Actions for Manufactured Monsters : Distinguishing Moral and Biological Evolution Through the Gothic Horror Scientist

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Manufactured Monsters : Distinguishing Moral and Biological Evolution Through the Gothic Horror Scientist

Author
Herriott, Julianna
Published
[University Park, Pennsylvania] : Pennsylvania State University, 2024.
Physical Description
1 electronic document
Additional Creators
Morrisson, Mark S. and Schreyer Honors College
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Open Access.
Summary
Charles Darwin's 1859 publication On The Origin of Species generated intense discourse across all facets of society for Darwin's theory of evolution via natural selection, a theory that contradicted the creation story in the Bible. The implications of Darwin's theory divided the scientific community between those who bound science within the realm of religion and those who argued for science's independence from religious influence. This divide resulted in a rising distrust of science in society, a barrier that scientists were forced to navigate as many focused their research on supporting or refuting Darwin's theory. In the gothic tradition of responding to societal fears, novelists Robert Louis Stevenson and H.G. Wells write of the anxieties and implications of evolutionary theory. Stevenson's 1886 novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde interlaces psychiatric research with the fear of biological regression to discuss the origins of evil in humanity. A decade later, H.G. Wells reinforces his support of Darwinism against opposing evolutionary theory with the distinction between biological and moral evolution in his novel The Island of Doctor Moreau. Though these novels were separated by a decade of rapid advancements in evolution, both respond to the core principles introduced by Darwin and their implications on morality and the state of humanity. Rather than implementing the gothic tradition of ascribing the evil in their novels to supernatural actors, these post-Darwinian writers use evolutionary theory to demonstrate how easily the human mind can regress into evil without the constraints of morality.
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Dissertation Note
B.A. Pennsylvania State University 2024.
Technical Details
The full text of the dissertation is available as an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file ; Adobe Acrobat Reader required to view the file.
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