# Denton — Short Fiction character guide

> Denton in Short Fiction by H. G. Wells.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** A Denton, the worthless Denton

**First appearance:** 0046-a-story-of-the-days-to-come

## Snapshot

A refined man whose love for Elizabeth Mwres collides with a future society that measures worth in machinery and money, forcing him to fight for a life it refuses to grant him.

## Who they are

Denton belongs to a hyper-mechanized future where his old-fashioned tastes and romantic attachment to Elizabeth Mwres mark him as an idler and a misfit. His polished accent and soft hands make him an easy target for the rougher men around him, and he discovers that his code of honour demands more courage than he ever suspected he possessed. His struggle to earn a place beside Elizabeth drives the story's early conflict between personal desire and a society that prices everything, including love.

## In the story

### [A Story of the Days to Come](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/a-story-of-the-days-to-come)

A central figure who experiences the harsh realities of poverty and social decline.

### [I: The Cure for Love](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/i-the-cure-for-love)

Elizabeth's lover, a slender, handsome young man who writes poetry and works on the flying stage. He is deeply in love with Elizabeth and devastated when she fails to recognize him after the hypnotic treatment.

### [II: The Vacant Country](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/ii-the-vacant-country)

A young man disillusioned with city life; he proposes the radical idea of moving to the countryside and secretly marries Elizabeth.

### [III: The Ways of the City](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/iii-the-ways-of-the-city)

A middle-class man who marries Elizabeth, borrows money, and eventually descends into labor with the Labour Company after financial collapse.

### [IV: Underneath](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/iv-underneath)

Falls to the level of a Labour Serf, endures physical violence, learns to fight, and begins to adapt to the brutal underways.

### [V: Bindon Intervenes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/v-bindon-intervenes)

Denton is the target of Bindon's revenge, described as 'worthless' and the husband of Elizabeth, whose ruin Bindon orchestrates.

### [A Dream of Armageddon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/a-dream-of-armageddon)

The narrator of the dream, a former political leader who abandoned his position for love.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/iv)

Not present in this chapter.

### [The Pearl of Love](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/the-pearl-of-love)

Not present in this chapter.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/characters/denton
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/characters