SS 06
Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg
PS II: A League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Reading Late-Nineteenth Century Novels
Fr. Dr. Anja Müller
Handout: The Invisible Man
Claudia Uhrmann
claudia.uhrmann@web.de
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H.G. Wells: The Invisible Man (1897)
Biography of Herbert George Wells
Early life:
▪ * September 21, 1866 † August 13, 1946
▪ fifth and last child of Joseph Wells (shopkeeper) and his wife Sarah Neal
▪ family was of the impoverished lower-middle class
▪ 1874 – 1880: Thomas Morley´s Commercial Academy
▪ 1881 – 1883: unhappy apprenticeship as a draper at the Southsea Drapery
Emporium (used experiences as inspiration for his novels The Wheels of Chance and
Kipps)
▪ failed also as a chemists assistant and had bad experiences as a teaching assistant
Teacher:
▪ 1883: assistant teacher at Midhurst Grammar School, West Sussex, until he won a
scholarship to the Normal School of Science (now part of Imperial College,
London), studying biology
 entered the Debating Society of the school, which marks the beginning of his
interest in a possible reformation of society
Marriage and liaisons
▪ 1891: Wells married his cousin Isabel Mary Wells; left her in 1894
▪ 1895: married Amy Catherine Robbins; had two sons by Amy
 during the marriage, Wells had liaisons with a number of women
Game designer:
▪ was seeking a more structured way to play war games: wrote Floor Games (1911)*
and Little Wars (1913)*, which is recognised today as the first recreational wargame
 “the Father of Miniature Wargaming”
Writer
▪ best known for his science fiction novels
▪ was one of the most prolific writers and wrote works in nearly every genre, including
short stories and non-fiction
▪ was an outspoken socialist, and most of his works contain some notable political or
social commentary
Important Works
▪ Anticipations – An Experiment in Prophecy (1901)
▪ The Time Machine (1895)*
▪ The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896)*
▪ The Invisible Man (1897)*
scientific romances
▪ The War of the Worlds (1898)*
▪ "The Country of the Blind" (1911)
short story
▪ The Outline of History (1920)
non-fiction
▪ In the Days of the Comet (1906)*
▪ Shape of Things to come (1933)
Utopian novels
* available at the Project Gutenberg website
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I.
Characters
a) Griffin:
- represents “the abstract, absolutist intelligence” (McConnell, 123)
- title character; is an albino
- a young physicist (demonstrator at a provincial college) who uncovers the
principle of pigments and refraction; the basis for invisibility
- “revolts against injustice, ugliness and commercialism” (Draper, 48)
b) Thomas Marvel:
- represents “the everyday, sensual loafer” (McConnell, 123)
- functions briefly, but reluctantly as Griffin's puppet
- “alternative to marvellous Invisible Man” (Draper, 49), but his physical
description resembles Griffin in many ways (also rejects the demands of
society)
c) Doctor Kemp:
- represents “the conservative, socially responsible sensibility” (McConnell,
123)
- another scientist – former fellow student of Griffin
- tries to stop Griffin from breaking the laws – but fails
II.
Science
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at the beginning of the Victorian period: due to the period's utilitarian bents,
science was “valued for its practical uses of improving society” (Sirabian, 383)
 Baconian inductive method became well established (fact collecting: science
conceived of as imaginative vision)
at the end of the Victorian period: “fear that science could erode culture and
obscure literature” (Sirabian, 383); (Bacon's status and methods were
increasingly questioned)
prevailing attitudes at that time shaped the discourse about science and its
practice; both literature / science underlie a key idea: they are cultural
constructions shaped by imagination and reason
Griffin pursues the romantic conception of science (speculation and theorizing
that will be later tested) and therefore challenges the prevailing Victorian notion
of science (finding of truth for social good through the factual recording and
observation of nature)  reveals the limits of scientific thought based solely on
factual observation, reason and utility (inductive method)
The Invisible Man represents different perspectives about the possibilities of
science and its place in society  Intention: “moral warning about the individual's
desire to transgress human boundaries in the name of science” (Sirabian, 382)
(Griffin's science threatens social order)
Wells shows that art and science are involved in the interaction of similar
imaginative and analytical processes
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III.
Invisibility
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IV.
invisibility is seen as a powerful symbol of the ability to escape detection  rises
the ethical question: “why should we do right if we can get away with doing
wrong?” (Holt, 236)
Griffin finds a way of making him invisible and without any scruples he uses his
new power for criminal purposes and terrorizing people; he wants to advance
himself at the expense of others; but: “runs afoul of the problems created by his
invisible state” (Holt, 239)
Wells knew that it was impossible to create the state of invisibility  explained
his premise by pulverized glass and indices of refraction
invisibility as a means to free oneself from the rigid social order and rigid ways of
thinking during Victorian times
Otherness
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conception of Otherness is “powerfully realized in terms of the complementary
themes of identification and rejection” (Simpson, 134) concerning technological
visions and projections
Wells emphasizes the “psychological needs that determine attributions of
Otherness” (Simpson, 135) and renders their effects on social behaviour
 society has a will to distinguish the world: those people with whom we identify
and those whom we revile (community bonding against an Other)
the Other serves “as a medium for deep investigation of the nature of selfawareness
 […] demonstrate[s] an urgent need for humankind to redefine relationship in
terms of similarity, while also respecting difference” (Simpson, 135)
the Iping community has as limited conception of Otherness which facilitates the
fundamental human need for scapegoating
Wells attacks the wilful blindness to the Other
Bibliography
Draper, Michael. H. G. Wells. New York: St. Martin´s Press, 1988.
Holt, Philip. “H. G. Wells and the Ring of Gyges.” Science-Fiction Studies 19.2 (1992):
236-247.
McConnell, Frank D. The science fiction of H. G. Wells. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1981.
McKenzie, Norman and Jeanne McKenzie. The Life of H. G. Wells: The Time Traveller.
London: The Hogarth Press, 1987.
Murray, Brian. H. G. Wells. New York: The Continuum Publishing Company, 1990.
Simpson, Anne B. “The ′Tangible Antagonist′: H.G. Wells and the Discourse of
Otherness.” Extrapolation: A Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy 31.2 (1990):
134-147.
Sirabian, Robert. “The Conception of Science in Wells's The Invisible Man.” Papers on
Language and Literature: A Journal for Scholars and Critics of Language and
Literature 37.4 (2001): 382-403.
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