Another thing that Stevenson referred to is the Faust legend from the fifteenth century. Dr Jekyll gives Dr Lanyon a choice, very much similar to Faust’s. Faust drove himself so hard that the Devil appeared and gave him the choice, to stay normal and behold the restrictions of humanity, or he could have all the power and knowledge that he ever wanted, but at a price. At the end of twenty-four years Faust would lose his soul to the Devil. In Jekyll and Hyde, Lanyon is given the choice of wealth and wisdom, or to be none the wiser. They both made the same choice. Faust went to Hell, unable to go back on his promise, and Lanyon died a few weeks later through shock from what he saw.
Most of the themes in ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ can also be found in many traditional narratives ie: Good versus Evil, Good and Bad guys and monsters. Further themes are the Fear of science and the transformation of the main character from good to evil.
At the time that ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ was released, science was not that advanced. People were afraid of the unknown. The people that either had an education or could afford to read this book, found Jekyll as their kind of person. But when transformed, they would be disgusted and not know what to expect of him. Hyde was an obsolete species as far as the higher class Victorians were concerned because many never visited Soho.
This novella contains characteristics of both Gothic horror and Detective genres. Of Gothic horror, it contains monsters and the corruption of the human body and mind. Of the Detective genre, it contains a search for truth and evidence with hidden clues. In this story Hyde would be described as the monster and Utterson as the detective working out those clues.
Most of the Victorian society would not have been to the poorer areas of London. Stevenson describes such places with phrases such as: ‘chocolate-coloured pall’, ’hues of twilight’ and ‘swirling wreaths’. This creates a feeling of darkness associated with crime.
Most gothic horror stories have mad scientists and monsters, and no detective story would be the same without a detective. The mad scientist being Dr Henry Jekyll, monster being Mr Edward Hyde and the detective being Mr Utterson. This story describes Jekyll as having a ‘sincere and warm affection’, and as a ‘smooth-faced man of fifty’. Whereas Hyde was described as having a ‘black sneering coolness’ ,or hard, and being ‘not easy to describe’. Utterson the ‘lawyer’ was described as ‘austere’, and as ‘the last influence to down going men’. This gives the feeling of him being a highly respected friend.
The settings and characteristics would appeal to the Victorian society, and the themes could still hold meaning today. The settings and most of the characteristics were common to most Victorians. Settings, such as Dr Jekyll’s surroundings and Mr Hyde’s place of origin. The characteristics of Jekyll and Hyde could be associated with the different classes of the Victorian age, Jekyll with the upper class and Hyde with the lower class. Themes such as splitting the human mind into two distinct halves can be used as influence to scientists today, whether with in the field of surgery or chemistry.