History Literature / ConsiderHerWays

''Consider Her Ways'' is a 1956 [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian]] ScienceFiction [[{{Novelette}} novelette]] by British writer Creator/JohnWyndham.

* AuthorTract: It's hard to see Laura the historian's rant about [[CapitalismIsBad how consumerism was used to reinforce sexism]] as anything but Wyndham railing against this in his present day.

The story is told from the FirstPersonPerspective of an [[IdentityAmnesia amnesiac]] protagonist, who awakens suddenly in a strange world with no memory of who or where she is. She is given the identity of 'Orchis', a [[BabyFactory Class One Mother]], whose sole duty is to reproduce within a [[FantasticCasteSystem bizarre stratified society]] where tough '[[AmazonBrigade Workers]]' toil in laborious jobs and enforce the law, diminutive "[[LittlePeople Servitors]]" complete menial tasks, and the educated technocrats of '[[TheProudElite The Doctorate]]' boss everyone else around. Oh, and [[LadyLand men are nowhere to be seen]]. Understandably perplexed, and convinced she is hallucinating, 'Orchis' attempts to make sense of her odd surroundings, and winds up learning some ''very'' disturbing truths about where she really is: her name is Jane, and she's a present-day doctor who has [[MentalTimeTravel been transported to a possible future Earth]] where all men [[{{Gendercide}} died long ago]].

The story is told from the FirstPersonPerspective of an [[IdentityAmnesia amnesiac]] protagonist, who awakens suddenly in a strange world with no memory of who or where she is. She is given the identity of 'Orchis', a [[BabyFactory Class One Mother]], whose sole duty is to reproduce within a [[FantasticCasteSystem bizarre stratified society]] where tough '[[AmazonBrigade Workers]]' toil in laborious jobs and enforce the law, diminutive '[[LittlePeople Servitors]]' complete menial tasks, and the educated technocrats of '[[TheProudElite The Doctorate]]' boss everyone else around. Oh, and [[LadyLand men are nowhere to be seen]]. Understandably perplexed, and convinced she is hallucinating, 'Orchis' attempts to make sense of her odd surroundings, and winds up learning some ''very'' disturbing truths about where she really is: her name is Jane, and she's a present-day doctor who has [[MentalTimeTravel been transported to a possible future Earth]] where all men [[{{Gendercide}} died long ago]].

* GoneHorriblyWrong: Dr. Perrigan, a biochemist, devoted his life to producing [[SyntheticPlague targeted artificial viruses]] with which to [[DisproportionateRetribution eradicate vermin]]. After successfully killing off all rabbits in Australia, he attempts to purge the world of brown rats - and somehow, his virus [[ThePlague mutates to attack humans]], killing off all men on the planet, but for some reason women were mostly immune.

* {{Gendercide}}: No men exist in the Doctorate's society, because they were all wiped out by [[GoneHorriblyWrong an artificial virus intended to kill all brown rats]].

It does drop more than a few [[{{Anvilicious}} anvils]] on the now-infamous gender politics of UsefulNotes/TheFifties - but maybe [[ZigZaggedTrope not quite in the way you expect]].

* CrapsaccharineWorld: The Doctorate's society is harmonious and peaceful, with everyone Jane meets seeming to be happy with their life, but people are biologically modified from birth to take roles in a rigid caste system, with the [[BabyFactory Mothers]] especially being treated like livestock, shunted around from place to place depending on whether they produce 'Class One' or 'Class Two' babies, heavily implying some form of [[DarwinistDesire eugenics]] at work. Furthermore, no caste except the Doctorate has access to any historical information or is even literate - it's seen as an unnessecary skill.

* CrapsaccharineWorld: The Doctorate's society is harmonious and peaceful, with everyone Jane meets seeming to be happy with their role in life, but people are biologically modified from birth to take roles in a rigid caste system, with the [[BabyFactory Mothers]] especially being treated like livestock, shunted around from place to place depending on whether they produce 'Class One' or 'Class Two' babies, heavily implying some form of [[DarwinistDesire eugenics]] at work. Furthermore, no caste except the Doctorate has access to any historical information or is even literate - it's seen as an unnessecary skill.

The story is told from the FirstPersonPerspective of an [[IdentityAmnesia amnesiac]] protagonist, who awakens suddenly in a strange world with no memory of who or where she is. She is given the identity of 'Orchis', a [[BabyFactory Class One Mother]], whose sole duty is to reproduce within a [[FantasticCasteSystem bizarre stratified society]] where tough '[[AmazonBrigade Workers]]' toil in laborious jobs and enforce the law, diminutive '[[LittlePeople Servitors]]' complete menial tasks, and the educated technocrats of '[[TheProudElite The Doctorate]]' boss everyone else around. Oh, and [[{{Gendercide}} men are nowhere to be seen]]. Understandably perplexed, and convinced she is hallucinating, 'Orchis' attempts to make sense of her odd surroundings, and winds up learning some ''very'' disturbing truths about where she really is: her name is Jane, and she's a present-day doctor who has [[MentalTimeTravel been transported to a possible future Earth]] where all men died long ago.

* WidowWoman: Jane's husband died in a plane wreck; her grief contributes heavily to her volunteering for the drug-injection experiment.

* YouCantFightFate: Possibly. [[spoiler:After returning from her trip, Jane tracks down "Dr. Perrigan", kills him (and herself) and destroys most of his research, but it turns out he has a son who vows to carry on his work...]]
%%* ValuesDissonance: {{Downplayed}}. Given the subject matter, it's not aged ''too'' badly, but Laura mentions that the loss of men has led to a significant lack of progress and interest in engineering and the sciences (barring bioscience of course). While the vast majority of experts in these fields in the 1950s would have been men which would have doubtless meant a loss of much ongoing work, many female engineers would still object to this.