Date Thesis Awarded
4-2014
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
English
Advisor
Christy Burns
Committee Members
Mary Melfi
William Fisher
Abstract
A study of H.G. Wells's early scientific romances, The Time Machine and Island of Moreau, and the influence of Sir James G. Frazer. In 1890, Frazer published the first two volumes of The Golden Bough, sparking an interest among members of British Victorian society in comparative religion, "primitive" societies, and the universal stages by which civilization develops. This thesis traces a connection between Frazer and his anthropological perspective on Wells as a writer and social commentator.
Recommended Citation
Riesenberg, Eleanor L., "Taboos and Primitivism: James Frazer, H.G. Wells, and the Intersection of Anthropology and Science Fiction" (2014). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 104.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/104
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
