When the Sleeper Wakes (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: H. G. Wells
- First Published: 1899
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Science fiction—dystopia
- Time of Work: 2100
- Setting: London, England
- Genres: Long fiction, Science fiction, Dystopian fiction
- Subjects: Future, England or English people, London, Capitalism, Christ figures or saviors, Brainwashing, Victorian era or Victorianism, Hypnotism, Sleep
- Locales: London, England
The Plot
Although When the Sleeper Wakes was revised, altered, and republished in 1910 (under the title The Sleeper Wakes), the original 1899 edition is considered the standard text. The story concerns a middle-aged Victorian man named Graham who falls into a mesmeric trance and wakes in the future. The new London that greets him is a mechanized city of polished steel and glass controlled by a council of powerful men who are themselves a combination of political despots and capitalist exploiters. The proletarian masses are herded along an elaborate public...
[The entire page is 990 words long]
