Research For An Oral Presentation Charles Darwin: Elvis Guetta

RESEARCH FOR AN ORAL PRESENTATION
CHARLES DARWIN
Elvis Guetta
To which extent can this research help you to understand the context of the novel?
I have chosen to do my research on Charles Darwin, his evolutionary theory and

its various implications.
Why? I feel curious about the link between Darwin and “Frankenstein” and how
Darwin’s theory on evolution may have influenced Mary Shelley when writing her
novel.
Who was Charles Darwin?

Eighteenth-century Englishman Charles Darwin was one of the most important
thinkers of modern times and one of the most famous scientists who ever lived. He
had a vast influence over scientific and religious thinking in the 19th century,
disturbing with his scientific theories well-established views on the origin of the
human species.
We could say that Darwin’s ideas changed history.
His theory of evolution certainly did so, transforming how people thought about the
natural world and humans’ place in it.
Charles Darwin was born in 1809. The son of a successful physician, he investigated
the geology and zoology of South America, the Galapos Islands and the Pacific
oceanic islands, studying the different species he encountered in his five-year voyage
around the world (1831-1836).
By the end of the 1830s, though, he had worked out his theory of evolution by natural
selection. The natural world is tremendously fecund and procreative but unable to
support all it produces, and so a struggle for survival is required for it to exist.
What is the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection?
Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection represents a giant leap in human

understanding. It explains and unifies all of biology. Darwin’s theory actually
contains two major ideas:
1. One idea is that evolution occurs. In other words, organisms change over time.
Life on Earth has changed as descendants became different from common
ancestors in the past.
2. The other idea is that evolution occurs by natural selection = survival of the
fittest. Natural selection is the process in which living things with beneficial
traits produce more offspring than others do. This results in changes in the
traits of living things over time.
In Darwin’s day, most people believed that all species were created at the same time
and remained unchanged thereafter. They also believed that Earth was only 6,000
years old. Therefore, Darwin’s ideas revolutionized biology.
"Survival of the fittest" is a popular term that refers to the process of natural
selection, a mechanism that drives evolutionary change. Natural
selection works by giving individuals who are better adapted to a given set of
environmental conditions an advantage over those that are not as well
adapted.
What is Darwin’s evolutionist theory?

Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection states that living things with
beneficial traits produce more offspring than others do. This leads to changes in the
traits of living things over time.
Evolution by natural selection makes nature change and develop.
He also concluded that natural selection and sexual selection would determine which
individuals would mate and pass their genes to future generations. These two
mechanisms are present in all human beings, and also in Frankenstein’s monster.
The theory of evolution affected not just scientific debate but was soon part of the
Victorian imagination, shaping the plots, images and metaphors of its literature and
culture. It is certainly connected to the novel by Mary Shelley through the monster’s
need to procreate, to survive.
Conclusion of my research
Although Charles Darwin travelled the globe about two decades after Mary Shelley’s
Frankenstein was published (first version published in 1818; revised version in 1831)
the monster’s desire to procreate is very much in line with Charles Darwin’s Theory
of Evolution. He is a monster – his creator does not consider him human but a wretch
– however, he has the urge to procreate, for his species (Victor Frankenstein wanted
to create a new race of superior men) to survive. The urge is there.
The monster is created by a man and therefore, the law of nature is challenged (the
monster is not born from a woman and a man) with dramatic consequences. However,
the monster wishes a female companion in order to procreate, a natural phenomenon
characteristic of humans. In this sense, we see that Victor Frankenstein’s monster –
even if made up from dead body parts animated by electricity – shows the desire to
have a mate and reproduce, as all humans do.
To which extent can this research help you to understand the context of the
novel?
This research has helped me enormously to understand the context of the novel.
I can see that at the time she was writing Frankenstein, Darwin was developing his
Theory of Evolution, at a time when scientific progress was enormous.
Scientific developments such as galvanism influenced Shelley’s novel since the
author was clearly influenced by the events and developments of her time, especially
scientific progress, huge at the time.

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RESEARCH FOR AN ORAL PRESENTATION

I have chosen to do my research on Charles Darwin, his evolutionary theory and

Who was Charles Darwin?

What is the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection?

Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection represents a giant leap in human

What is Darwin’s evolutionist theory?

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