The Victorian Era of the late 19th century marked a time of social change, in which advancements throughout multiple sectors of society allowed for reformation of historically stagnant concepts. With this attentiveness to forward progress, non-fiction and scientific literature characterized a challenge to some aspect of contemporary knowledge. Despite the goal of publishing solely objective observations, authors of such literature revealed errors in prevailing sentiments of the time. At the forefront of this controversial literature was Charles Darwin, who inadvertently sparked a debate that has persisted to the present day. Society in the Victorian era was largely a Christian society that believed in Divine creation; humans are their own distinct species that are far more superior to any other. Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859) outed this “natural unwillingness” of society to accept the prospect of microevolution, due to what that meant in the context of the human species. The beliefs which characterized the Victorian era tended towards accepting socioeconomic change as long as it didn’t interfere with core values. In On the Origin of Species, Darwin’s objective focus was to present his observations on the adaptations and genetic variation in species, so that people may begin to understand the state of nature. The effective response to his theory ultimately illustrated the Victorian era’s limited capacity to submit to great changes in ideology.
Darwin’s observations on the natural selection process, which led to the genetic diversity in modern species, are crucial in analyzing the essay’s controversy. Primarily, this is a non-fiction essay written in the format of the scientific method. Darwin’s first set of observations identifies how species change from generation to generation: natural selection. This concept shows how individuals with certain traits, “…under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of surviving…” (Darwin 692). The traits which are selected for will continue to adapt through time and may eventually produce a species that is far diverged from its ancestor. This idea qualifies how the “intermediate steps” which we cannot see are so gradual throughout time, that “[t]he mind cannot…perceive the full effects…of slight variations, accumulated during an almost infinite number of generations” (Darwin 696). This is likely the reason Victorian society was so quick to disapprove of Darwin’s theory; science in the Victorian era was in its primal form, inflicting an overall cautious air around such publications. The theories on genetic variation and alteration are complex, but Darwin provides a simple analysis. He observes “…the structure of the beetle which dives through the water; in the plumed seed which is wafted by the gentlest breeze…” and urges readers to notice how “…we see beautiful adaptations everywhere” (Darwin 693). While this essay was initially published with the intention of sharing Darwin’s observations, he anticipated that its reception would result in confusion. A majority of the essay is therefore a simple exploration of species in the natural world and their interactions, which are determined by the surrounding environment. Although these observations were a major discovery, critics were quick to denounce how humans were included in Darwin’s theory of speciation. Divine creation, as it is written in the Bible, led Victorian society to dramatically denounce the notion that humans were not created in their own special, powerful sphere.
Included in Darwin’s summarizing remarks of the essay, he addresses a central misconception, based on the “plan” of creation. During Darwin’s studies, he noted the presence of vestigial structures in humans and other organisms: an anatomical structure that no longer serves a function, as it did in the ancestral form of the species. With this information, he denies the common belief of the “immutability” of species (Darwin 696). Further, he denounces how “[i]t is so easy to hide our ignorance under such expressions as the ‘plan of creation,’ ‘unity of design’….”(Darwin 696). On the Origin of Species was published to propose how and why modern-day species exist as they do. Prior to Darwin’s studies, nobody had conducted a serious analysis on the descent of species, and how traits vary between generations. Therefore, Darwin anticipated that his essay would reveal the trend in Victorian era society to deny such drastic changes in worldview. The implications of Darwin’s findings were not compatible with the Bible’s simplified creation story. The general (disapproving) response to this essay inspired literature that critiqued how evolutionary theory is destructive of Victorian core values. This sentiment is best encapsulated by Thomas Huxley’s evaluation of man’s place in the cosmos.
In Huxley’s 1894 essay “Evolution and Ethics,” he denies Darwin’s concept that humans are descended from other species. Huxley qualifies how humans shouldn’t be leveled with, or compared to the ape and tiger’s “struggle for existence” (Huxley 711). Rather, he wants Victorian society to see how humans are far more advanced than lower animals. Although he notes that a hive of bees may have social castes similar to the society humans have built, man has a system of ethics: laws and morals (Huxley 712). This system separates humans from “cosmic nature,” as it pertains to Huxley’s disagreement with evolution. In effect, Huxley urges to “set man to subdue nature to his higher ends” (Huxley 713). This perspective relies on the Bible’s account that humans were created to rule over the land and sea. Attacking the theory of evolution, Huxley claims, “[t]he history of civilization details the steps by which men have succeeded in building up an artificial world within the cosmos” (Huxley 713). Rather than the fossil record and Darwin’s observations of microevolution, the opposing viewpoint limits nature to what man says it is. The forces of nature are inherently uncontrollable; thus, the reason why humans created a sense of control with a social structure. Huxley’s account suggests Victorian social and religious morals were skeptical about exploring too deeply into the theory of the human condition. Darwin’s theory effectively revealed how guarded Victorian society was, with the rigidity in prevailing ideologies of the time.
The natural processes which Darwin observed and published as scientific findings unintentionally revealed the Victorian people’s ignorance towards such endeavors. The core values of this society revolved around Christianity, in which people used faith as the means of understanding the world. Due to science being an undeveloped study in the Victorian era, it could not be given the same attributes as the Biblical version of the human condition. It is also important to note how the Bible states man was created in the image of a perfect God. Darwin’s theory challenged the idea that the human species is “immutable,” because something that is perfect should not change. Therefore, the counterarguments against Darwin’s essay assumed a divide between religion and science. Preemptively, Darwin concluded his essay by urging that society may be “…able to view both sides of the question with impartiality.” If this may occur, only then can “…the load of prejudice by which this subject is overwhelmed be removed…” (Darwin 696). The interaction between evolution and religious beliefs, however, was largely a source of instability in Victorian society for decades (over a century, in fact) after Darwin’s essay was published. The hostility towards evolution in Huxley’s essay therefore exemplifies the Victorian people’s inability to cope with major changes in ideology.
Charles Darwin’s essay On the Origin of Species presents an analysis of his observations as a naturalist; it was published with the primary intent of expanding scientific knowledge of the human condition. The reaction to the essay, though, revealed that the Victorian belief system in 1859 was incompatible with such a theory. But, the presence of non-fiction, scientific literature in the Victorian era marks how the current knowledge base (on natural and life processes) was ready to be expanded. Thomas Huxley’s criticism of Darwin’s evolution by natural selection best exemplified the “prejudice” that Darwin was concerned about. The core values of Christian Victorian society were heavily guarded as a relic of tradition; advances in scientific exploration challenged these societal constants and therefore were ignored to prevent instability. On the Origin of Species produced a foundation for evolutionary biology, and demonstrated why species need change in order to be better suited for their environment. Society in the Victorian era was ignorant that they, in fact, needed to adapt to a changing environment; one in which science progressed our understanding of life on earth.
Works Cited
Darwin, Charles. “On the Origin of Species.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, edited by Joseph Black, Broadview Press, 2013, pp. 690-699.
Huxley, Thomas. “Evolution and Ethics.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, edited by Joseph Black, Broadview Press, 2013, pp. 711-713.
Miranda Holloway‘s critical essay won 2nd place in our 2022 Literary Awards. Miranda is an Organismal Biology major with a minor in English. She hails from Grafton, WI, and is passionate about climate change and environmentalism. Her activities include horseback riding, the SNC Eco and Adventure clubs, and working with the SNC Writing Center.
