How does A Dream of John Ball compare medieval society with 19th-century industrial society?

In William Morris’s A Dream of John Ball, the narrative uses a dream-vision to contrast the medieval past with the 19th-century present. The protagonist, a 19th-century man, travels back to the 14th century to witness the Peasants’ Revolt and engages in a dialogue with the historical figure John Ball.

Through this conversation, the text explores the transition from feudalism to the Industrial Revolution and the rise of commercial society. While Ball represents a medieval aspiration for a classless, egalitarian society, he learns from the dreamer about the subsequent development of industrial capitalism. The comparison reveals that the progress of history had not yet fulfilled the hopes for equality that Ball preached in the 14th century. Ultimately, the work serves as a critique of the 19th-century social order, which Morris often characterized as the "dull squalor of civilization," and acts as a precursor to his later utopian vision, News from Nowhere.123