The Dusk of the Nations : Evolution, Degeneration, and Gender in Fin-de-Siècle Literature

In this thesis I explore how the themes of evolution, biological determinism, and degeneration are treated in Thomas Hardys "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" (1891), Bram (Abraham) Stokers "Dracula" (1897), Mona Caird’s "The Daughters of Danaus" (1894), and H. G. Well’s "The Time Machine" (1895). I pay particular attention to a) how the interplay between natural science and religion is presented, b) the different kinds of evolutionary frames that are activated in the texts, and c) which consequences these have for the representation of gender. As Gillian Beer points out in her seminal study Darwin’s Plots (1983), the formulation of evolutionary theory had direct consequences for how narratives were constructed and for the themes they discussed. My concern is with how this is expressed in novels of the "fin de siècle". Through close readings of the four novels together with contemporary scientific literature, I examine how the writers connect with the scientific discourse of the time