Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Moonstone, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Detective Methods and Genre Standards
Intention, Identity, and Personality
Science and Religion
Gender and Victorian Morality
Class, Wealth, and Nobility
British Imperialism
Summary
Analysis
In the prologue’s fourth and final section, the narrator explains that he could make no recourse to his superiors about Herncastle’s behavior, and that Herncastle is trying to switch to another regiment in order to get away from the narrator. The narrator has “no evidence but moral evidence” because he did not see Herncastle kill anyone. And while he does not believe in “the fantastic Indian legend of the gem,” he nevertheless believes that crime begets revenge, and that “he will live to regret” taking the Diamond.
Collins introduces the problem of what constitutes convincing evidence of a crime—one which proves crucial in the rest of the novel as the line between literal and moral culpability continues to grow. While the narrator sees “the fantastic Indian legend” and the fact of revenge as opposing beliefs, in fact they are different explanations for the same series of events: the Diamond’s cycle of violent theft and loss.
Themes
