The 19 th century had a significant impact in Europe. It is during this period that major discoveries were made, effectively transforming the scientific world. This included the discoveries made in the medical field as well as the publication of the controversial Darwin’s theory of evolution. Europe underwent major changes and this helped the Europeans to change what they believed about themselves. For example, there was the introduction of the state system that shaped their politics. In addition, the Europeans developed a strong belief in progress and change. The industrial revolution also helped change the movement of goods around the world and the issue of materialism was adopted as a result of arts and religion (Carlton 1941, 40). These changes led to intense competition between nations ultimately leading to the World Wars. Europeans were confident that they were superior in their institutions and culture. This led to imperialistic ideas and as a result they colonized most of the African states that were deemed inferior. The modern society is faced by many challenges as it tries to accommodate various changes that happened in the 19 th century. One of the greatest challenges includes determining whether an action is good or evil and the criteria to be used in defining this. Various ethical bodies have been founded to provide guidelines that would help in determining the right from wrong but still various criticisms do arise. The intellectual, scientific and cultural changes that occurred during the last decades of the 19 th century were instrumental in shaping the modern European society. This essay discusses the importance of these changes and how Stevenson in his novel reflected on these modern societal challenges. Intellectual changes The 19 th century marked a period of diverse ideologies by various thinkers in major fields. Marxism, Darwinism, idealism, liberalism and communism are some of the ideologies of the century. The western intellectual life had its confines in the European continent. The thinkers became aware of ancient thought and developed new ideas and vocabulary. There was development of science especially in biology, geology and organic chemistry. This was due to change of interest towards organic and living things. After the publishing of Darwin’s theory, a concept of social Darwinism grew which viewed man’s culture, politics and economics as subject to the law of survival for the fittest. Capitalism evolved and it was viewed as a ‘dog-eat-dog’ society. The nations with strong military were proving their right of survival. They were above wrong or right and therefore, did not have to justify their deeds. Most nations viewed themselves as more evolved than some African countries and thus their justification of civilizing the Africans. As Dr. Jekyll, the nation’s morals are poor and lacking. They are hypocritical and are carefully concealing their sins in civilizations (Stevenson 1883, 10). Another famous intellectual in the 19 th century was Karl Marx. He developed a theory in communisms insisting that any society has its foundation on its economy. He believed that capitalism would lead to society’s destruction since there would be increased competition which leads to lowering of prices and ultimately reduced profits. During these times, a radical group of poor people, mainly those affected by industrialization became anarchists. They were opposed to