see it as plausible, real, and relating to their own world. Escapist fiction, in particular fantasy fiction, does allow a departure from our world in that it frees itself from the restraints of normality and everyday life. Much of escapist fiction is allegorical and utilises features of worldliness in a variety of ways in order to comment on modern life. Escapist fiction often seeks to examine a deeper element of human existence and purpose. Escapist literature tends to confront contemporary issues, in particular moral and political matters, through a moral journey the reader undertakes where they can learn important life lessons in the fictional world. Escapist fiction can provide readers with a rich literature that deals with universal issues of humanity, especially the matters of childhood experience and adolescence. Escapist fiction authors construct alternate worlds in order to comment on our world implicitly through the differences and explicitly in the similarities. The fundamental purpose of escapist fiction is to comment on the real world and explore the moral, social, political and philosophical dilemmas that exist within it. Through confronting contemporary issues, escapist fiction authors aim to shift conventional perspectives and reveal a moral insight. As a genre of fiction that requires a substantial level of immersion into the world of the text, escapist fiction has the potential to greatly influence readers. Scholarship and criticism There are many negative connotations attached to escapist fiction. Some literary critics and academics have classified escapist fiction and genres of science-fiction, thriller, mystery, romance and fantasy, as sub-literary and unworthy of being regarded as true literature. Early critics complained that escapist fiction as a literary genre misleads readers in terms of the harsh truths of reality. Early entertainment and literature tended to view escapist fiction as a lower-class phenomenon. Assuming that the alienation, deprivation and restriction of lower-class life caused a desire to escape in these "underprivileged" individuals. These critics deem escapist fiction to be shallow and superficial, with its worth being degraded to simply a source of entertainment. Some literary critics have deemed escapist fiction as frivolous and frequently dismiss it as a literary genre. These people argue that escapist fiction has little value for adolescent socialisation. On the other hand, some literary critics hold escapist fiction in high regard, expressing it as a genre possessing a thematic depth and ideological complexity that is both appealing to readers and influential. These people argue against