Charles Darwin is known for his profound influence on the study of evolution. However, his contributions to 19th century society go beyond his scientific theories; It is undeniable that Darwin influenced what writers wrote about life and what critics wrote about literature. During his famous voyage on the Beagle, Darwin concluded that the physical world had been and still is subject to continuous changes due to the action of natural forces, and that man is the product of these forces. No book has so profoundly influenced the modern view of man as Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay An intellectual ferment caused by the evolutionary theory presented in The Origin of Species during mid-to-late Victorian England led to an ongoing controversy over religion and science. While some hailed the revelation Darwin's book explored, many resented it. It questioned traditional beliefs about the origin of life, essentially eradicating the need for a God, which was seen by some as innovative and by others as blasphemous and unacceptable. He caused a sensation by refuting the divine origin of man and suggesting that man was a highly advanced and developed descendant of apes. Darwin shifted the teleological model of evolutionary theories, refusing to accept the orthodox views blindly followed by many. According to him, we live in a sinister world where everyone fights with each other in an incessant struggle for survival; this concept was later coined as survival of the fittest by Herbert Spencer. In doing so he undermined the value of traditional religion and mortality that had guided humanity for centuries, revolutionizing humanity's perception of itself. Therefore, his work led to a sharp reorientation of philosophical and moral attitudes. As mentioned above, such work is of interest not only to scientists, but to any intellectual thinker in society. For many late Victorians, the traditional teleological interpretation of the world lost its meaning. Darwin's theories threw religion and science into open conflict in the nineteenth century. The Origin of Species attracted eminent scientists, such as biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker, and several prominent novelists and poets. As a result, many Victorian writers radically changed their views on the origins of man and the physical aspect of human existence. The idea of ​​evolution was the main element of Darwin's theory. He dedicated three chapters of his work to it, namely: "The struggle for existence", "Natural selection or the survival of the fittest" and "The laws of variation". Several Victorian writers who were supporters of Darwin's work used his ideas to portray the behavior of their protagonists, writers such as Thomas Hardy, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Thomas Huxley, and George Eliot and treated Darwin's ideas from a scientific perspective. Each of them responded to a different aspect of Darwin's work. It was George Eliot who gave greater importance to human relationships in regards to the ideas presented in The Origin of Species. The publication of Eliot's novels brought new light to the Victorian novel. She not only entered into human thinking by analyzing human behavior, but also added modern theories to her writings. His novels were not written to entertain but to arouse uncertainty in the reader. The reader was to be presented with moral and religious questions and no certain answers. His book Middlemarch is considered by some to exemplify it.