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Around the World in Eighty Days

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Around the World in Eighty Days , travel adventure novel by French author Jules Verne , published serially in 1872 in Le Temps and in book form in 1873. The work tells the story of the unflappable Phileas Fogg ’s trip around the world, accompanied by his emotional valet, Passepartout, to win a bet. It was the most popular of Verne’s Voyages extraordinaires series of novels.

Phileas Fogg, a London gentleman of meticulous and unchanging habits, hires as his valet Jean Passepartout, a Frenchman who has had a variety of jobs, including circus performer, but now seeks a tranquil life. After reading in The Daily Telegraph that a new railroad in India has made it theoretically possible to travel around the world in 80 days, Fogg bets his fellow members at the Reform Club that he will make that journey in 80 days or less; the wager is for the princely sum of £20,000 (half his fortune). Leaving that night, Fogg and a nonplussed Passepartout board a train bound for Dover and Calais to begin their journey.

Shortly before Fogg’s departure, someone resembling him had robbed a bank, and Fogg’s sudden exit leads Scotland Yard to believe that he was the bank robber. Accordingly, a detective, Mr. Fix, is sent to Suez , in British-ruled Egypt , to await the steamer Mongolia , on which Fogg and Passepartout are traveling. Fix befriends Passpartout, and, after learning that they will take the steamer to Bombay , he buys a ticket and joins them. The Mongolia reaches Bombay before the arrival of an arrest warrant, however. During the few hours before their planned departure for Calcutta on the Great India Peninsula Railway, Passepartout visits a Hindu temple on Malabar Hill , unaware that Christians are forbidden to enter and that shoes are not to be worn inside. He is beaten by enraged priests and barely makes it to the train station on time.

The train travels through India until stopping at the village of Kholby, where Fogg learns that, contrary to what was reported in the British press, the railroad is 50 miles (81 km) short of completion, and passengers are required to find their own way to Allahabad to resume the train trip. Fogg purchases an elephant and hires a Parsi man as elephant driver and guide. The elephant-borne party later encounters a group of people preparing for an act of suttee —the immolation of a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre. Fogg decides that they must rescue the young widow. Passepartout disguises himself as the body of the late rajah, and, as soon as the pyre is lit, he springs up and seizes the widow. The party then flees before the ruse is discovered. They reach the railroad station in Allahabad and continue on their journey.

In Calcutta, however, Fogg and Passepartout are arrested and sentenced to prison because of Passepartout’s incursion into the Malabar Hill temple in Bombay. An unperturbed Fogg pays bail for them, and, accompanied by the widow, Aouda, they board a steamer bound for Hong Kong . Fix, who had hoped the sentences would keep them in Calcutta long enough for the warrant to arrive, joins them.

In Hong Kong Passepartout attempts to secure cabins on a boat to Yokohama and learns that its departure has been rescheduled for that evening. Desperate to keep Fogg in Hong Kong until the warrant arrives, Fix tells Passepartout why he is following Fogg and offers to pay him to help delay Fogg’s departure. When Passepartout refuses, Fix drugs him with opium , preventing him from returning to Fogg. As a result, Fogg misses the steamer. However, he finds another ship that will take them to Shanghai , and he, Aouda, and Fix set sail. In the meantime, Passepartout manages to stagger onto the ship for Yokohama.

Passepartout arrives in Yokohama with no money and no idea where Fogg is. He joins a traveling circus, where Fogg, having caught a Yokohama-bound steamer from Shanghai, encounters him just in time for them all (including Fix) to board the steamer that will take them to San Francisco . As Britain has no jurisdiction in the United States , Fix is now as eager as the rest of them to get Fogg back to England quickly. The group boards a train bound for New York City .

The train trip continues more or less uneventfully until it reaches Medicine Bow, Wyoming Territory, where a signalman tells them that the suspension bridge is too dilapidated to bear the weight of a train. However, the engineer believes that it might be possible to safely cross the bridge by going at top speed, and the plan works, with the bridge collapsing as soon as the train reaches the other side. In Nebraska the train is attacked by a band of Sioux , who are on the point of winning the battle when Passepartout succeeds in uncoupling the train from its engine outside Fort Kearny, and the soldiers garrisoned there frighten the Sioux into leaving. However, the Sioux capture Passepartout and two other passengers. Fogg rides to their rescue with a group of soldiers, but the recoupled train departs without them.

Using a sail-powered sledge , Fogg and the others travel over snow to Omaha , Nebraska, arriving just in time to board a train to Chicago . From there they catch a train to New York City , where they arrive 45 minutes after departure of the ship to England. Fogg finds an empty trading ship whose captain is willing to carry the group of four to Bordeaux , France . After bribing the crew and imprisoning the captain, Fogg assumes control and sets course for Liverpool , England. When a storm prevents the use of sails, the coal supply runs low. Fogg buys the ship from the captain and begins burning its wooden parts. As soon as they arrive in Liverpool, Fix arrests Fogg. Several hours later, though, Fix learns that another man was responsible for the bank robbery, and he releases Fogg, who orders a special train. However, he arrives in London five minutes too late to win his wager .

The following evening Fogg apologizes to Aouda for being unable to provide for her comfort as a result of losing the bet. She in turn proposes marriage to him, and he joyfully agrees. Passepartout is sent to engage a clergyman, and he learns that their journey through the time zones had gained them a day and that they are not too late after all. He rushes back to notify Fogg, who arrives at the Reform Club with only moments to spare.

The richness and poetry of Around the World in Eighty Days , together with the lively narrative, won Verne worldwide renown and was a fantastic success for the times, setting new sales records, with translations in English, Russian, Italian, and Spanish appearing soon after it was published in book form. An 1874 stage version, written by Verne and French playwright Adolphe d’Ennery, was also wildly successful and ran for several decades. The novel inspired numerous attempts to travel around the world in 80 days or less, most notably by American journalist Nellie Bly in 1889–90. The best-known film version, Around the World in 80 Days (1956), starred David Niven , Cantinflas , and Shirley MacLaine and won the Academy Award for best picture .

Review of the Novel 'Around the World in 80 Days'

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Jules Verne 's Around the World in Eighty Days is a rip-roaring adventure story set primarily in  Victorian England but spans the world following its protagonist Phileas Fogg. Written with a cosmopolitan and open view of the world, Around the World in Eighty Days is a brilliant tale.

Vivid in its descriptions, Fogg, a cold, brittle man, who slowly shows that he does have the heart of an Englishman . The book wonderfully captures a spirit of adventure that was bubbling around the turn of the century and is impossible to put down.

The Main Plot

The story begins in London where the reader is introduced to an incredibly precise and controlled man by the name of Fogg. Fogg lives happily, although a little mysteriously, for no-one knows the true origin of his wealth. He goes to his gentleman's club every day, and it is there that he accepts a wager to travel around the world in eighty days. He packs his things and, along with his manservant, Passepartout he sets out on his journey.

Early on in his voyage, a police inspector begins to trail him, believing Fogg is a bank robber. After a reasonably uneventful start, difficulties emerge in India when Fogg realities that a train line he was hoping to take has not been finished. He decides to takes an elephant instead.

This diversion is fortunate in one way, for Fogg meets and saves an Indian woman from a forced marriage. On his journey, Fogg will fall in love with Aouda and, on his return to England will make her his wife. In the interim, however, Fogg faces a number of challenges, including losing Passepartout to a Yokohama circus and being attacked by Native Americans in the Midwest.

During this incident, Fogg shows his humanity by going off personally to save his manservant, despite the fact that this could well cost him his bet. Finally, Fogg manages to get back onto British soil (albeit by leading a mutiny aboard a French steamer) and seemingly in enough time to win his bet.

At this point, the police inspector arrests him, delaying him just long enough to lose the bet. He returns home saddened by his failure, but brightened by the fact that Aouda has agreed to marry him. When Passepartout is sent to arrange the wedding, he realizes that it is a day earlier than they think (by traveling East across the International date line they have gained a day), and so Fogg wins his bet.

The Human Spirit of Adventure

Unlike many of his more science-based fiction stories, Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days is interested in the capabilities of technology in his own time. The things that human beings can achieve armed only with a sense of adventure and an exploratory spirit. It is also a brilliant dissection of what it is to be English in the time of empire.

Fogg is a brilliantly drawn character, a man who is stiff-upper-lipped and precise in all his habits. However, as the novel goes on the icy man begins to thaw. He begins to place the importance of friendship and love above his usual concerns of reserve and punctuality. In the end, he is willing to lose his bet to help a friend. He doesn’t care about defeat because he has won the hand of the woman he loves.

Although some would argue it doesn't have the great literary merit of some novels written around the same time, Around the World in Eighty Days certainly makes up for it with its vivid descriptions. The undoubtedly a classic story is peopled with characters who will be long remembered. It is a breathtaking roller-coaster ride around the world and a touching view of an older time. Filled with the thrill of adventure, Around the World in Eighty Days is a wonderful story, written with skill and no short order of panache.

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Around the World in Eighty Days

Jules verne.

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Around the World in Eighty Days tells the story of Phileas Fogg , an Englishman living in the Victorian Era who bets £20,000 that he can circle the globe in exactly eighty days. Fogg is an extremely wealthy man with eccentric habits—he has no family or close relationships yet is extremely generous with strangers, and he abides by a strict, repetitive schedule that he keeps track of on an intricate clock in his mansion. He spends every day at the exclusive Reform Club social organization, where he dines extravagantly, reads newspapers, and bets on games of whist with his similarly wealthy acquaintances. Due to Fogg’s reclusive, solitary nature, no one knows much about him despite his public reputation of being knowledgeable, worldly, and gentlemanly.

On October 2nd, 1872, Fogg hires a new servant named Jean Passepartout . Passepartout is a Parisian man who once led an adventurous life as a vagrant and performer, and now longs for the same calm, routinized life that Fogg leads. That evening, Fogg plays whist with his usual partners at the Reform Club: Andrew Stuart , Gauthier Ralph , John Sullivan , Samuel Fallentin , and Thomas Flanagan . The men get into a discussion about a recent robbery at the Bank of England by a “well-to-do” gentleman and theorize about whether or not he will be able to evade authorities by leaving the country.

This conversation eventually leads to Stuart betting £4,000 that it is impossible for a man to go around the world in eighty days. Fogg impulsively counters with a £20,000 wager that he himself can complete this challenge, which Stuart and the other men agree to. Fogg leaves immediately to pack and make the 8:45 P.M. train, taking a bemused Passepartout along with him. Fogg’s itinerary has him traveling from London to Paris, Suez, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, New York, and back to London. He must meet his friends back at the Reform Club precisely eighty days later on December 21st at 8:45 P.M. in order to win the wager.

Detective Fix , an inspector from the Scotland Yard, trails Fogg and Passepartout to Suez. Due to Fogg’s sizable fortune, strange habits, and hasty departure from England, Fix believes that he is the very bank robber that Fogg and his acquaintances were discussing at the Reform Club. He must wait for a warrant to arrive in order to legally arrest Fogg in British territory (England, India, Hong Kong, or Yokohama) and becomes acquainted with Passepartout in an effort to gain information about Fogg. Neither Fogg nor Passepartout are aware of his suspicions, instead remaining focused solely on the wager.

Throughout their journey, Fogg is calm and logical at all times, but meticulously tracks the time they lose and gain due to unforeseen obstacles. Passepartout falls into a similar obsession with time, cursing every delay they face and refusing to change his watch away from London time. One such obstacle occurs when they reach India—Fogg, Passepartout, and their newfound acquaintance Sir Francis Cromarty are forced to traverse the undeveloped jungle because their train is halted by an unfinished track. They resort to riding on an elephant led by a helpful guide and stop to save a young Indian woman named Aouda from a sacrificial religious ceremony along the way, a gesture that Fogg and his companions agree is well worth the delay.

In Hong Kong, Fix reunites with Fogg, Passepartout, and Aouda. He decides to get Passepartout intoxicated on alcohol and opium in order to make them miss the steamer to Yokohama (the last British territory they will visit before moving onto the United States) and to bide more time for the arrest warrant to arrive. Though they are temporarily separated and delayed, Fogg is able to pay a pilot-boat captain named John Bunsby to get him to his destination, and Passepartout manages to navigate Yokohama on his own. They are reunited by chance at an acrobatic show in Yokohama, and Fix does not receive his warrant in time to arrest Fogg.

From there, Fogg, Passepartout, Aouda, and Fix all travel to the United States, where they cross the country from San Francisco to New York by train. By this time, Fix has begun to warm up to Fogg’s generosity and endearingly stoic nature, though he is still motivated by a sense of duty to arrest him once they reach England. Passepartout and Aouda, too, have developed love and reverence for Fogg, and vow to stay loyal to him not matter what. The group faces myriad challenges and delays throughout the long journey—most notably, their train is attacked by a band of Sioux in Nebraska and Passepartout is taken captive. Luckily, Fogg (with the help of soldiers from Fort Kearny) is able to save his loyal servant.

In order to catch the train from Omaha to Chicago, Fogg, Passepartout, Aouda, and Fix must resort to riding on a sail-rigged sledge driven through the bitterly cold winter snow by an American named Mudge . They make the train on time and continue from Chicago onto New York, but realize that they missed the steamer to Liverpool, England once they arrive. On the Hudson River, Fogg pays Captain Andrew Speedy to bring him and his companions along on his trading vessel to Bordeaux. Once he is on board, Fogg bribes the crew to take Speedy hostage and commandeers the boat to sail to Liverpool. They nearly run out of coal, so he buys the boat from Speedy and burns it for fuel. They make it as far as Ireland and take a train to Liverpool, where Fix finally places Fogg under arrest.

After a short stint imprisoned in the Custom House, Fix finds out that the real bank robber was apprehended three days prior; Fogg is released and orders a special train to London with Passepartout and Aouda. They arrive five minutes too late, however, and Fogg believes that he has lost the wager. Passepartout and Aouda go back with him to his house in Saville Row, and both blame themselves for Fogg losing the wager, and thus, his reputation and fortune. Aouda, saddened by Fogg’s lonely life in England, asks him to marry her. He accepts, professes his love for her, and sends Passepartout to notify the local reverend of their engagement.

Passepartout, however, finds that the reverend is not home, which causes him to realize that it is actually Saturday, December 21st and not Sunday, December 22nd as they had assumed. He and Fogg failed to factor in the day they gained by crossing the International Date Line. Passepartout rushes home to share the news, and Fogg makes it to the Reform Club three seconds before 8:45 P.M., winning the £20,000 wager. He and Aouda are married the following Monday, which makes Fogg “the happiest of men” and is ultimately what gives his journey around the world in eighty days a sense of meaning.

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Around the World in 80 Days

by Jules Verne

Around the world in 80 days study guide.

Around the World in Eighty Days is an adventure novel written by renowned French author Jules Verne , published in 1873. It tells the story of Phileas Fogg , a resident of London, who makes a bet with the members of his club that he can circumnavigate the globe over land and sea in less than eighty days. This novel is one of Verne's most famous.

In the middle of his writing career, Verne purchased a ship and began sailing around the British Isles and the Mediterranean, with many of his adventures in these ports providing inspiration for Around the World in Eighty Days. The idea for the novel came to him while reading a newspaper in a Paris café in which it was stated that a man could make a journey around the world in eighty days. He wondered how the inevitable crossing of the International Date Line would come into play, making the traveler gain or lose a day, and thus the idea for the novel was born.

The idea of traveling around the world in a certain amount of time was popular, and other writers had written about it before, dating back all the way to Greek traveler Pausanias writing "Around the World" around 100AD. An Italian traveler named Gemelli Careri also wrote a book in 1699 called Voyage Around the World, providing very detailed accounts of civilizations outside of Europe. In 1872 Thomas Cook set out on a journey around the world that took seven months, and documented it in a series of letters. This was just one year before Verne's novel was published, and likely provided some influence.

Around the World in Eighty Days has been adapted into film a number of times, with the 1956 version becoming particularly famous, followed by Disney's adaptation in 2004, which deviated significantly from the events in the book. The novel has been adapted for theatre, television, and radio as well.

Around the World in 80 Days Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Around the World in 80 Days is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Around the World in Eighty Days

-James Forster

-Passepartout

What are the names of Phileas Foggs butlers

He fires his former butler, James Forster, for bringing him his shaving water two degrees too cold. He hires as a replacement, Passepartout, a Frenchman of about 30.

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Study Guide for Around the World in 80 Days

Around the World in 80 Days study guide contains a biography of Jules Verne, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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Essays for Around the World in 80 Days

Around the World in 80 Days essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne.

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Lesson Plan for Around the World in 80 Days

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1-Minute Summary of Around the World in 80 Days (Short Plot Overview)

Around the World in 80 Days is a story that has captivated readers for over a century with its daring escapades and the thrill of a seemingly impossible challenge. Want a short summary of the book’s epic plot? Here it is!

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Short Summary of Around the World in 80 Days

Around the World in 80 Days begins with Phileas Fogg, a wealthy and enigmatic Englishman, who wagers half his fortune that he can circumnavigate the globe in 80 days – a feat that seems more than ambitious in the 1870s. Accompanied by his newly employed French valet Passepartout, Fogg sets out from London on this race against time.

Their journey is far from straightforward. They travel by steamship, railway, elephant, and even sailboat, overcoming various obstacles, including rescues, cultural experiences, and even an arrest. Fogg maintains his characteristic composure throughout, making precise calculations and using his wealth to overcome setbacks, such as purchasing an elephant or bribing ship captains to go faster.

The duo ventures through exotic locales like Egypt, India, Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States. In India, they rescue Aouda, a young widow about to undergo a sati ritual, who then accompanies them on their journey.

As they progress, the trio faces increasing challenges. Fogg is mistakenly pursued by Detective Fix, who believes Fogg to be a bank robber. It’s only upon reaching England that Fix realizes his error and releases Fogg, who believes he has missed his deadline. However, due to a calculation error arising from traveling eastward and gaining a day, Fogg actually arrives on time and wins the wager. He gains more than just money, though; he finds love with Aouda and a renewed spirit for life.

• The Rigidity and Flexibility of Time: The novel examines time as a rigid structure that dictates the rhythm of society, yet also as a flexible concept, highlighted by the surprise ending due to a time zone error.
• Cultural Differences and Imperialism: Through Fogg’s eyes, the novel presents various cultures, critically assessing the imperialist views of the time and showcasing the protagonists’ encounters with diverse traditions.
• Technology and Progress: The story celebrates the 19th-century technological innovations that made Fogg’s journey possible, representing the period’s belief in relentless progress and the shrinking of the world through travel.

Book Trivia

• Verne’s inspiration for the novel came from the technological progress of his era, particularly the 1869 opening of the Suez Canal.
• The book had a tangible impact on society, changing perceptions of travel and inspiring real attempts to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days.
• The novel is part of Verne’s “Extraordinary Voyages” series, which explores the theme of adventure using the science and technology of the 19th century.
• Unlike many of Verne’s other protagonists, who are engineers or scientists, Phileas Fogg is depicted as a wealthy English gentleman, highlighting Verne’s exploration of character diversity within the framework of adventure and discovery.

Book review: ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ – about to get a reboot – is the perfect Christmas tale

One Christmas, when I was 9 years old, Santa Claus brought me two books. Printed on cheap newsprint, each was an oversized paperback labeled “A Golden Picture Classic,” featuring washed-out color illustrations and a text adapted for young readers. During the lazy week between Christmas and New Year’s, I read “The Count of Monte Cristo,” and that 200-page condensation of Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece became the first “grown-up” novel I truly loved.

The other “Golden Picture Classic” I received, Jules Verne’s “Around the World in Eighty Days,” has always struck me as surprisingly appropriate to the yuletide season, capturing something of its gaiety and high spirits, as well as the desperation of the last-minute shopper’s race against time as Dec. 25 approaches. Of course, many of Verne’s works, especially in illustrated editions, have long been among the reliable perennials of holiday gift-giving. What 10-year-old wouldn’t be thrilled to unwrap a copy of “Journey to the Center of the Earth” or “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”?

With particular relevance, “Around the World in Eighty Days” depicts a Christmas miracle worthy of the Hallmark Channel – the conversion of a friendless, stiffly precise Victorian gentleman into a human being capable of love and joy. Charles Dickens’ Scrooge undergoes a similar transformation in the course of a single, vision-packed night. By contrast, Verne’s hero needs almost three months to reveal fully the tender and generous heart beneath his unflappable exterior.

When the book opens, the punctilious Phileas Fogg lives by the clock, his schedule never varying, each day passed almost entirely at London’s Reform Club, where he reads the newspapers, dines and plays whist. But one afternoon, the club’s card players begin discussing a daring robbery – 55,000 pounds stolen from the Bank of England. This soon leads to an argument about modern travel, which, in its turn, results in Fogg wagering that he can journey around the world in just 80 days. He bets half his fortune, some 20,000 pounds, reserving the rest for expenses en route.

As the obstacles, emergencies and missed connections mount up, Fogg and his newly hired valet Passepartout find their resolve and cleverness tested to the full. Much of the book’s frequent humor derives from culture clash, as the volatile Passepartout gets into trouble by misunderstanding foreign ways while the majestically indifferent Fogg simply concentrates on his timetable: “He was not travelling, he was describing a circumference.”

Nonetheless, the severely self-disciplined Englishman – as logical and dispassionate as Sherlock Holmes or Star Trek’s Spock – is repeatedly forced to break out of his shell, whether by rescuing Aouda, a rajah’s beautiful Parsee widow, or by risking the loss of his wager, as well as his life, by saving Passepartout from Sioux warriors, or, through that most common way of enlarging one’s horizons, by falling in love. That the woman is of another race even shows Verne’s hero flouting widespread British prejudice.

While the novel’s action sometimes recalls a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta or Baron Munchausen tall tale, a disturbing current runs beneath the surface, much as it does during our secularized holiday – the power of money. Whenever things grow desperate, Fogg pulls wads of cash from his carpetbag to pay captains to sail faster, to buy an elephant as jungle transport or, finally, to acquire and destroy an entire steamship. Even Inspector Fix, who doggedly pursues Fogg from Asia to North America and back to Great Britain, does so with the expectation of a lucrative reward for capturing the man he believes robbed the Bank of England.

As a boy, I found “Around the World in Eighty Days” a thrilling story. Then 20 years ago, I got to know Brian Taves, who before his heartbreaking death in 2019 oversaw the Library of Congress’ Jules Verne collection, the largest outside France. Along with Arthur B. Evans, Jean-Michel Margot, Marie-Hélène Huet and other contemporary Verne scholars, Taves taught me that the “Voyages Extraordinaires” (“Amazing Journeys”) weren’t simplistic books.

I Close reading reveals an artistry that can be subtle, complex and politically daring. Verne’s editor, Pierre-Jules Hetzel, however, regularly toned down elements he deemed disturbing to comfortable bourgeois families, and early English translations subsequently further sanitized the texts. I ntended to be educational as well as exciting, Verne’s narratives were constructed around cutting-edge scientific advances, the latest engineering triumphs and geographical discoveries in what were still distant regions of Earth.

While “Around the World in Eighty Days” may not feature a fantastic submarine like Captain Nemo’s Nautilus or a flying fortress like Robur the Conqueror’s Terror (from “The Master of the World”), Fogg’s race against time and space occurs just after the opening of the Suez Canal and runs almost simultaneously with the first globe-spanning tours of the Thomas Cook travel agency.

Of the novel’s modern English versions, the best has long been the Oxford World’s Classics edition by Verne biographer and scholar William Butcher. His endnotes point to its undercurrent of ribaldry and double entendre, and he argues for Verne as artistically innovative in his use of temporal shifts, elisions and flashbacks. Butcher persuasively demonstrates that there’s more in the book than a mixture of farce, manhunt, suspense and romance, though it is doubtless these that have made “Around the World in Eighty Days” the most popular novel by one of the most popular novelists of all time.

But what of the upcoming PBS miniseries, due to begin on Jan. 2? The advance publicity suggests a creative reimagining of the original, far less faithful to it than the Academy Award-winning 1956 film headlined by David Niven. Yet that movie – a three-hour travelogue chockablock with cameos by stars of stage and screen – consists largely of a succession of relatively static episodes and old-timey sight gags.

It’s best enjoyed as a kind of cinematic Muzak, ideal for an occasional glance while baking cookies or wrapping presents. In the end, Verne’s story, however it’s encountered, will always mirror the Christmas season: Weeks of madcap action and inner turmoil finally usher in a morning of gladness, serenity and goodwill to all.

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Around the World in 80 Days: A Unit Study

Five minutes too late! Phileas Fogg was due back in London on December 21 no later than 8:45 PM. Unit resources.

Five minutes too late! Phileas Fogg was due back in London on December 21 and was to make his appearance at his usual club no later than 8:45 PM. But when he steps off of the train, it is already 8:50. The mistake of the detective Fix has cost Fogg his fortune and proven that the unforeseen can indeed interfere with the best-laid plans to travel around the world in 80 days.

Fogg spends December 22 quietly at home, until hapless Passepartout breaks into the room and stammers out the mistake—the date is December 21 and Fogg has yet ten minutes to spare!

An Extraordinary Voyage

Around the World in Eighty Days was the eleventh installment in a series aptly called Voyages Extraordinaires (Extraordinary Voyages) by Pierre-Jules Hetzel, the fortunate publisher of most of Jules Verne’s fascinating works. The series began in January 1863 with Five Weeks in a Balloon , and by the time of Verne’s death the titles numbered 54. (Verne’s son Michel added to the series after his father’s passing.)

As Around the World in Eighty Days plainly shows, Jules Verne was not simply a science fiction author, although science interested him and was sometimes featured in his works. From a young age, writing and geography were his twin interests. As Verne himself said of his first Extraordinary Voyage:

I wrote Five Weeks in a Balloon , not as a story about ballooning, but as a story about Africa. I always was greatly interested in geography and travel, and I wanted to give a romantic description of Africa. Now, there was no means of taking my travellers through Africa otherwise than in a balloon, and that is why a balloon is introduced….

Hence the creation of the Extraordinary Voyages, with its purpose of concluding “in story form [a] survey of the world’s surface and the heavens….” Before the series was finished, Verne had probed the earth from the North Pole to the South, had descended into the crust through a volcano, and had even orbited the moon and traveled on a comet.

The Author At Work

Verne’s knack for meticulous research served him well in this pursuit. He read extensively, enjoying both literary classics and every newspaper and scientific periodical that he could get his hands on. As he read, he made extensive notes. These he filed away for later use, organizing them carefully by subject. Often as he read, ideas for new stories would strike him. Verne would make a note of his inspiration and work the idea in his head until he was ready to start writing. Then, with the help of his notes, he set to work to craft a story that, while truly extraordinary, would nevertheless seem realistic. That he succeeded in achieving realism is demonstrated by the interest displayed by his readers, some writing to sign up for the next voyage to the moon, others seriously debating the potential outcome of Fogg’s journey, often believed at the time to be a real event that Verne was merely reporting on!

The Mystique of the International Date Line

As usual, the idea for Around the World in Eighty Days came from Verne’s habit of reading. Travel was always a favorite subject with him, and by 1872 several events had occurred to make global travel easier than ever before:

• The Golden Spike was driven home in May 1869, marking the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad .
• The Suez Canal opened for traffic just over six months later, November 1869.
• The railroads of India were finally linked together in 1870.

Tourists began to circle the globe regularly, and Verne, as an avid reader, frequently enjoyed accounts of their adventures. One traveler, George Francis Train, even made a trip taking only 80 days in 1870. It was this journey that may have inspired the creation of Phileas Fogg.

According to Verne:

I have a great number of scientific odds and ends in my head. It was thus that, when, one day in a Paris café, I read in the Siècle that a man could travel around the world in 80 days, it immediately struck me that I could profit by a difference of meridian and make my traveller gain or lose a day in his journey. There was a dénouement ready found.

Note that the International Date Line was not established until the International Meridian Conference of 1884. This conference, however, did not create a new reality; it merely acknowledged facts that explorers had previously discovered and set up a method of conveniently dealing with them.

Magellan’s crew performed a feat opposite to that of Phileas Fogg when they sailed westward around the world from 1519 to 1522. Arriving in the Cape Verde Islands, they discovered that their log had mysteriously fallen behind a day, despite taking Leap Year into consideration. The same accident befell Sir Francis Drake while traveling westward around the world from 1579 to 1580.

Other less famous navigators noted the phenomenon, as well. Theoretically, Fogg should have noticed that he was ahead one day in the United States, but given his haste and the chaos that dogged his steps most of the way, we shall excuse his oversight.

The Legacy of Around the World in Eighty Days

Around the World in Eighty Days first appeared as a serial in Pierre-Jules Hetzel’s biweekly Magazine of Education and Recreation in 1872. It appeared in book form in France in 1873 and was translated into English that same year.

Other than Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , no Jules Verne work was launched so quickly to such lasting fame. Around the World in Eighty Days has been translated into a staggering array of languages, including Japanese and Arabic. It has been adapted to both radio and television, and the play version contributed greatly to Verne’s personal fortune.

The concept of traveling all around the world in 80 days instantly appealed to many. Many adventure-seekers have since repeated the attempt, although modern transportation options have since made 80 days seem far less significant. Nevertheless, the concept lives on, with a Jules Verne Trophy having been offered since 1993 to yachts that can break the time record for sailing around the world without stopping and without assistance.

The Translations

As for Jules Verne himself, his books have earned far more respect than they once enjoyed. Previously dismissed as an author of imaginative, if impractical, children’s literature, Verne’s reputation enjoyed a rebound during the Verne sesquicentennial in 1978. Europeans reexamined his literary skill, and English-speaking scholars were inspired to take a second look, as well.

During this process of rediscovery, it was found that Verne was regarded as a children’s author in English-speaking countries because that was how British and American publishers marketed his writing. These publishers frequently took the liberty of remolding the stories into watered-down renditions that they believed would be highly attractive to a young audience, particularly to young boys. They pared back lengthy scientific dissertations, added entertaining embellishments, and removed anything even remotely offensive to one of English or American nationality.

Scholars continue to delight in debating on the merits of various translations, frequently contributing their own fanciful speculations on the author’s intentions in the process. Translating the works afresh increases costs, however, and some publishers are innocently unaware of any faults in the originals anyway. Therefore, poor renditions continue to resurface again and again, both in print and in online public domain repositories.

Readers can rest assured, however, that Around the World in Eighty Days has probably suffered less at the hands of translators and publishers than most of Verne’s books. Verne’s wit, scientific knowledge, and fascination with geography and travel have been preserved for generations to come.

Suggestions

You’ll find helpful resources for completing these suggestions below.

• Create an Around the World in 80 Days notebook.
• Include a map where you have plotted the route traveled.
• Add country pages to your notebook to profile each country visited.
• Create a character page for Phileas Fogg and Passepartout.
• Make an author page for Jules Verne.

Further Investigation

A Jules Verne Centennial: 1905-2005 Brief biography at the Smithsonian.

Jules Verne at Home Interview that appeared in Strand Magazine in 1895.

14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student: Character Sketch Instructions and resources for creating a character sketch page for Phileas Fogg and Passepartout as suggested above.

Foreign Pupils Questionnaire From the Jules Verne Museum, this download makes a great wrap-up.

Extraordinary Journeys: Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne Oxford Classics version with translation by William Butcher (preferred).

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne Translated by William Butcher with notes and introduction.

Unit Studies & Lesson Plans

Round the World in 80 Days Great download from Pearson Education that includes chapter summaries, discussion questions, and activities including map work, writing, and research.

Around the World in 80 Days 25-page guide that goes along with the book containing background information and diagram.

Around the World in 80 Days Download from Macmillan with before-reading, during-reading, and after-reading questions and activities. Can be used to create an Around the World in 80 Days notebook.

Free 1-Year Unit Study Curriculum This free download covers many of the countries encountered on the trip. You’ll find lots of ideas.

Printables & Notebooking Pages

Around the World in 80 Days Map For notebook or to create your own.

Country Research Report Document one or more of the countries visited.

Globalmania Lots of wonderful maps in this free download.

Author Notebooking Pages {Free Download} To record what you learn about Jules Verne.

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Samuel Tourneux

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Damien frette, julien crampon.

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