Modern Utopian Fictions from H. G. Wells to Iris Murdoch

225 Pages·2007·0.94 MB·English

by  Peter Edgerly Firchow

Modern
Utopian Fictions
from H. G. Wells to Iris Murdoch

Modern
Utopian Fictions
from H. G. Wells to Iris Murdoch
S
Peter edgerly Firchow
The Catholic University of America Press
Washington, D.C.
copyright © 2007
the catholic University of America Press
All rights reserved
the paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standards for information Science—Permanence
of Paper for Printed library Materials,
ANSi Z39.48-1984.
∞
library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Firchow, Peter edgerly, 1937–
Modern utopian fictions from h.g. wells to iris Murdoch / by Peter
edgerly Firchow.
p. cm.
includes bibliographical references and index.
iSBN-13: 978-0-8132-1477-1 (alk. paper)
iSBN-10: 0-8132-1477-7 (alk. paper)
1. english fiction—20th century—history and criticism.
2. Utopias in literature.
3. dystopias in literature. i. title.
Pr888.U7F57 2007
823´.9109372—dc22
2006009565
for pamina
“Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön”

coNteNtS
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
introduction 1
1. h. g. wells’s Time Machine and the
end of Utopia 18
2. Shaw’s Major Barbara: what Price Utopia? 35
3. Utopia and the end of history:
huxley, Fukuyama, Marcuse 68
4. george orwell’s dystopias: From
Animal Farm to Nineteen Eighty-Four 97
5. william golding’s Lord of the Flies:
An island Utopia? 130
6. Subjectivity and Utopia in iris Murdoch’s
The Bell 154
conclusion 189
works cited 193
index 201

AckNowledgMeNtS
i am grateful to the editors of the Midwest Quarterly and of Literary
Imagination for allowing me to reprint, as chapters 1 and 3 of this
book, respectively, the following revised essays, “h. g. wells’s time
Machine: in Search of time Future—and time Past” (45, no. 2 [win-
ter 2004]: 123–36), and “huxley, Fukuyama, Marcuse, and the end of
history” (4 [2002]: 237–62). the former essay was awarded the Vic-
tor emmett prize for the best essay to appear in the Midwest Quar-
terly in 2004. My thanks also go to the graduate School of the Uni-
versity of Minnesota for a grant in Aid which allowed me to hire the
very able Alex Mueller as my research assistant for a year. his exper-
tise in bibliographical matters was a great help. i would also like to
express my gratitude to the lively group of undergraduate seniors in
my utopian seminar at the University of Minnesota in spring 2005.
we shared ideas, some of which have found a place in this book.
it’s also a pleasure to thank James Sexton and, especially, chris-
toph irmscher, both of whom read the book and whose suggestions
helped me avoid a variety of blunders. i want to thank, too, Martin
löschnigg and david haley for reading and commenting on some
of the chapters. Suzanne wolk edited the book and thereby also re-
duced the number of errors i would otherwise have committed—
though for any that remain i am of course solely responsible.
Finally, as always, i want to thank my wife, evelyn S. Firchow,
for her tireless support—and for giving me a taste of what utopia
might be like.
ix