The Empire of the Future: Imperialism and Modernism in H.G WellsBy: Paul A. Cantor and

Peter Hufnagel

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Wells’ is a Fraud!!Wells is noted as one of the first science fiction writersCandor and Hufnagel reveal that Wells copies ideas from writers such as H. Rider Haggard and Robert Louis Stevenson.“It is therefore understandable that when he was trying to imagine a journey into the future, he ended up modeling it on something more familiar, a journey to the imperial frontier. (pg. 229)

Wells’ and British Society

Wells’ based his novel on the fears and trends of the British Societies at the time.

Space =Time

In novels of his time they traveled to prehistoric ages of the past

Wells’ reversed this prospective and travelled into the future.

Wells’ theory of time travel is that “time is only a kind of space.” (pg.7)

He took the idea of the fourth dimension from Einstein and Minkowski. (A physicist and Mathematician.)

Social Classes

Wells’ took the idea of the social classes of the Eloi and Morlocks from the imperialism he saw from his time.

He has the two most prominent classes in The Time Machine that portray the Upper and Middle Classes.

The author referred to the two classes as being good vs. evil.

The Eloi were described as child-like, friendly, and lived a simplistic lifestyle.

The Morlocks were hostile and cannibalistic.

He related it to the two tribes of modern novels.

The Time Traveler

Wells depicts the Time Traveler as a classic Victorian explorer.

He is superior to the Eloi and thinks he can learn their way of life.

“I feel like a Schoolmaster amongst children.” (pg.24)

Fall of the British Empire

Wells’ favorite book was the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbons.

The Sunset “The sun never sets on the British

Empire. (pg 238) Museum The Morlocks get revenge on the Eloi.

Additional Themes

Weena portrayed as Pocahontas- The Time Traveler uses her as a source of information.

Her Death- The author notes that in stories of the time the woman subject usually died.

The Sphinx- A symbol of the east. (Europe)

Orientalism- West vs. East

The End