無論小說構思、人物原型還是主題思想,《大閃蝶尤金妮婭》都突出了博物學元素。在英國殖民擴張的歷史語境中,小說敘述的博物學和帝國主義具有共謀性。在話語層面,博物學家威廉照搬歐洲博物學標準為亞馬遜森林的物種命名與分類,這體現了意欲"凍結"當地文化的帝國知識話語暴力。在政治層面,殖民者哈羅德的異國動物標本收藏折射出對殖民地的殖民欲望。在經濟層面,異國動物標本交易為博物學家個人以及英帝國帶來可觀收益,占有這些標本是對殖民地的資本掠奪。

In Morpho Eugenia, a Neo-Victorian novella by A. S. Byatt, natural history constitutes an important narrative element. The Victorian naturalist William Adamson’s way of naming and classifying new species discovered in Amazon Forest in European scientific terms is a discursive violence imposed by imperialism. On the political level, Sir Harold’s obsession with and possession of the exotic animal specimen betrays a strong colonial desire. For William and Harold as well as for the British empire, the exotic animal specimen is treasure and colonial capital, the possession of which signifies their exploitation of colonial resources. Seen in the historical context of expanding British colonization, natural history has always been contaminated by imperialist ideology and even colluded with imperialism.