H.G. Wells/The Time Machine

Uploaded by : Essays-Now.com

A 7 page critique and summary that discusses The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, first published in 1895, is a science fiction classic, the writer argues that this novel is also a remarkable work of social criticism, as it predicts the ultimate effects of the rigid Victorian social class system. A brilliant and multi-layered narrative, in this novel Wells exceeds the boundaries of the nascent genre of science fiction and proves himself to be, as Peter Firchow points out, a "radical innovator," as he is the "first writer of Utopian fiction to argue that the achievement of Utopia will inevitably lead to stagnation and degeneration" (Firchow 123). As this indicates, The Time Machine can be critiqued in regards to two principal viewpoints, as a work of science fiction and also in regards to being a profound social statement on Victorian society. Bibliography lists 4 sources.