First edition cover (UK) | |
Author | H. G. Wells |
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Genre | Science fiction |
Published | 1 January 1896 (Heinemann (UK); Stone & Kimball (US)[1]) |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Text | The Island of Doctor Moreau at Wikisource |
The Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was published on 1 January 1896. The novel is set between 21 January 1887 to 5 January 1888. The text of the novel is the narration of Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked man rescued by a passing boat. He is left on the island home of Doctor Moreau, a mad scientist who creates human-like hybrid beings from animals via vivisection. The novel deals with a number of themes, including pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, human interference with nature, and the effects of trauma.[2] Wells described it as "an exercise in youthful blasphemy."[3]
The Island of Doctor Moreau is a classic work of early science fiction[4] and remains one of Wells's best-known books. The novel is the earliest depiction of the science fiction motif "uplift" in which a more advanced race intervenes in the evolution of an animal species to bring the latter to a higher level of intelligence.[5] It has been adapted to film and other media on many occasions.[6]