Download darwinism - WTPS.org

DARWINISM
Sommer, Sally. “Dance: II. Social Dance.” In The Reader’s
Companion to American History, edited by Eric Foner
and John A. Garraty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.
Siegel, Marcia B. “Dance: I. Theatrical Dance.” In The Reader’s
Companion to American History, edited by Eric Foner
and John A. Garraty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.
Elizabeth Miller Lewis
DARWINISM
Exploiting America’s vast potential in the form of labor
and resources, the Industrial Revolution epitomized the
concept of cultural and technological evolution. Transforming America from the wild and sparsely populated
agrarian society of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, technology brought the United States into the
later nineteenth century with the promise of increasingly rapid growth, change, and progress. Increasing
numbers of Americans and immigrants moved into city
centers to work in the mills and factories that housed the
new technologies. Urbanization, along with increased
confidence in the use of machinery that streamlined
mass production, was an important change in post–Civil
War American society. This late-nineteenth-century
America was prepared for new ideas, inventions, and
theories that would benefit a nation on the rise as both
a political and an economic power; scientific and technological advancement therefore became the philosophy of American life. This desire for progressive social,
scientific, and economic advancement paved the way for
America’s interest in the work of the British naturalist
Charles Darwin (1809–1882).
Darwin was not initially earmarked as one of the
world’s most influential and historically prominent figures; a self-proclaimed “naughty child,” Darwin was an
average student in many areas and was often disinclined
to study. However naughty and inattentive Darwin was
as a boy, he grew up curious about the world around
him; this natural curiosity led him to the University of
Edinburgh to study medicine. The practice of Victorian
medicine was not suited to Darwin’s gentle constitution, however, and he eventually attended Cambridge
University as a student in theology and philosophy.
Although he completed his degree at the university,
Darwin’s interests in science persisted and led him to
the HMS Beagle, on which he would board as naturalist for five years while the Beagle traversed the globe.
This journey proved instrumental in Darwin’s discovery and cataloging of numerous ancient fossils he
found in the Galapagos that were strikingly similar to
contemporary species.
A M E R I C A N
H I S T O R Y
T H R O U G H
Determined to understand his findings, Darwin collected organic samples from around the world and studied them for many years; eventually this study resulted in
several theories: first, that evolution did occur as a result
of “natural selection” or the mutation and progression
of an organism when the mutation or change was helpful to the survival of the species; second, that this process
took hundreds of thousands to millions of years; and
third, that all contemporary species of animate life were
descendants of one ancient organism. Evolutionary
theory effectively invalidated previous Victorian beliefs
in a “clockmaker world” wherein God had placed all the
species on earth for humans’ pleasures and needs and
replaced those beliefs with the knowledge that many
species had come and gone over time. Further, evolutionary theory supported the fact that animals, including humans, could become extinct if their surroundings
changed and they did not suitably change also.
Darwin’s evolutionary ideas, published in 1859 as
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,
rocked the religious foundations of Western society and
thinking, altered the process of scientific discovery, and
in fact colored every aspect of human life. Widely read in
England immediately upon its publication, Darwin’s text
took nearly a decade to find its way into the American
mainstream. However, it soon became the most popular
and contentious book in the United States. It would perhaps have taken longer for Darwin’s work to reach an
American audience had it not been for the support of a
leading American botanist, Asa Gray (1810–1888),
whose own brand of “theological evolution” became a
popular alternative to “pure evolution.” Gray’s ideas
were shared by the likes of the American historian and
philosopher John Fiske (1842–1901), whose works such
as Darwinism and Other Essays (1879) and Excursions of
an Evolutionist (1884) were curious blends of Spenserian
Social Darwinism, Darwinism, and theology, and Joseph
Le Conte (1823–1901), an American physiologist and
geologist whose neo-Lamarckian version of evolution
was, like Gray’s and Fiske’s, aimed at improved social
conditions for all humanity.
At the heart of the heated debate surrounding
Darwin’s book was of course the premise that human
beings, like all life on earth, had evolved over millions
of years from first one, then a few, common, lower
organisms and that the determining factor for any
organism’s ability to survive and evolve was its natural
adaptability to its environment by means of innately
“useful” characteristics. Unlike previous evolutionists
such as Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744–1829), who had
argued that organisms adapted to their surroundings by
purposefully and often physically changing to suit them
and that these changes forced by environment were
passed on to subsequent offspring, Darwin’s theory
L I T E R A T U R E ,
1 8 7 0 – 1 9 2 0
317
DARWINISM
The Darwin Club. Cartoon by Rea Irvin from the Clubs We Do Not Care to Join series in
Life magazine, 18 March 1915. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
instead implied that successful survival was a naturally
occurring process of chance. While species whose chance
mutations suited their environment survived, those
whose changes did not eventually died out.
This relegating of survival to a sort of genetic
serendipity was a bitter pill to swallow for many
Europeans and Americans who had been taught to
believe that their biological superiority was a gift from an
all-knowing and powerful God. However, while many
readers protested this secular explanation for human and
indeed all organic development, others found in Darwin
an explanation well-suited to contemporary modes of
318
A M E R I C A N
progressive thought in late-nineteenth-century America.
Seemingly, evolutionary theory supported current
trends in technological and socioeconomic success,
wherein many men who had previously been relatively
unsuccessful, lower-middle-class laborers were now
increasingly financially solvent men of business whose
rise was due to chance or ingenuity.
DARWIN AND AMERICAN WOMEN
Darwin’s later work, The Descent of Man and Selection
in Relation to Sex (1871), asserted that, among other
things, women rather than men were the ones in control
H I S T O R Y
T H R O U G H
L I T E R A T U R E ,
1 8 7 0 – 1 9 2 0
DARWINISM
of the sexual situation when in nature. Citing reproductivity as the major goal of humanity, Darwin placed
women squarely in the center of life’s most important
undertaking. Although Darwin explained that socialization and domestication had altered the sexual situation by placing the male in the more controlling role,
the idea of primeval woman selecting her mate was very
exciting for women in the 1800s. Sexual selection lent
itself to the idea of female equality and supported current trends in favor of women’s civil and reproductive
rights; it also opened a new door on the study of human
behavior by becoming the foundation of psychology.
DARWIN AND THE “SEXOLOGISTS”
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), the Austrian father of
psychoanalysis, asserted the validity of the evolutionary
premise and cited Darwin’s work as integral to the foundations of psychological study. Freud’s own theories
were based on the evolutionary insistence of two primal
drives: to kill and eat and to procreate. The fulfillment
or repression of these needs, Freud argued, was at the
nexus of human psychological health. By extension, so
was Darwinism.
Like Freud, the British “sexologist” and psychologist Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) cataloged a series of
mental and emotional disorders and conditions, and his
seven-volume Studies in the of Psychology of Sex, compiled between 1897 and 1928, contained hundreds of
case histories from all over the world. Ellis believed
strongly in a form of Darwinism that agreed with the
major premises of the great naturalist but which insisted
that the sexual act itself transcended the physical; Ellis
maintained that human sexual experiences could also
be spiritually uplifting and psychologically healing.
Ellis’s ideas would eventually be eclipsed almost completely by those of Freud; however, in the 1900s, Ellis’s
explanations for human sexual behavior, based as they
were primarily in Darwinian evolutionary thought,
were hugely influential, and his works were widely read
by intellectuals, artists, and philosophers as well as scientists. His coining of the term “sexual invert” gave
many important figures of the late nineteenth century
and early twentieth century, such as the writers
Gertrude Stein, Natalie Barney, and Radclyffe Hall, a
means of understanding their own sexual identities.
DARWINISM AND AMERICAN CULTURE
Because of Darwinism, social commentators began to
make the connection between the idea of success and
the idea of evolution. Offshoots of Darwinian thought
arose in various forms and contended with both
Darwin’s work and that of Herbert Spencer (1820–
1903), whose own version of evolution had been articulated in his essay “The Development Hypothesis” in
A M E R I C A N
H I S T O R Y
T H R O U G H
1852 and whose Spencerian “Social Darwinism”
became extremely popular directly following the publication of Darwin’s first book. More specifically, the
notion that evolution could be tampered with in order
to improve humanity was much discussed, fueled
heavily by the unrest that an influx of “inferior” races
in the form of eastern European immigrants had created among the upper middle class. Discussions of race
and ethnicity were the cause of many debates in social
and scientific circles; these debates were often caused
by an increasing number of conflicting theories. Lester
Ward (1841–1913), a geologist and paleontologist
considered by many to be the father of American sociology, gave voice to one such theory, whose premise
was that once any social law is identified, it can be
modified and thereby controlled for the betterment of
all involved. His work of 1883, Dynamic Sociology,
identifies the effectiveness of this concept as a means
for creating a more egalitarian society. Ward’s desire
for social equality included all races and both sexes
and was often met with angry responses from other
learned men of his day; however, his theories were of
vital importance to contemporary schools of social
thought and were founded on a “reformed” version of
Darwinism.
The persistent habit of reforming Darwinism in
the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century illustrates the common misinterpretation and
misunderstanding of evolution’s lengthy process; it
also makes tracing the impact of both Darwinism and
its competitor, Social Darwinism, difficult. Perhaps
the most distinctive differences are Darwinism’s focus
on the biological impulse to procreate and its incorporation of chance.
DARWIN AND THE ARTS
While Darwinism’s impact on American culture was
certainly most keenly felt in science, socioeconomics, and philosophy, it was also a huge influence on
late-nineteenth-century art, music, architecture, and
literature. Because Darwin had aimed his narrative
of evolution at both a scientific and a lay audience, it
proved extremely readable and was therefore ingested
by anyone interested in society and culture. The
proof of Darwinism’s impact on the arts lies in the
radically different works created by individuals such
as the architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959),
whose “organic school” of architecture radically altered
American living space, the American painter James
Whistler (1834–1903), and the ragtime musician
and composer Scott Joplin (1868–1917). However, as
the visual and musical arts were evolving to reflect
new and ever-changing tastes, so too was the literature
of the day.
L I T E R A T U R E ,
1 8 7 0 – 1 9 2 0
319
DARWINISM
LITERARY DARWINISM
Like art, music, and architecture, literature was forced to
evolve from its early-nineteenth-century romantic conventions into a more current reflection of nineteenthcentury America’s preoccupation with progress. Whereas
readers of the mid-nineteenth century had devoured the
gothic romance of Nathaniel Hawthorne and the transcendental and mystical qualities of Ralph Waldo
Emerson, new audiences sought material in keeping with
the changing times. Among the most notably Darwinian
authors of the late 1800s was Kate Chopin (1851–
1904), whose characters struggle to survive in a world
controlled by their biology and their gendered roles of
wife and mother, husband and father. Perhaps the most
well known and well received of Chopin’s works is her
novel The Awakening (1899), in which the main character, Edna Pontellier, epitomizes a woman trapped by
marriage and motherhood. Dissatisfied with both but
unable to survive alone, Edna learns to swim only to
drown herself in the ocean at the novel’s conclusion.
The ocean is a constant symbol of Darwinism in
the texts of American writers because it was in the
ocean that primordial life began. Like Chopin, Jack
London (1876–1916) employs the ocean as the suicidal end for his title character in Martin Eden (1913)
and places his most Darwinian character, Wolf Larson,
on the ocean in a ship in The Sea-Wolf (1904). Stephen
Crane (1871–1900) likewise uses the ocean as a
Darwinian image when the oiler, the best swimmer in
“The Open Boat” (1897), drowns at sea. Many of
Crane’s works, like London’s, have nature or the social
environment—as in Maggie, A Girl of the Streets
(1893)—pitted against the main character, and this
seemingly inescapable enemy often gets the better of
those characters ill equipped in the fight for survival.
Edith Wharton (1862–1937) also employed nature
as the setting for much of her fiction, using it most
often as an uncaring but undeniably violent entity;
while many of her works are inspired by her acceptance of Darwinism, Ethan Frome (1911) is perhaps
the best illustration of this idea. In the story, the title
character gives in to his sexual and romantic attraction
to a young relative; knowing that they cannot be
together and thus be happy, the married Ethan climbs
aboard a sled with the girl and attempts to kill them
both. Ironically, nature and chance, in the form of a
large tree, intervene with Ethan’s plans, and the two
characters end up miserable physical and emotional
cripples as a result. Wharton demonstrates Darwin’s
awareness that even when characters are fit for survival, chance often wins out in the end.
Perhaps the most compelling example of Darwinism’s element of sexual selection in American fiction
320
A M E R I C A N
is Sister Carrie (1900) by Theodore Dreiser (1871–
1945). Explicit in its bleak portrayal of the darker side
of the Darwinian reality, Sister Carrie is one of the most
important novels of the early modern era. Theodore
Dreiser’s naturalist novel is an important bridge from
the genteel works of the American realists to the gritty
modernist prose that would come later.
Dreiser’s Sister Carrie is among the first novels in
American literature whose female protagonist breaks
from culturally constructed codes of morality, puts her
own interests ahead of others as well as any notions of
right and wrong, and yet still comes out a winner.
While initially an impoverished young woman from
the country, Dreiser’s youthful heroine makes it to the
top of society’s ladder by “selecting” first Drouet, a
budding entrepreneur, and then Hurstwood, a successful married businessman, to assist her in making
her social and financial ascent. When Hurstwood, her
married lover, ceases to be of use to her, Carrie’s complete abandonment of him results in his financial ruin
and suicide. It would appear that Carrie is far more
“naturally” suited to the harsh environment of the city
than Hurstwood, for ultimately it is she who makes
the ascent to artistic fame.
Dreiser’s implementation of Darwinian language
is unmistakable, and Carrie’s selection, control, and
ultimate rejection of Hurstwood exemplifies the principles of selection when applied to a “natural” (or naturalistic) woman. This natural characterization of
Carrie is evidence of Dreiser’s desire to present human
behavior as a response to biological needs. While the
text of Sister Carrie seems bleak indeed, it appears that
Dreiser was merely replicating what he viewed as the
harsh but natural reality around him, as were most
American writers of the day.
As object of desire and subsequent catalyst for
struggle between males, Carrie epitomizes the
Darwinian female; she amorally chooses the male most
likely to assist her in her struggle for success and survival. Dreiser’s dark realism evinces the growing
awareness of Darwin’s theory regarding natural selection with its insistent “struggle for existence” as an
important influence on human behavior.
See also Scientific Materialism; Sister Carrie; Social
Darwinism
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Works
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1899. New York: Avon
Books, 1994.
Crane, Stephen. Maggie, A Girl of the Streets. 1893. New
York: Bantam, 1988.
H I S T O R Y
T H R O U G H
L I T E R A T U R E ,
1 8 7 0 – 1 9 2 0
DIME NOVELS
Crane, Stephen. The Open Boat and Other Stories. 1897.
Boston: Dover, 1993.
Darwin, Charles. The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation
to Sex. 1871. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1998.
Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection. 1859. Reprinted as The Origin of
Species. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie. 1900. New York: Penguin,
1994.
Ellis, Havelock. Studies in the Psychology of Sex. 2 vols. New
York: Random House, 1936.
London, Jack. Martin Eden. 1913. New York: Penguin, 1994.
London, Jack. The Sea-Wolf. 1904. New York: Bantam, 1992.
Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome. 1911. New York: Signet, 2000.
Secondary Works
Gould, Stephen Jay. The Structure of Evolutionary Theory.
Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University
Press, 2002.
Gowaty, Patricia. Feminism and Evolutionary Biology:
Boundaries, Intersections, and Frontiers. New York:
Chapman and Hall, 1997.
Martin, Ronald E. American Literature and the Universe of
Force. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1981.
Persons, Stow. Evolutionary Thought in America. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1950.
Russett, Cynthia Eagle. Darwin in America: The
Intellectual Response, 1865–1912. San Francisco: W. H.
Freeman, 1976.
Young, Peyton. Individual Strategy and Social Structure:
An Evolutionary Theory of Institutions. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 2001.
Deirdre Ray
DIME NOVELS
The subject of scorn by moralists in the last quarter of
the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the
twentieth, “dime novel” was originally a brand name,
but as has often been true of trademarks in America, it
became a generic term and was soon applied to any
work of sensational fiction despite the cover price. The
publisher Irwin P. Beadle & Co. named its series of
inexpensive storybooks Beadle’s Dime Novels, and the
name stuck. Beadle’s first novel, Malaeska: The Indian
Wife of the White Hunter (1860) by Ann Sophia
Stephens (1813–1886), established early in the popular mind the western frontier of the United States as
the paradigmatic theme of the dime novel despite the
fact that the books covered a multitude of themes:
mystery and detective stories, school and sports stories,
comic stories, sea stories (including pirates), love stories
A M E R I C A N
H I S T O R Y
T H R O U G H
Advertising poster for Beadle’s Dime and Half Dime
Libraries. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
L I T E R A T U R E ,
1 8 7 0 – 1 9 2 0
321