The text below explains the Victorian notion of atavism, a theory that was popular in the 1800s and which may have influenced Robert Louis Stevenson when writing The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Several words have been removed from the text. Using context clues, drag and drop the word from the bank to the gaps where you think they belong. Once you have placed all of the words in the text, click on the button at the bottom to see how well you did.
Atavism was the idea that, if all humans had evolved from primitive forms, then we could potentially return to this basic state, behave like immoral animals, and succumb to primitive urges. Atavistic behaviour was therefore associated with criminality, as it represented transgressions such as violence and murder which shattered the class-conditioned, moral framework governing Victorian standards of behaviour.
The Italian scientist Cesare Lombroso was the central figure in the promotion of the theory of atavism. He endorsed the use of physiognomy, a now defunct scientific theory which claimed that atavistic behaviour was identifiable through the examination of individual features. Lombroso believed in the 'born criminal', claiming that criminals could be identified by their appearance, particularly by the size of their skulls.’
from ‘Introduction to The Victorian Gothic’ by Charlotte Barrett; full text available at: http://writersinspire.org/content/introduction-victorian-gothic
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Read the extract from Criminal Man According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso, in which the scientist’s daughter explains her father’s theories about atavism and its link to crime and then answer the questions below.
When a young doctor at the Asylum in Pavia, he was requested to make a post-mortem examination on a criminal named Giuseppe Vilella, an Italian Jack the Ripper, who by atrocious crimes had spread terror in the Province of Lombardy.
"At the sight of that skull," says my father, "I seemed to see all at once, standing out clearly illumined as in a vast plain under a flaming sky, the problem of the nature of the criminal, who reproduces in civilised times characteristics, not only of primitive savages, but of still lower types as far back as the carnivora."
Thus was explained the origin of the enormous jaws, strong canines, and strongly developed orbital arches which he had so frequently remarked in criminals, for these peculiarities are common to carnivores and savages, who tear and devour raw flesh. Thus also it was easy to understand why the span of the arms in criminals so often exceeds the height, for this is a characteristic of apes, whose fore-limbs are used in walking and climbing. The other anomalies exhibited by criminals - the scanty beard but general hairiness of the body, prehensile1 foot, diminished number of lines in the palm of the hand, cheek-pouches, flattened nose and angular or sugar-loaf form of the skull, common to criminals and apes; the excessive size of the orbits2, which, combined with the hooked nose, so often imparts to criminals the aspect of birds of prey, the projection of the lower part of the face and jaws found in some animals, and supernumerary teeth (amounting in some cases to a double row as in snakes) : all these characteristics pointed to one conclusion, the atavistic origin of the criminal, who reproduces physical, psychic, and functional qualities of remote ancestors.
- 1 Prehensile – capable of grasping
- 2 Orbits - eyes
from Criminal Man According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso by Gina Lombroso, 1911. Full text available at:
(a) Who was Giuseppe Vilella?
Giuseppe Vilella was a criminal, an ‘Italian Jack the Ripper’.
(b) Name two features that Lombroso claimed to have frequently noticed when studying the skulls and teeth of criminals.
- enormous jaws
- strong canines
- strongly developed orbital arches
(c) What did Lombroso suggest was unusual about the arm span of criminals?
Lombroso suggested that for many criminals, their arm span (the distance from the fingers of one hand to those of the other) was greater than their height
(d) Identify five other physical anomalies that Lombroso believed to show a link between criminal and ‘remote ancestors.’
- A ‘scanty beard but general hairiness of the body’
- Feet capable of grasping things
- Fewer lines in the palm of the hand than normal
- Cheek pouches
- A flattened nose
- Angular or ‘sugar-loaf’ form of the skull
- Large eyeballs
- A hooked nose
- A projection of the lower part of the face and jaws
- Supernumerary teeth (i.e. a higher number of teeth than normal)
The text below is taken from Chapter Two of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, in which the narrator describes the thoughts of Mr Utterson immediately after meeting Mr Hyde.
Some words have been removed from the text. For each gap, type in a word to portray Mr Hyde as an atavistic being – someone who possesses features and characteristics of an ancient ancestor. After you’ve filled each blank, you can click to see the words that Stevenson himself chose to use.
The lawyer stood a while when Mr. Hyde had left him, the picture of disquietude. Then he began slowly to mount the street, pausing every step or two and putting his hand to his brow like a man in mental perplexity. The problem he was thus debating as he walked, was one of a class that is rarely solved. Mr. Hyde was and , he gave an impression of without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing , he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a , and somewhat broken voice; all these were points against him, but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust, loathing, and fear with which Mr. Utterson regarded him. “There must be something else,” said the perplexed gentleman. “There is something more, if I could find a name for it. God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something , shall we say? or is it the mere radiance of a foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, its clay continent?
The lawyer stood a while when Mr. Hyde had left him, the picture of disquietude. Then he began slowly to mount the street, pausing every step or two and putting his hand to his brow like a man in mental perplexity. The problem he was thus debating as he walked, was one of a class that is rarely solved. Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice; all these were points against him, but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust, loathing, and fear with which Mr. Utterson regarded him. “There must be something else,” said the perplexed gentleman. “There is something more, if I could find a name for it. God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say? or is it the mere radiance of a foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, its clay continent?
- How different were your choices from the author’s?
- Why might Stevenson have chosen the words he did?
- In what ways could Mr Hyde be like Cesare Lombroso’s ‘born criminal’?