‘The Machine Stops’: E. M. Forster's Esoteric Critique of H. G. Wells’ A Modern Utopia

Abstract

AbstractThis article argues that E. M. Forster's dystopian science fiction story ‘The Machine Stops’ was conceived as a critique of H. G. Wells’ book, A Modern Utopia. The article shows how Forster responded to Wells’ utopia at almost every level. It demonstrates how the notion of making society function like a machine was an idea posited, if not implemented, by Wells. Forster sought to show how, rather than limiting pain, fear and anxiety, the machine‐society Wells envisaged would exacerbate all three. Forster regarded Wells a poor prognosticator of unintended consequences. On Forster's view, instead of a world of happy, healthy and vigorous citizens, Wells’ utopia foreshadowed a world of ill‐health and frustration. Instead of a world of variety and regular travel, Wells’ utopia foreshadowed a world of uniformity and stasis. Instead of a world of increased intelligence and personal initiative, Wells’ utopia foreshadowed a world of stupidity, credulity and lack of imagination. In ‘The Machine Stops’, Forster parodied Wells’ utopia, attacking Wells’ policy of state intervention in the family, his advocacy of euthanasia, his policy of expulsion and the details of everyday life in Wells’ utopia. In paying sustained attention to Forster's dystopia other scholars will recognise its intrinsic philosophical value. In its remarkable anticipation of technology resembling the internet, more than both Huxley's and Orwell's dystopia's, Forster's ‘The Machine Stops’ speaks directly to twenty‐first‐century predicaments.