The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-5

Part 2, Chapters 6-12

Part 2, Chapters 13-20

Part 3, Chapters 21-26

Part 3, Chapter 27-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Background

Literary Context: The Island of Doctor Moreau

The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896) is a novel by the English science fiction author H. G. Wells. In the novel, a man named Edward Prendick is shipwrecked, rescued, and taken to a mysterious island. The island is inhabited by Doctor Moreau, who conducts cruel experiments on animals and creates hybrid beings with a fusion of human and animal traits. Moreau has an assistant, Montgomery, who helps with the experiments, but also feels sympathy for the hybrids, who experience intense physical pain. In order to maintain control of the hybrids, Moreau enacts a series of laws forbidding the hybrids from engaging in animalistic behavior. Nonetheless, the hybrids’ instincts eventually come to the fore; Moreau and Montgomery end up being killed in confrontations with the hybrids, and when Prendick finally escapes from the island, the hybrids have largely reverted to their animal state.

Wells’s novel was written partially to draw attention to and challenge the practice of vivisection (using live animals for experiments, research, and medical training) in the 19th century. Thus, while presenting implausible events (the creation of human-animal hybrids), the novel also engages in social critique. In her adaptation, Moreno-Garcia likewise uses science-fiction plotlines to explore the impact of colonialism and oppression. She also changes the setting and adds an additional character, Carlota, which allows for a more explicit exploration of gender roles.

Historical Context: The Caste War of Yucatán

In 1521, the city of Tenochtitlan (the capital of the Aztec empire) was captured by Spanish colonizers; they renamed it Mexico City, and made it the capital of a region known as New Spain (present day Mexico), which was governed by Spanish administration for the next 300 years. With their base established in Mexico City, the Spanish gradually extended their control over surrounding regions, including the Yucatán Peninsula. The Yucatán Peninsula (which in the present day includes the Yucatán state of Mexico, parts of Guatemala, and Belize) was the center of the Mayan civilization, and there was strong resistance to Spanish colonization. However, over time, the Spanish gradually gained control over the region; they established the city of Mérida in 1542.

During the subsequent centuries of colonial Spanish rule, a caste system emerged in Yucatán and other regions of Mexico: Spanish-born officials held the highest rank and typically the most social and economic power, followed by individuals of Spanish and other European descent. Since, over time, many Spanish and European individuals did have children with Indigenous people such as the Mayans, a population with European and Indigenous ancestry emerged, typically ranking below the other two groups in the social hierarchy. Indigenous people, and enslaved Black people, typically held the least wealth and social power; moreover, they were often perceived as a threat to the established social order.

In 1821, following the Mexican War of Independence, Mexico (including Yucatán) declared its independence from Spain. One consequence of independence was that the Mexican state passed laws making it easier for Mexicans of Spanish and both European and Indigenous ancestry to expand and purchase land in territories traditionally held by the Indigenous peoples. This led to many Indigenous people being forced to work as poorly paid laborers on estates owned by individuals of European descent, which heightened tensions between the various groups. Beginning in 1847, armed conflict occurred between Mayan-led forces, and the Mexican government—a conflict that stretched on for decades. The war did not come to a formal end until 1915, when a representative of the Mexican government was declared governor of the region, and enacted reforms that appeased some of the key sources of conflict.