ABSTRACT
WhereasFarfromtheMaddingCrowdandTheReturnoftheNative harkbacktothemid1870sandearly1840srespectively,portraying communitiesrelativelyuntouchedbyrecenttechnology,ALaodiceanand TwoonaTowerareself-consciously'storiesoftoday',strikinganoteof deliberatecontemporaneity.Theplotsofbothexploitscientificgadgetry andthewaysinwhichitmodifieshumankind'sviewofitselfanditsplace inanacceleratingandrapidlyfluctuatingworld.FredericHarrisonasserted intheearly1880s:'Takeitallinall,themerelymaterial,physical, mechanicalchangeinhumanlifeinthehundredyears,fromthedaysof WattandArkwrighttoourown,isgreaterthanoccurredinthethousand yearsthatpreceded,perhapseveninthetwothousandyearsortwenty thousandyears.'7
