The Island of Doctor Moreau

In 1859, Charles Darwin (an English naturalist and biologist) published his groundbreaking book On the Origin of the Species. A seminal work in the development of evolutionary biology, the book introduced Darwin’s theory of natural selection. In 1871, Darwin published The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, applying his theory of evolution to human beings. Because of these and other works, as well as overlapping theories and studies by other scientists, the scientific theory of evolution became both widespread and hotly debated. For many critics, evolution challenged traditional Christian beliefs such as the idea that human beings were created in the image of God and had a special status distinct from other living organisms. Garbled versions of Darwin’s theory were sometimes used to generate fear or misused to justify racism or other forms of prejudice. For example, it was sometimes claimed that people other than white Europeans were “less evolved” and thus closer to animals; these beliefs could be used to justify unjust treatment and oppression.

In the Victorian era, various individuals drew on Darwin’s highly specific scientific theories to make broader generalizations about human behavior and change, applying versions (sometimes inaccurate) of Darwin’s theory to sociology, economics, and politics in a category known broadly as Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism was sometimes deployed to justify social and economic inequality by claiming that poverty was a consequence of natural selection. Others worried about whether devolution could occur alongside evolution, leading individuals to “revert” or “regress” to a less sophisticated or desirable state of being. Especially given the significant political, technological, and social change occurring in this era, fears of devolution became widespread and were explored by writers and thinkers including Wells, and Robert Louis Stevenson in his novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.