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

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Clock

Doctor Moreau owns an elegant and expensive French clock that he displays in his sitting room at Yaxaktun. The clock is ornate and decorative, featuring “a courting scene, showing a man in French livery […] kissing the hand of a woman” (16-17). Because of its overall design and ornamentation, the clock stands out as an unusual artifact. Eventually, when Eduardo proposes that Carlota become his mistress (and not his wife), he and Carlota get into an argument, and the clock ends up falling and breaking. The clock symbolizes Carlota’s ingrained expectations of courtly and romantic behavior from men—a key characteristic of her innocence that falls away with experience. Because Carlota grows up in such a sheltered environment, she only ever knows her father and Montgomery, both of whom treat her in guarded and careful ways. Carlota dreamily cultivates fantasies of her masculine ideal; the clock’s depiction of a man treating a woman in a courtly way explicitly feeds these fantasies.

The breaking of the clock symbolizes the end of Carlota’s illusions and innocence. When she first meets Eduardo, Carlota imagines that he might be the romantic hero of her dreams. Carlota acknowledges these youthful fantasies, reflecting that “the beautiful courting scene [the clock] showed had entranced her young eyes” (257). She continues to cling to her hopes for a relationship with Eduardo right up until he reveals that, knowing that Carlota is a hybrid, he no longer considers her worthy to be his wife. When the clock smashes, it symbolizes both Carlota’s heartbreak, the destruction of her hopes for a future and the loss of her childhood innocence. The clock also contains a more literal symbolism of the passage of time—as Carlota inevitably matures, she is forced to let go of her naïve and childish view about the world.

The Cenote

A cenote is a naturally formed pit or sinkhole, exposing the groundwater and creating a natural swimming-hole. The term originated in the Yucatan region where The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is set, although it is sometimes applied more broadly to similar bodies of water in other regions. The cenote on the Yaxaktun estate symbolizes Carlota’s rebellious and free-spirited nature. When she and Eduardo are first beginning their relationship, she desires to show him the cenote, and is unhappy when Ramona requires her to bring Montgomery along. Carlota typically goes to the cenote whenever she wants, and swims freely there, presumably naked. This freedom of experience, independence, and sensuality would be highly unusual for an upper-class young woman in the 19th century. For Carlota, the cenote represents a place set apart from the estate, her father’s rules and expectations, and prescribed notions of what is proper and acceptable behavior for her.

As a naturally occurring phenomenon, the cenote also suggests that Carlota’s freedom and autonomy are linked to her close bond with the natural world, and the way in which she sees herself as an extension of nature. It seems perfectly normal for Carlota to remove her clothes and immerse herself in cool water on a hot day where she is free to follow her instincts and pleasure. It is hardly surprising that the cenote is also the site of Carlota’s sexual awakening, when she finds herself aroused by the sight of Montgomery’s body after he swims in the cenote. However, the arguments that break out at the cenote, first between Eduardo and Montgomery, and then between Carlota and Montgomery, reflect the ways in which nature exists in tension with social norms. The cenote is a natural feature, located on a cultivated estate that is subject to constructed laws around land ownership; likewise, Carlota’s fierce sense of autonomy initially exists within a highly constrained social context.

Alcohol

Moreno-Garcia employs alcohol as a significant motif in the novel—a tool. The use of alcohol as a way to escape the pain of abuse and trauma is especially prominent in Montgomery’s characterization, but shows up for other characters as well. Montgomery has an alcohol addiction, partially because he struggles with traumatic memories from an abusive childhood, and partially to cope with the pain and guilt of his sister’s death and his failed marriage. Montgomery relies on alcohol as a way to cope, and as a way to numb himself. He manages to be fairly functional, and remains determined that his drinking does not prevent him from carrying out his responsibilities at Yaxaktun and caring for others. In contrast, Doctor Moreau employs alcohol as a tool to keep the hybrids compliant. The hybrids consume alcohol illicitly, using their drinking sessions as a place to find release—a practice Doctor Moreau allows because it keeps them from questioning the oppressive condition he imposes on their lives.

Carlota uses alcohol to lower her inhibitions and as a way to act out when she is frustrated. She knows that it is generally considered inappropriate for a young woman to drink to excess, so alcohol provides her with an opportunity to flout norms and expectations. Carlota drinks on the night she attempts to seduce Montgomery, and the alcohol reflects the lowering of her inhibitions and her desire to throw caution to the wind. As someone who more frequently consumes alcohol, Montgomery retains his boundaries, and gently rejects Carlota since he can tell she does not feel genuine desire for him. Throughout the novel, characters turn to alcohol as a way to cope with pain and feelings of powerlessness because it provides them with a sense of escape from their immediate circumstances.