Playing God in the Victorian Era: Themes of Creation, Immortality, and Scientific Progress
The Victorian era was a time of great change and innovation. The era demonstrated an interplay of scientific progress, societal anxieties, and a fascination with the supernatural. The Industrial Revolution brought about advances in science, medicine, and technology, leading many Victorians to believe that they could play God and control the forces of nature.
This was a time when people were obsessed with the idea of progress and felt that they could achieve anything if they set their minds to it. Within the literature of the time, a recurring theme emerged, one that explored the boundaries of human knowledge and the consequences of ‘playing God.’
One of the most striking examples of this trend was the fascination with the concept of reanimation or bringing dead bodies back to life. Some Victorian scientists and doctors believed that they could reanimate the dead through the use of electricity, and a number of experiments were conducted to try to prove this theory. These experiments often involved using electrical currents to stimulate the muscles of dead animals, leading some to believe that they could do the same for human beings.
H.P. Lovecraft's Herbert West–Reanimator follows the ambitious medical student Herbert West and his obsession with reanimating the dead. This macabre tale explores the consequences of tampering with life and death, leading to horrifying and unnatural results. West's experiments and disregard for ethical boundaries create a chilling narrative that epitomises Lovecraft's themes of cosmic horror, scientific hubris, and the unknown.
Creation, Immortality & Progress
We see the quest for creation in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which stands as a pioneering exploration of the hubris associated with playing God through the creation of life. The novel tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, whose unbridled ambition leads him to create a living being from lifeless matter. Shelley delves into the ethical dilemmas and moral consequences that arise. Victor Frankenstein's relentless pursuit of knowledge and power highlights the fine line between scientific curiosity and ethical transgression.
Andrew Crosse was a 19th-century scientist who, in some ways, was linked to Mary Shelley's famous character. Born on June 17, 1784, in Somerset, England, Andrew Crosse was an amateur scientist. Crosse's most famous experiment, conducted in 1837, involved the creation of tiny, insect-like structures he referred to as "acari" (mites) in a jar of chemicals through the application of electric currents.
Crosse's experiments with these "acari" generated significant attention and even controversy. Some considered it a scientific breakthrough, while others were sceptical and believed it was evidence of life emerging from non-life, a concept reminiscent of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It's important to note that Crosse himself did not claim to have created life, but he believed his experiments were a demonstration of spontaneous generation, a prevailing scientific theory at the time.
Crosse's work was widely debated, and it sparked discussions about the nature of life and the boundaries of scientific experimentation.
In Bram Stoker's Dracula, the theme of immortality takes centre stage. Count Dracula's character embodies the Victorian obsession with eternal life and the fear of mortality. While Count Dracula seeks to achieve immortality through vampirism, the characters around him, such as Professor Van Helsing, represent opposing views on life, death, and the moral implications of attempting to live forever.
The Victorian era witnessed a morbid practice that exemplified the era's fervour for scientific exploration, the quest for knowledge and its ethical ramifications: body snatching. Grave robbers like Burke and Hare, while deeply unethical, contributed significantly to our understanding of human anatomy. This practice led to ethical dilemmas in the medical field and a continued debate between scientific progress and moral boundaries. The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson was based on Burke and Hare’s activities.
These literary works reflect the societal anxieties and moral dilemmas of the Victorian era and question the implications of playing God.
Control of Life
Public executions in the 1800s were a common occurrence and played a significant role in the cultural landscape of Victorian England. During this time period, executions were not only a form of punishment but also a source of entertainment for the masses. Crowds would gather in droves to watch as criminals were put to death in public, sometimes attracting thousands of spectators.
In the early 1800s, public executions were a spectacle that involved elaborate preparations, including the construction of a scaffold, the gathering of a large crowd, and the reading of the death warrant. The condemned would be brought to the scaffold in front of the crowd, where they would be hanged. The hanging process was often slow and painful, and the body would often be left hanging for several hours as a warning to others.
However, not everyone approved of public executions. Some saw them as cruel and inhumane and argued that they served no real purpose in deterring crime. This led to a growing movement to abolish the death penalty and reform the criminal justice system. One of the most famous writers of the time, Charles Dickens, was a vocal critic of the execution spectacle and its impact on society. He believed that these public events only served to desensitise the public to violence and death, and did nothing to discourage crime.
Despite Dickens’ protests, public executions continued to be a common event. However, by the end of the century, attitudes towards these spectacles had changed. The last public hanging in the United Kingdom took place in 1868, and by the end of the century, most executions were taking place inside prison walls.
In Closing
In the Victorian era, the themes of creation, immortality, and scientific progress were richly explored in the literature of the time. The characters in "Frankenstein" and "Dracula" embodied the fine line between scientific exploration and ethical transgression, mirroring the societal fears and moral dilemmas of the era. The enduring relevance of these themes underscores their profound impact on literature, ethics, and human nature. Victorian literature reminds us that the quest to "play God" is as relevant and ethically complex as ever.
Overall, the Victorians’ belief that they could play God was a product of their era’s focus on progress and innovation. However, many of their ideas and experiments were misguided and ultimately led to harm. It serves as a reminder of the importance of scientific inquiry and critical thinking, and the dangers of assuming that we have control over the natural world.
Public execution in the 1800s was a common and highly visible aspect of justice. While it was widely popular and well-attended, it was also seen as cruel and inhumane by many. The use of public execution declined in the late 1800s as attitudes toward capital punishment changed, and today it is considered to be a form of human rights abuse.
There is no better example of literature reflecting the beliefs and culture of a time than Victorian literature. Maybe Cold War era literature? But I find Victorian literature much more beautiful.