While More's "Utopia" is often viewed as partly satire, inasmuch as some of its content seems to clash with the personality and beliefs of the author, it is nevertheless a vision of a fictitious utopian society. More directly references the effects of enclosure as he saw them on the world he inhabited. In the passage that encompasses the then contemporary enclosure movement, there are allusions to untold greed and destructiveness exhibited and enacted by "noblemen," "gentlemen" and "holy men."
Marx dissociated himself from utopian socialism. He felt that no such goal was attainable and that certain realities were as unavoidable as the concepts of dialectical materialism. Marxist thought is, however, utopian at its base. It postulates a potentially better world of some form. Marx directly references the "expropriation" of land inherent to enclosure. The process of enclosure runs counter to many of the core principles of Marxism, most notably, of course, the negation or rejection of private property.
Orwell and Huxley would both epitomize the dystopian novel in the 20th century with "1984" and "Brave New World." The dystopian Oceania of Orwell's novel is in part a direct condemnation of the horrors of Stalinism and the Soviet Union, a state created with utopian intentions. Huxley would cleverly portray a dystopian future society, ironically created within the story with the utopian objective of perfect happiness and pleasure. In the centuries that preceded them, utopian literature was partly a reaction to the markings of dystopia betrayed by enclosure movements and the like. The writers of these works, such as Edward Bellamy, author of "Looking Backward," felt inclined to cast light on the rampant encroachments of their day. A condemnation of such acts through fiction was an attempt to navigate the imperfections of the real world and offer a better alternative.
The key element inherent in enclosure was alienation. Once owners had overtaken the land, disenfranchised workers grew isolated and removed from common society. The central criticism of enclosure involves this very point. The process exacerbated the socioeconomic divide. Utopian literature often portrays a place where all of those who would otherwise live in alienation return to the fold. The world of utopian literature works in a land unscathed by enclosure and similar movements.