{"id":118,"date":"2016-02-10T21:43:41","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T21:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/?p=118"},"modified":"2018-09-02T22:06:08","modified_gmt":"2018-09-02T22:06:08","slug":"prendicks-fear-realized-britain-as-the-second-island-of-doctor-moreau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/2016\/02\/10\/prendicks-fear-realized-britain-as-the-second-island-of-doctor-moreau\/","title":{"rendered":"Prendick’s Fear Realized: Britain as the Second Island of Doctor Moreau"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ruling of a nation, with the possibility of tyranny, exists as a symbiotic relationship (especially if the ruler possesses no heir). H.G. Wells\u2019 The Island of Doctor Moreau<\/em> presents the reality of an isolated kingdom, or perhaps twisted theocracy is a better term, that ultimately reverts to a primal state with the death of its leader Dr. Moreau. While Montgomery dies shortly after, but not before exposing the Beast People to alcohol, the remaining man Edward Prendick is not capable of assuming the \u201cthrone\u201d of the island. However, he does offer up a new doctrine that temporarily restores a false humanity that eventually fades as the animals revert to their true natures. In chapter XXI during an exchange with the Dog-man Prendick there appears an interesting association of the narrator with the native inhabitants. \u201cThat Other who walked in the Sea is as we are.\u201d (126) [1]<\/a>The question then is: Is Pendrick a beast, are we all beasts, and if so is that why he is not able to maintain the humanity of the island? Thus the death of Moreau signals the end of a world, similar to how Queen Victoria\u2019s death triggered the beginnings of the decline of the British Empire.<\/p>\n

In The Longman Anthology of British Literature<\/em> by David Damrosch and Kevin J.H. Dettmar comes a passage focusing on the relationship of a ruler and their country, analyzing the power and restraints of Queen Victoria. In the passage entitled \u201cVictoria and the Victorians\u201d a newspaper clipping published at the time of her death in 1901 writes that \u201cFew of us, perhaps, have realized till now how large a part she had in the life of everyone of us; how the thread of her life [bound] the warp of the nation\u2019s progress.\u201d (1050) If we as readers think of the island as the British Empire, then what other similarities can we find? Prendick returns to England and lives out his days with the constant fear of every human around him regressing to a bestial form, and while he would not approve of this, we must connect the two \u201cempires\u201d as much as possible for they are eerily similar.<\/p>\n

The treatment of women in particular links the island and Britain, especially on the grounds of equal rights and reproductive abilities. Despite facing many hardships throughout her life due to her gender, Victoria was not a fan of \u201cthis mad, wicked folly of Woman\u2019s Rights.\u201d (1051) Women were also subjected to the duty to \u201csoothe the savage beast her husband might become as he fought in the jungle of free trade.\u201d (1061) The pink sloth, which I believe to be female, enacts this role by occasionally jolting Prendick awake, causing him to be hyper aware and remember his situation. It tests his humanity and patience, eventually slinking back to the trees. The women are also given a wild repulsiveness (for example the escaped puma, which can be seen as the \u201cNew Woman\u201d in an abusive society, constantly in conflict with the queen and sexism).<\/p>\n

Doctor Moreau also has problems with reproduction and the role of \u201cfemales\u201d as was the case, like the queen. Despite having nine children Victoria was also not fond of pregnancy, childbirth, and babies. (1051) Montgomery relates this to Prendick in Chapter XV, \u201cthey actually bore offspring, but that these generally died. When they lived, Moreau took them and stamped the human form upon them.\u201d (84) Not only does this speak to the low mortality rates of the lower class, but to the contradictory nature of both the British and Moreau. It is the idea of improving by dehumanizing. As with the missions to spread Christianity into areas like \u201cDarkest Africa\u201d Moreau attempts to create humanity by performing actions that we (and his fellow Victorians) deem inhumane. The narrative of both the British Empire and Dr. Moreau is one of subjugation all in the name of a greater good, the effects of which are still in existence and as a curse prompt us to see the beast in everyone.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> I foolishly purchased a different edition by mistake (the only difference is that the font is bigger), and while the pages are only off by a small amount I decided to include the chapter numbers as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ruling of a nation, with the possibility of tyranny, exists as a symbiotic relationship (especially if the ruler possesses no heir). H.G. Wells\u2019 The Island of Doctor Moreau presents the reality of an isolated kingdom, or perhaps twisted theocracy is a better term, that ultimately reverts to a primal state with the death of … Continue reading Prendick’s Fear Realized: Britain as the Second Island of Doctor Moreau<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2574,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123782,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-blog-post","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2574"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}