H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds in Context: Anxieties in the Victorian fin de siècle

Abstract

The War of the Worlds (published for the first time in 1897 in Pearson’s Magazine and in 1898 hardcover) was written by Herbert George Wells (1866-1946). It was the first novel to describe an alien invasion of our planet, which can be read as a rendition in a fantastic key of the anxieties provoked by the practices the British Empire carried out in the colonies under its rule. This invasion pictures a dystopic future for the human race – especially for fin de siècle Britain – which situates this novel as prominent example of the modern science fiction genre. By including the figure of the Other – the invaders from a foreign origin, in this case aliens, who plan to subdue technologically inferior beings -, the author provides evidence of the situation during the Victorian fin de siècle as a period of social angst, reflected in the so called ‘narratives of reverse colonialism’, in which “what has been represented as the ‘civilized’ world is on the point of being overrun by ‘primitive’ forces” (Arata 108). In order to develop an argument around the issues this novel raises, this dissertation will (1) analyse the Victorian fin de siècle as a cultural and historical period, focusing on the British Empire as a colonial power linked to advances in technology; and (2) explore the anxieties and fears of the English society as articulated in H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds relating them to the topic of reverse colonialism and the genre of science fiction, taking into account the contributions of authors such as Stephen Arata. Arata, Stephen. Fictions of Loss in the Victorian Fin de Siècle. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008