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Post apocalyptic fable

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Joshua Arta
Joshua Arta

The document summarizes Elaine Showalter's analysis of H.G. Wells' novel "The Time Machine". Showalter argues that the novel reflects the fears of Victorian England about class and gender repression leading to the end of their social status quo. It also reflects fears that British imperialism would result in the destruction of the society imposing its will on others. Specifically, Showalter discusses how the novel depicts humans devolving into lesser races and the breakdown of civilized ethics through themes of cannibalism, exotic civilizations, escapism, and gender roles.

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Post apocalyptic fable
Thesis “Well’s fin-de-siècle London scientist, brings uncannily into focus the mingled elements of class conflict, sexual hostility, cannibalistic transgression, racial fantasy, gender confusion, and apocalyptic angst…” Elaine Showalter, “The apocalyptic fables of H.G. Wells.” P.214
 Well’s novel reflects the fears of class and gender repression of Victorian-era  England would ultimately lead to an end of the status quo  Well’s novel reflects the fear that Imperialism would result in the destruction of the society that sought to impose its will upon the world  Humans would devolve to form a lesser race as a result.
Showalter’s Main Themes  Devolution and Fin de Siècle Characteristics  Cannibalism “The final breakdown of civilised ethics” (214)  Unknown Exotic Civilization  Escapism and the female body (215-217)
Main Themes Continued  The Male Quest  The Male Self  Homosexuality  Story told by a male to a male audience  Male-created machine= Offspring  Hyper-feminine Eloi and hyper-masculine Murlocks
Supporting Points  Devolution  Patrick Brantlinger’s “Imperial Gothic” (215)  Regression/ “Going native”  Escapism and The Male Self  Joseph Boone “a world almost totally devoid of women or heterosexual social regulations” (216)
Supporting Points Continued  The Time Machine/ Male Quest  Bicycle, Moving picture/ movies, and the bachelor machine
Supporting Points…  Devolution of the Sexes  Eloi= Hyper- feminine  Murlocks= Hyper-masculine  The future may hold extreme specialization of the sexes
Novels that Showalter alludes to
“As there is a darkest Africa is there not also a darkest England?” (Showalter 215)
Reading? Feminist Analysis  “These stories represent a yearning for escape from a confining society, which is rigidly structured in terms of gender, class and race , to a mythologized place elsewhere, where MENcan can be freed from the constraints of Victorian morality” (Showalter 214).  “I would argue that the racial and sexual anxieties displayed in these stories as the vision of the other, the dark exogamous bride, mask the desire to evade heterosexuality altogether” (Showalter 216-7).  “In the time machine H.G. Wells suggested that this safe and secret place might be the future, an infinite terrain of the MALEimagination which would never be exhausted by mapmakers, colonizers, or WOMEN” (Showalter 218).
Post apocalyptic fable
Visual of Apocalypse  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_qFrNw1cX0

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Post apocalyptic fable

  • 2. Thesis “Well’s fin-de-siècle London scientist, brings uncannily into focus the mingled elements of class conflict, sexual hostility, cannibalistic transgression, racial fantasy, gender confusion, and apocalyptic angst…” Elaine Showalter, “The apocalyptic fables of H.G. Wells.” P.214
  • 3.  Well’s novel reflects the fears of class and gender repression of Victorian-era  England would ultimately lead to an end of the status quo  Well’s novel reflects the fear that Imperialism would result in the destruction of the society that sought to impose its will upon the world  Humans would devolve to form a lesser race as a result.
  • 4. Showalter’s Main Themes  Devolution and Fin de Siècle Characteristics  Cannibalism “The final breakdown of civilised ethics” (214)  Unknown Exotic Civilization  Escapism and the female body (215-217)
  • 5. Main Themes Continued  The Male Quest  The Male Self  Homosexuality  Story told by a male to a male audience  Male-created machine= Offspring  Hyper-feminine Eloi and hyper-masculine Murlocks
  • 6. Supporting Points  Devolution  Patrick Brantlinger’s “Imperial Gothic” (215)  Regression/ “Going native”  Escapism and The Male Self  Joseph Boone “a world almost totally devoid of women or heterosexual social regulations” (216)
  • 7. Supporting Points Continued  The Time Machine/ Male Quest  Bicycle, Moving picture/ movies, and the bachelor machine
  • 8. Supporting Points…  Devolution of the Sexes  Eloi= Hyper- feminine  Murlocks= Hyper-masculine  The future may hold extreme specialization of the sexes
  • 10. “As there is a darkest Africa is there not also a darkest England?” (Showalter 215)
  • 11. Reading? Feminist Analysis  “These stories represent a yearning for escape from a confining society, which is rigidly structured in terms of gender, class and race , to a mythologized place elsewhere, where MENcan can be freed from the constraints of Victorian morality” (Showalter 214).  “I would argue that the racial and sexual anxieties displayed in these stories as the vision of the other, the dark exogamous bride, mask the desire to evade heterosexuality altogether” (Showalter 216-7).  “In the time machine H.G. Wells suggested that this safe and secret place might be the future, an infinite terrain of the MALEimagination which would never be exhausted by mapmakers, colonizers, or WOMEN” (Showalter 218).
  • 13. Visual of Apocalypse  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_qFrNw1cX0