The Island of Doctor Moreau | Plot, Characters, & Facts | Britannica (2025)

The Island of Doctor Moreau, science fiction novel by H.G. Wells, published in 1896. The classic work focuses on a mad scientist’s experiments involving vivisection to address such issues as evolution and ethics.

Summary

The story takes the form of a manuscript accidentally found by the nephew of the protagonist, Edward Prendick. It begins with a shipwrecked Prendick being rescued and taken aboard a vessel called Ipecacuanha. There he meets Montgomery, a former medical student, and a “misshapen” man who moves with “animal swiftness.” He later encounters a variety of animals on board as well as the drunk Captain Davies. They eventually come to a remote island, where Montgomery and the animals disembark. Davies refuses to allow Prendick to stay on the Ipecacuanha, and he is forced into a dinghy and set adrift. However, Prendick is saved by Montgomery and others, including a white-haired man and several “strange brutish-looking fellows.” Once on land, Prendick spots odd creatures and is informed that the island is a sort of “biological station.” Later he learns that the white-haired man is named Moreau. Prendick realizes that he is Dr. Moreau, a “notorious vivisector” who was forced to leave England some years earlier after his shocking experiments were publicized.

Attempting to escape the painful cries of a puma in Moreau’s enclosure, Prendick explores the island and is chased by a creature, which he strikes with a rock. Shortly thereafter Prendick comes to believe that Moreau is performing vivisections on humans. Frightened, he flees and encounters an Ape-man, who takes Prendick to his home, where he meets other creatures. They teach him the strictly enforced laws, which include not eating fish or flesh and not chasing other humans, and sing a song extolling the powers of an unnamed being, whom Prendick believes to be Moreau. Desperate to escape Montgomery and the doctor, Prendick decides to drown himself. However, he is instead encouraged to listen to Moreau’s explanation of his experiments. The doctor discloses that his work does not involve humans, instead the creatures are “humanised animals.” Moreau is dismissive of the pain he inflicts and is not troubled by the ethics of his actions. He also notes that his creations begin to revert back to their original nature, at which point he releases them into the wilds of the island. Prendick is seemingly placated, and the manuscript then describes both the island and the various Beast Folk, including Leopard-man, Swine men and women, wolf-creatures, and M’ling, who most resembles a human.

Later, Moreau seeks to punish Leopard-man for allegedly breaking one of the rules by eating a rabbit. However, the creature strikes the doctor and flees. During the ensuing chase, Prendick fatally shoots Leopard-man but is suddenly struck by the true cruelty of Moreau’s work. The creatures endure pain long after the actual vivisection as they must constantly struggle against their true nature, shackled by humanity. Weeks later the puma escapes, and Moreau is killed by one of the beasts. The other creatures question whether the laws still exist, and several attack and kill Montgomery. A desperate Prendick is initially able to convince the remaining beasts to follow Moreau’s laws; Dog-man notably pledges his obedience and becomes a constant companion. However, as the animals begin to revert, Prendick’s situation grows increasingly precarious, especially after Dog-man is murdered. Finally a sailboat washes ashore, and Prendick uses the vessel to escape the island and is later rescued. He returns to England and tells his story, but no one believes him. Perceived as mad, Prendick leaves London for the country, pursuing his love for science in quiet isolation, away from the humanity he no longer trusts and believes soon will revert to the bestiality from which he had just escaped.

Analysis

The Island of Doctor Moreau was written at a time when vivisection was hotly debated—and increasingly denounced—and as Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was gaining in popularity. The story subsequently took on even greater significance given contemporary debates about cloning and genetic experimentation. As with Wells’s The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, the reader is confronted with a gruesome extrapolation of evolution theory. The doctor also represents a series of fundamental anxieties about the role of science and human responsibility. He is the archetypal mad scientist who creates without due care or any apparent concern for the consequences of his work and is as vile as the beasts he manipulates.

The novel was adapted for television and film, and John Frankenheimer directed a 1996 movie that starred Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer.