The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

The revelation that she is actually a hybrid shocks Carlota. Doctor Moreau explains more about his history, stating that his “experiments were too esoteric and wild to be understood in Paris” (203). After arriving in Mexico, Moreau and Lizalde formed a partnership in which Lizalde provided Moreau with money and the seclusion of Yaxaktun in the hope that Moreau’s experiments with hybrids will eventually yield inexpensive and docile labor for his estates. Curious about the possibility of developing a hybrid in the body of a human woman, Moreau combined some of his own essence with the essence of a jaguar, and paid a local sex worker to carry the hybrid. The woman who carried and birthed Carlota died shortly after the birth. Carlota is the most successful of all of Moreau’s hybrids because she is the healthiest, and most closely resembles a human. However, the treatments that Moreau administers to her are required to prevent her from displaying more of her “animal” traits.

Hearing the story, Carlota becomes enraged, and has to be physically restrained by Montgomery. Seeing her anger, Moreau admits that the supposed “treatment” he administers to the hybrids every week is simply a sedative.