

* [[Flat World]]: Ultimate Example.

* [[Fridge Brilliance]]: The main character is named A. Square, because that's the shape that the character has. However, once one realizes that the author's name is Edwin Abbot Abbot, which for the mathmatical types can be represented as Abbot Squared, then it becomes a sly self-reference.

* [[Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance]]: Former [[Trope Namer]]. The King of Pointland believes that he is the only being that exists, because he cannot perceive anything outside of Pointland.

* [[One-Dimensional Thinking]]: Justified in Lineland.

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* [[Stay in the Kitchen]]: Women are restricted in their social roles because they are dangerously sharp lines. They are restricted because they can kill people by walking into them: it is segregation based on a physical characteristic.

* [[Straw Man]]: The Flatland priests and government officials' view of <s>the</s> a world not being flat.

⚫

* [[2-D Space]]: Flatland.

* [[World Building]]: Over half the book is this.

* [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form]]: When the hero is taken into the third dimension by a sphere, he literally [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form|Cannot Grasp Its True Form]] or the other creatures there at first.

== References to ''Flatland'' in other media include ==

* [[Shout-Out]]: A number of stories are unofficial sequels to or imitations of [[Flatland]]; others were inspired by it, and still others use this story to explain the concept of dimensions beyond our own.

* [[Shout-Out]]: A number of stories are unofficial sequels to or imitations of ''Flatland''; others were inspired by it, and still others use this story to explain the concept of dimensions beyond our own.

** [[Carl Sagan]] laid it out in the ''[[Cosmos]]'' episode, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120529010251/http://www.hulu.com/watch/63318/cosmos-the-edge-of-forever#s-p1-so-i0 The Edge of Forever]''.

** ''[[The Outer Limits]]'' has an episode with an alien freely inspired by Flatland.

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** And then there's the ''Network TV show'' ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]''. The writers certainly know how to please a demographic.

** At one point during their interdimensional travels in ''[[A Wrinkle in Time]]'', the protagonists are accidentally transported to Flatland, where they almost suffocate.

** '''The Hypernaut''' from [[Alan Moore~~|Alan Moore's~~]] ''[[1963]]'' has a Flatland in his space station.

** '''The Hypernaut''' from [[Alan Moore]]'s ''[[1963]]'' has a Flatland in his space station.

** Flatland and its inhabitants end up as the [[MacGuffin]] of the backstory for ''[[Transformers]] Alternity'' which, itself, deals extensively with the concepts of pan-dimensional transcendence. You know, [[To Sell Toys]].

** Flatland and its inhabitants end up as the [[MacGuffin]] of the backstory for ''[[Transformers|Transformers Alternity]]'' which, itself, deals extensively with the concepts of pan-dimensional transcendence. You know, [[To Sell Toys]].

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20111228222947/http://forgottenfutures.org/forgottenfutures.co.uk/others.htm The Original Flatland Role Playing Game] by Marcus L Rowland. "Action and adventure in a world where characters are supposed to be two-dimensional!"

** [[Robert A. Heinlein|Heinlein]] makes occasional reference to it in his later books that include dimensional travel.

* [[Spiritual Sequel]]: ''[[Flatterland]]''

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: ''[[The Planiverse]]'' by A.K. Dewdney, a 1984 [[wikipedia:The Planiverse|novel]] about a college professor and a team of students who create a 2D world simulation which somehow contacts a real 2D world.

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: ''[[The Planiverse]]'' by A.K. Dewdney, a 1984 [[wikipedia:The Planiverse|novel]] about a college professor and a team of students who create a 2D world simulation which somehow contacts an inhabitant of a real 2D world.