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i

H. G.

威尔斯科幻小说中的女性形象

研究生：陈胤汶 年级：2007 级 学科专业：英语语言文学

指导老师：刘玉红教授 研究方向：英美文学

中文摘要

赫伯特·乔治·威尔斯（1866-1946）是 20 世纪初英国文坛上杰出的现实主义作

家。他的成就是多方面的，不仅在小说领域多有建树，同时又是社会思想家。他获得

了诸如科幻小说家、喜剧小说家、社会小说家、社会哲学家、未来预言家和人类历史

学家等众多赞誉。然而，威尔斯最为突出的成就来自于科幻小说的创作。基于他在科

幻小说领域的不朽成就，他被公认为是英国科幻小说的泰斗，有人甚至把他比作科幻

小说界的莎士比亚。

威尔斯科幻小说中的女性人物不太引人注目，但这些女性人物有着丰富的性格特

征和细腻的内心活动。威尔斯关注处于边缘地位的女性的生存困境，对女性勇敢、努

力追求幸福给予肯定。

论文分为五部分：第一章为引言，介绍威尔斯生平的创作生涯、本论文的课题来

源和研究新意、国内外研究威尔斯的现状和水平以及本论文的结构；指出威尔斯在其

六部科幻小说中塑造了三种典型女性形象——被动接受现实型、主动追求幸福型和改

变社会型。

第二章分析被动接受现实型女性。这类女性形象有三种：顺从的母亲、依赖的妻

子和胆小被动的女性朋友。

第三章探讨主动追求幸福型女性。通过分析勇敢的情人、独立的妻子和能干的女

性朋友以证明这类女性的付出是有回报的。

第四章中所分析的女性有能力改变社会。她们不仅仅为自己幸福努力，也为人类

的福利而奋斗，从而表现威尔斯对女性的反抗精神和领导能力的赞赏及更多女性参政

的期待。

第五章为结论，威尔斯科幻小说中的女性从被动到主动、从顺从到反抗、从依赖

到独立的蜕变推断出威尔斯关注女性生存状况，并对女性的潜力抱有很大的希望。

关键词：威尔斯；女性形象；科幻小说；性格特征

ii

On the Female Images in H. G. Wells’s Science Fictions

Postgraduate: Chen Yinwen Grade:2007 Major Field of Study: Curriculum & Instruction

Supervisor: Professor Liu Yuhong

Orientation: British & American Literature

Abstract in English

As an outstanding realistic English writer in the twentieth century, Herbert George

Wells (1866-1946) got many achievements in various fields. He contributed a lot in novel and is

also a social thinker. Wells received many titles, such as science fiction writer, comedy writer,

social novelist, social philosopher, the future prophet and human historians and so on. However,

the most outstanding achievements come from his creation on science fiction and he was

recognized as the father of British science fiction due to his monumental achievement in the

writing of them. Some even regarded him as the Shakespeare of science fiction.

The female images are easily ignored in Wells’s science fiction. However, women in his

works have rich characteristics and subtle inner activities. Wells concerned about the plight of

women who were reduced to marginal situation, showed positive attitude to their courageous

efforts to pursue happiness.

This thesis is composed of five chapters: the first chapter is to introduce Wells and his

works, present the writing intention and innovation of the thesis, and survey the studies on Wells

as well as his works. Then the paper points out three typical images of women in Wells’s six

science fictions. The first is the female who accept the reality passively, the second pursue

happiness actively and the third can change the society.

The second chapter discusses the first kind of female by dividing them three groups:

the submissive mother, the dependent wife and the timid passive female friend.

The third chapter analyzes the female who pursue happiness actively. By analyzing the

courageous lover, the independent wife and the competent female friend, the author intends to

prove that women’s hard efforts are rewarding.

In the fourth chapter, women are able to change the society. They make efforts not only for

their own happiness, but also for the welfare of human beings. It shows that Wells appreciates

women’s rebellious spirit and ability of leadership, and hopes that there will be more women to

participate in politics.

In Chapter Five, women in Wells’s science fiction experience the transformation from

passiveness to activeness, from submissiveness to rebelliousness and from dependence to

independence. It is deduced that Wells pays close attention to the living conditions of women

and has great expectation on women’s potential.

Keywords: Wells; female image; science fiction; characteristics

iii

Contents

Abstract in Chinese

Abstract in English

Chapter 1 Introduction

…………………………………………..…………………………………....1

1.1 Herbert George Wells and His Literary Achievements…………………..…........................1

1.1.1 The Life of H.G.Wells and His Literary Achievements…………….…………….…..1

1.1.2 The Brief Introduction of Wells’s Six Science Fictions…………….……………...…3

1.2 Literature Review………………………………………………………..…………..…......6

1.2.1 Studies on Wells Abroad………………………………………………………….…..6

1.2.2 Domestic Studies on Wells……………………………………………………….…..8

1.3 Intention and Structure of This Thesis………………………………………………..….....9

Chapter 2 The Passive Female

…............

.............................................................................11

2.1 The Submissive Mother in In the Days of the Comet………………..…………………....11

2.1.1 Willie’s Mother…………………………………...................................................... 11

2.1.2 Nettie’s Mother …………..………………………….. ……….……………..….... .12

2.2 The Dependent Wife..………………………………..………………………..…………. 14

2.2.1 The Narrator’s Wife……………………………………….……………..…...…......14

2.2.2 Mrs.Elphinstone………………………………………………….…………….……15

2.2.3 Similarities of Mrs. Elphinstone and the Narrator’s Wife………………............…. 15

2.3 The Obedient Female Friend in The Time Machine………………..……………………..…16

2.3.1 The Dependent Eloi…………………………............................................................16

2.3.2 The Tragic Death of Weena………………………………….……………..…….....17

Chapter 3 The Female Who Pursue Happiness Actively

..............................................

18

3.1 The Brave Lover in In the Days of the Comet and The Food of the Gods..........................18

3.1.1 Nettie Stuart in In the Days of the Comet………………...........................................18

3.1.2 The Princess in The Food of the Gods…………................................................…...19

3.2 The Independent Wife in The Visible Man and The Food of the Gods...............................20

3.2.1 Mrs.Hall’s Independence in Economy……………………………………………...21

3.2.2 Mrs.Hall’s Character and Intelligence ………………………………………….......21

3.2.3 Mrs.Skinner’s Independence in Emergent Situation…..…………………...….....…23

3.2.3 Mrs.Skinner’s Individualism in Self-protection…..…………………..……….....…24

iv

3.3 The Capable Female Friend in The War of the Worlds………………………….….……..25

3.3.1 Miss Elphinstone’s Courageous Action…………..................................................... 26

3.3.2 Miss Elphinstone’s Capability of Making Decisions ..........……………………..... 27

Chapter 4 The Rebellious Female Who Fight for the Better Future

………….....

28

4.1 The Rebellious Daughters ………………………….………………….............................. .28

4.1.1 Nettie Who Rebels against the Control of the Family ……….…………….…..... 28

4.1.2 The Giant Princess Who Rebels against Her Father and the Little Men.………..….29

4.2 Helen Who Leads the Masses to Rebel Actively………..……...........................................29

4.2.1 Helen’s Need for Achievement and Her Intelligence……………….…...……….....30

4.2.2 Helen’s Decisiveness and Self-confidence…………….……………………………31

4.2.3 Helen’s Initiative and Supervisory Ability……….…........................................…... 32

Chapter 5 Conclusion

………………....…………………………………………………….....….…

35

Bibliography

………………....………………………………………………………...…..………….…

37

Publications during the Postgraduate Program

…………………………………………...

41

1

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Herbert George Wells and His Literary Achievements

1.1.1 The Life of H. G. Wells and His Literary Achievements

Herbert George Wells (1866

—

1946) is a versatile writer whose writing involves science

fictions, comic fictions, and social novels. He was born on 21 September, 1866 in Bromley, Kent.

His father, a member of the low middle class, was a professional cricketer and owned a small

china and hardware shop. Wells was the youngest of four children. There was nothing in his birth

or background to suggest that Wells would become one of the world’s most famous writers and

thinkers.

In his whole life, Wells experienced two “lucky breaks”. When Wells was between seven

and eight, he met his first “lucky break”. He wrote in Autobiography (1934): “Probably I am

alive today and writing this autobiography, instead of being a worn-out, dismissed and already

dead shop assistant, because my leg was broken”(Wells, 1966: 5). He snapped his tibia in the

cricket field and had to stay at home. His father was an avid reader and went daily to the Literary

Institute in the Market Square to get one or two books for little Wells. There was always a fresh

book to read, and Wells’s world expanded rapidly. Therefore, when he was still a young boy, he

had great interest in literature and was fond of imaging and writing. Wells attended two schools

when he was young and continued to obtain what he saw as his real education from the leading

library. However good or bad it may have been, his education ceased suddenly when his father

suffered a bad fall and had to give up the shop. Wells started earning his own living. He was

shunted a series of menial jobs, in a drapery, a school run by a distant relative with forged

qualification, a chemical’s shop, then another drapery. Until 1882, he got a chance to escape the

depressing future. Horace Byatt, headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, agreed to offer Wells

a student assistantship, taking him on at school as both teacher and pupil. Wells worked hard

enough in his year at Midhurst to win a scholarship of a guinea a week to the Normal School of

Science in South Kensington, London (now Imperial College, part of London University). For

his first year, all went well, but he started to read more and more literature. As the result, his

academic performance declined and eventually failed his degree examination.

In 1887, Wells left college without a degree and was reduced to teaching in small private

schools. He took a position as a teacher and football coach and it was here that his second “lucky

break” occurred. He received a foul from a boy which damaged his left kidney when he was

playing football. Later he had a lung hemorrhage and was cared for in the house for three months.

The start of the ill-health affected him for the rest of his life. Had it not been for the accident and

illness, he might have spent his life as a teacher. He studied hard and got his Bachelor of Science

2

degree as an external student at London University. Because of the poor health, he had to give up

teaching and earn some money by writing magazine articles, an area in which he had already had

some small experience. It was precarious until he realized that he had been shooting over his

target

—

seeking rare and precious topics. Thanks to Frank Harris, a reviewer of scientific books

for the Saturday Review of Literature, who suggested that Wells write funny stories about science,

Wells took the hint. His first novel The Time Machine (1895) was a big success, and then he set

on his way to becoming a full-time writer.

Wells wrote over a hundred books as well as numerous short stories, radio plays, pamphlets,

and film scripts. His works can be divided three main groups. The first and possibly still the

best known is his “fantasy” novels, which nowadays would be classified as science fiction. Wells

makes full use of his knowledge on science to prophesy how society would develop in the future

and spotlight the areas where science might do remarkable or amazing things.

The second group is his social novels, which were written in the middle of his career. In

these novels, Wells is in favor of describing the attempts of the lower middle classes in England

to better themselves. For example, Tono-Bungay (1909) and The History of Mr. Polly (1910).

These novels specialize in vivid characterization and in the examination of lower middle class

society.

The third group is novels of ideas, in which fiction was discarded in favor of discussion and

presentation of Wells’s own views on world society and human nature. For instance, Short

History of the World (1922) and The Science of Life (1930).

In Wells’s whole life, the most successful achievement is his science fiction. Science Fiction

is, in a sense, an oxymoron, a phrase consisting of two words that seem to be opposites.

“Science” implies that which is true and provable, while “fiction” is that which is fabricated or

false. A literal interpretation of science fiction would mean “true false” (De Mol, 1998: x1). Issac

Asimov defines science fiction as an impact of scientific or technological advancement on

human beings (Seed, 2005: 28). To understand Wells’s position in science fiction tradition, it is

necessary to mention Mary Shelly and June Vernes who are the icons in the development of the

western science fiction. Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein was universally regarded as a seminal work.

It was a Gothic romance that included a morality tale rather than a science fiction. But she

created the prototypes of some central themes and icons in science fiction and her masterpiece

influenced the early development of science fiction as society became more technologically

oriented. With the development of technology, many writers began writing stories using new or

proposed mechanical inventions. However, it was French writer Jules Verne who began the

science-based fiction that has become widely known today as science fiction with novels such as

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864). His works gave science fiction its push toward

3

popularity and respectability (De Mol, 1998: 7).

Several years later, Verne’s achievement and popularity were overshadowed by Wells. As

the ancestor of science fiction in Britain, Wells is considered to be the father of modern science

fiction, an honor he shares with Jules Verne. He is directly first in the tradition of the writers of

modern English-Language science fiction. Compared with Jules Verne, his works are more

concerned with human movement, with the ideas that work on society as the result of changing

science and application of inventions. Besides the influence in his own country, his science

fiction is quite congenial to European literary culture. Zamyatin praises Wells’s science fiction as

“mechanical, chemical fairy tales”. Wells’s special contribution is to use ostensibly scientific

premises and reasoning to build extravagant speculation (Seed, 2005: 45). The plenitude of

Wells’s conceptions, visualizing power of his imagination, the sheer grandeur of his mind made

him be the decisive shaper of science fiction.

1.1.2 The Brief Introduction of Wells’s Six Science Fictions

The following six representative science fictions belong to the first decade of Wells’s

creation as a professional writer from the mid-1890s through the first year of the twentieth

century.

The Time Machine tells a story about an inventor, the Time Traveler, who perfects a time

machine in which he makes a trip the future, stopping first in the year 802701AD when

humankind has become polarized two distinct species. One is the Eloi, who live above

ground. They are very beautiful and graceful, enjoy all the comforts, but indescribably frail. The

other kind is the Morlock, who live underground and are afraid of light and fire. They work

endlessly to support the Eloi, surface at night and wreck havoc among the Eloi. The Time

Traveler makes friend with an Eloi girl named Weena. Unfortunately Weena is killed by the

Morlock. After fetching his machine from the Morlock, the Time Traveler continues on the

future to discover how the evolutionary pageant he has observed would play out. As he moves

further the future, the forms of life on earth grow less and less developed, more than thirty

million years hence, traces of life are no longer visible on the earth. Having seen the earth to its

essential end, the Time Traveler returns home, tells his story to a large unbelieving audience, and

finally mounts his craft again. As the story closes, he has been gone for three years.

When The Time Machine was first published in England in 1895, it was hailed by one large

newspaper, the Daily Chronicle, as “something new under the sun” (Wells, 1964: 1). It made

Wells achieve world-wide fame and prominence during the next fifty years. Many rank it as

Well’s best book.

Two years later, Wells published The Invisible Man. It describes a lunatic scientist called

4

Griffin who can make himself invisible. But the invisibility brings him great problems. Hunted

and hounded through London, Griffin moves to Iping, in the hope that its peace and quietness


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