Mad scientists in H. G. Wells's early fiction

Goran J. Petrović

doi:10.5817/BSE2023-1-9

Mad scientists in H. G. Wells's early fiction

Vol.49,No.1(2023)

Goran J. Petrović

https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2023-1-9

Stable URL (handle):
http://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/digilib.78904

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Abstract

This article analyses six mad scientist characters from H. G. Wells's early fiction. The analysed mad scientists are as follows – the Bacteriologist from "The Stolen Bacillus", Hapley from "A Moth – Genus Novo", the Time Traveller from The Time Machine, Doctor Moreau from The Island of Doctor Moreau, Griffin from The Invisible Man, and Cavor from The First Men in the Moon. The article uses a broader definition of the mad scientist, one that includes not only evil scientific geniuses but also other, more benign characters, as long as they are eccentric enough to be considered mad. The said mad scientists are divided into three different categories, depending on whether they are evil, benign or neither of the two. The article shows that the analysed mad scientists reflect the early Wells's disbelief in the power of science to change the world for the better. It is also argued that Wells's varied body of mad scientists enriched and diversified the mad scientist trope in the history of the SF genre.

Keywords:
H. G. Wells; fiction; mad scientist; SF genre; criticism of scientific development; character traits

Pages:
163–178

References

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Петровић, Горан (2021) Еволуционизам као теоријска основа ране научно-фантастичне имагинације Х. Џ. Велса (необјављена докторска дисертација). Београд: Филолошки факултет. [Petrović, Goran (2021). Evolutionism as the Theoretical Basis of H. G. Wells's Early Science-Fiction Imagination (unpublished doctoral dissertation). Belgrade: Faculty of Philology].

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