"'𝕷𝖔𝖔𝖐 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊,' 𝖘𝖆𝖎𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕸𝖊𝖉𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖑 𝕸𝖆𝖓, '𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖑𝖞 𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖚𝖘? 𝕺𝖗 𝖎𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖆 𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖈𝖐 - 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖌𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖉 𝖚𝖘 𝖑𝖆𝖘𝖙 𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖒𝖆𝖘?'" - H. G. Wells 🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️ Published in 1895, H G Wells' 'The Time Machine' is credited as popularising the notion of travelling through time by vehicle & is the first recorded instance of the now commonly understood term for a time travel device - the titular 'time machine'. Travelling roughly 800,000 years into the future, the protagonist, a scientist & inventor, finds himself amongst a new species of calm and gentle people, living against the backdrop of eternal gardens, who fear the dark. He soon discovers another species of people who live engulfed in darkness. The evolution of two separate species symbolises a very Victorian segregation of class. The Eloi live in light, ironically unenlightened, ignorant and happy, safe in their paradise world. The Morlocks live in darkness, submitting their subterranean existence to industry, required for the Eloi's world to bloom. 'The Time Machine' explores Victorians' fear of industry and the effect which it will have upon their society, it reveals Wells' socialist political standing, & it discusses the distribution of decadence and decay, the disparity between the classes. Dubbed by W. Warren Wagar as "the Shakespeare of science fiction," Wells is undoubtedly one of the most important authors of SciFi. Personally, I find Wells' Victorian setting endlessly appealing - there was so much development, turmoil, fear, decadence and decay. I imagine that his novels were even more poignant for his contemporary readers: that they affect modern readers speaks volumes to his skill. 🤔: How important is knowing the historical context of a novel to you, to read it as contemporary readers would? . #decadenceandecay #hgwells #wells #thetimemachine #timetravel #scifi #sciencefiction #scifinovel #victorianscifi #victorianliterature #englishliterature #gothicnovel #literarycriticism #literaryanalysis #bookreview #bookstagram #books #bookish #spookynerd #gothic #generallygothic #penguinclassics https://www.instagram.com/p/B6OaaRogcQu/?igshid=oi3si6agwunm