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Comparing The Time Machine And Mrs. Warren's Profession '

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Charles Darwin once said: ‘We must bear without complaining the undoubtedly bad effects of the weak surviving and propagating their kind’. In this essay I will look at this quote in relation to the following texts: the science fiction novella The Time Machine by H.G. Wells and the play Mrs Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw to decide whether or not Darwin’s statement is supported by these texts. I will be critically analysing the political ideologies of Wells and Shaw in order to properly evaluate Darwin’s statement.
The plot of The Time Machine involves the protagonist, referred to as the Time Traveller by the narrator, travel through time where he meets the two new species that currently reside on Earth, replacing normal humanity: the Eloi and the Morlocks. He then bears witness to how the damage from his current century causes the degeneration of man. The story of Mrs Warren’s Profession centres on the character Vivie and her relationship with her mother who is a former prostitute and runs a brothel. Vivie is an intelligent young woman who has recently graduated from university, her relationship with her changes and she condemns her mother when she discovers what she does for a …show more content…

Therefore, the Eloi’s society was built upon the backs of the Morlocks; an echo of what was also happing in England during the time The Time Machine was published. Wells implies that the upper classes would not be able to survive if it was not for the workers sustaining their lifestyle. Additionally, Shaw and Wells share a similar political ideology and that materialises in the work of both. They have similar ideas on socialism and the worrying state of the lower class in contrast to the upper class. Therefore, both The Time Machine and Mrs Warren’s Profession support Darwin’s statement as their opinions become apparent through the setting and characters in the

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