The novel “The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was published in 1886 during the Victorian times. It was originally intended as a frightening Christmas tale. The protagonist in this novel is a man who has a dual identity. The title "Jekyll and Hyde" sounds like seek and hide which might indicate what the story is about and why those characters have those names. Perhaps Stevenson advocates that throughout the book a game of hide and seek is being played this creates a feeling of mystery and suspense and the reader is continually captivated. Dr Jekyll created Mr. Hyde in his somewhat warped view that the soul is made up of two separate divisions: the good and the bad his mission was to find a drug that separates the two so that they two do not have to live in constant competition. We can tell that Stevenson used Freud’s ideas in when he says; “The man is not truly one but two” this is the basis of Dr. Jekyll’s identity.
The two identities contrast with each other very much. Dr. Jekyll is a highly respected member of the community; everyone looks up to him and expects the best he is described as a “A large well made smooth faced man of about fifty.” He is also said to be slightly sly however he is exactly the opposite and very kind; “Something of a slyish cast perhaps but every mark of capacity and kindness”. Overall he is portrayed as a very philanthropic character.
During the whole course of the novel, as I mentioned before, there is a constant link between the character of Hyde and animalistic images. Hyde is also described to be big, clumsy and childlike: Whenever he is described in the duration of the book the person always says his eccentricity can not be identified. It wasn’t like a man it was like some damned juggernaut”. There also something very disturbing about Hyde’s appearance that was indescribable:
“He gave the impression of deformity without any nameable malformation”
“He’s an extra-ordinary looking man, yet I can’t name anything out of the way”
In Victorian Edinburgh there were two cities. On one hand was New Town, respectable, conservative, deeply religious, and polite. On the other was a much more bohemian Edinburgh, this was often symbolized by prostitutes, brothels and foreigners. In the novel each ‘character’ has a different house, which very much mirrors these different types of society. Stevenson has emphasized his protagonist by giving them contrasting houses to match their identities. Hyde’s house is in a ‘lower class’ community. He lives in quite an old house two storey high, it has no windows and the door has neither bell nor knocker. There are” Tramps slouched into the recess and struck matches on the panels” Hyde’s house is quite surprising because although it looks like this on the outside on the inside it is “Furnished with luxury and good taste”. Jekyll’s house however looks nice inside and out, “QUOTATION”
The iron bars on the window of Jekyll’s house are also significantly symbolic. Jekyll has imprisoned himself both literally and figuratively. Just as he has literally imprisoned himself, Jekyll feels imprisoned by the constraints of society and this feeling motivates his precarious experiments with Mr. Hyde.
In my opinion Hyde represents the id in society. It is obviously unacceptable in society to fulfill these inner desires no matter how tempted you are. Hyde however commits some very gruesome crimes at the beginning of the novel he “Tramples calmly over a child’s body” later on in the novel he also murders Sir Danvers Carew with a cane.
When Lanyon sees that Dr. Jekyll has left all his possessions to Hyde he suspects that he is blackmailing him: “Poor Harry Jekyll….my mind misgives me he is in deep waters”. No one however at any time suspects such a ludicrous idea as two polarized personalities. In these times it was thought very unorthodox and deeply discourteous to even have such thoughts. It was very much an idea of religion in opposition to science.
In conclusion, we can see Stevenson has explained that the struggle between the two natures of man cannot exist. He states that in order for both to exist we must suppress the inner desires which are unacceptable within society.
