Examine the Representation of Good and Evil, and the dual nature of humans, in Robert Louis Stevenson's "The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde".

English Assessment, January 2006

Examine the Representation of Good and Evil, and the dual nature of humans, in Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”.

The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in the Victorian era, in 1886. At that time, the Victorians were fascinated and frightened by science and the supernatural. With all the new scientific theories and ideas (e.g. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution) causing turmoil around them, people were more and more influenced by other people’s and their own reputations. Reputation became a big part of Victorian lifestyle, people’s whole lives circled the idea of upholding a good reputation.

This tense environment of mistrust and envy created a perfect setting for Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, “The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. In this book, the themes of good and evil and right and wrong were easy for people to relate to, as they came across these in their everyday life. The secrets and confrontations that Stevenson’s readers experienced in their lives were very similar to the ones he used in his book. This is probably why it was such a huge success.

In this essay I will be analysing and examining how Stevenson represented good and evil in his book, and the duality of human nature.

The way in which the book has been written helps us to see the theme of good and evil throughout the novella, Stevenson uses the style of a detective genre book to write, this creates a mysterious and sinister feel for the book, and helps create tension and drama throughout the book. Stevenson’s way of switching narrators helps us to see the situation from all of the different views, Utterson’s, Lanyon’s, the maid’s and Jekyll’s. These different narratives mean that we can see nearly all of Victorian Society’s views on the supernatural and good and evil, through Dr. Lanyon, we can understand the scientific world’s views on Jekyll’s experiments in good and evil and the duality of human nature, similarly through Utterson we see Jekyll’s behaviour through the eyes of the perfect Victorian Gentleman.

I believe that Stevenson used these different and new writing techniques to tell his audience that not everything is as it seems, and that there is a lot of hypocrisy and secrets being kept in Victorian Society. I think that Jekyll and Hyde could have been not just a book on the supernatural mysteries, but an analysis of Victorian society and how it worked.

In Stevenson’s novella, the characters are the main source of good, evil and dual characteristics, the most prominent two being of course, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. However, the other characters in the story also betray dual natures, Dr. Lanyon for example. He is neither good nor evil, he doesn’t ever do anything evil, but he does consider doing something evil. When Lanyon is told that he should expect an associate of Dr. Jekyll’s at his house, he gets a pistol, so he is considering shooting this man, however this could also be seen as a precaution, or a form of protection, if something goes wrong. Lanyon’s character is extremely important, as it is him that drives Jekyll to continue his experiments. Lanyon represents the cynical scientific world, who want hard facts to back up any ideas. Obviously, Lanyon doesn’t believe Jekyll’s idea of duality in humans, and so Jekyll strives to prove his point, and soon loses control over Hyde’s actions. When he finally presents himself to Lanyon, the shock kills Lanyon. This could symbolise that the scientific world is too narrow minded, and are not ready to take in any information that doesn’t suit their own ideas. It could also mean that the scientific world would rather die than accept the supernatural as being real.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Mr Utterson is a hugely important character in the book. He is the ideal Victorian gentleman, he has a good reputation and job and socialises in the right circles. However, Mr Utterson is a very good example of dual natures. Whilst he is worried for his friend Dr. Jekyll, he doesn’t let it show until the end of the book. He hides things that may besmirch his reputation, and is a very different person when he is with Lanyon to who he is when he is with Jekyll. Utterson symbolises Victorian Society, a world of hypocrisy and high expectations, all revolving around moral and reputation. I believe that he is the only “good” character in the book, however in Stevenson’s novella, nobody is the obvious good character, this could mean that Stevenson is telling society that nobody is truly good, but people can be truly evil.

Dr. Jekyll is a highly complicated character, he is described in the book as being a

“large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness.”

This quote tells us a lot about Dr. Jekyll because it does tell us that he was a good man (“capacity and kindness”) but it also hints at a darker side to him, that isn’t quite so obvious (“slyish cast perhaps”). The book also hints at another dark and sinister secret that Jekyll hides, because when Mr. Hyde is mentioned his mood changes dramatically:

“The large handsome face of Dr Jekyll grew pale to the very lips, and there came blackness about his eyes.”

This quote also tells us about Jekyll’s darker side, he has a deadly secret that he doesn’t want anybody to know. The description of his face sounds quite dangerous and threatening, which could be the character of Hyde breaking through. However, Dr. Jekyll also says

“the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr Hyde”

this tells us that Jekyll believes that he is still in control at this point in the book. However, later on in the book we learn that Jekyll is most definitely not in control. In chapter 7 (Incident at the Window) we get a brief glance into how Jekyll is coping (or not) with Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield are leaving the house of Dr. Jekyll and they look back to the window and see Dr. Jekyll :

“The smile was struck out of his face and succeeded by an expression of such abject terror and despair, as froze the blood of the two gentlemen below”

I think that this quote is telling us that Dr. Jekyll has lost control over Mr. Hyde. He has finally lost control, and maybe Mr. Hyde is taking over, and he can’t stop the transformation, and he is extremely scared by this. Jekyll in the book symbolises, for me, the vast majority of Victorian Society, a respectable man to the public, but hides a not-so-respectable secret.

Dr. Jekyll’s evil counterpart, Mr. Hyde is compared in the book to Satan a number of times. In chapter 2, Mr. Utterson says this about Mr. Hyde:

“If I ever read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is upon that of … Mr Hyde.”

And in Chapter 9 we read the quote:

“stagger the unbelief of Satan”

These two quotes tell us that Hyde is pure evil, and people sense this, and take an instant disliking to him. During the book we see Hyde’s power over Jekyll increasing, until in the chapter ‘The Last Night’ there is a final struggle between Jekyll and Hyde, in which he commits suicide. Hyde is also compared to animals, he is described as being primitive and ape-like. In Chapter 4 there are lots of quotes that give us this animal imagery. In Chapter 4 Hyde attacks and murders the well-known and respected Sir Danvers Carew.

We know that his movements and character is animal like because of these quotes:

“Attacked with ape-like fury”

“Trampling his victim underfoot”

And in Chapter 9

“The creature”

All of these quotes give the impression of Hyde being a primitive inhuman beast. I think that the character of Hyde represents the evil deeds and dark secrets that were hidden in Victorian Society.

In the book, we learn about Hyde’s evil nature mainly through his evil attacks on innocent people. In the first ever chapter we learn about Hyde’s evil. Mr. Enfield describes what he saw when he first met Mr. Hyde.

“the man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground. It sounds nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see”

This quote tells us about Hyde’s evil, the words “trampled calmly” tell us that maybe Hyde has done evil acts before this one. The second event with Hyde is the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. This event is described to us by a maid, and lets us see Hyde’s character from yet another viewpoint. This particular event is important because it shows that Hyde’s power is increasing. The first violent act we hear about is Hyde trampling and hurting a girl, this event is a lot more serious and you could say more evil. Hyde is described as a “madman” and an “ape”. These two descriptions are a lot more extreme, and so it seems that Hyde is slowly breaking through Jekyll’s defences.

The next key event that we find is Dr. Lanyon’s death. This is unexpected and a shock in the book, and it seems very unusual. In chapter 6 there is a quote that tells us something is wrong with Dr. Lanyon.

“He has his death-warrant written legibly upon his face. The rosy man had grown pale”

We know that something is wrong, because the once healthy looking Lanyon is now pale with “a death-warrant written legibly on his face”. From this point onwards in the book the tension is extremely high.

Stevenson’s novella uses imagery and motifs to describe the dual nature of humans in the book. The use of doors in the book is the main symbol in the book. The two doors in the book, Mr. Hyde’s door in Soho and Dr. Jekyll’s in Mayfair symbolise the “good” part and the “bad” part of this character. Mr. Hyde’s door is described as being a dirty and messy ruin. We get the description from chapter 1, Story of the Door.

“The door which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker was blistered and distained. Tramps slouched into the recess and struck matches on the panels; children kept shop upon the steps; the school-boy had tried his knife on the mouldings; and for close on a generation no one had appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair their ravages.”

The general description of this door is a bad one and this tells us about Hyde’s character.

Another motif in the book is the weather. Stevenson effectively uses pathetic fallacies to describe the good and evil natures of characters in the book. Fog is used a lot in the book, it is described in different ways, but it is always used in a sinister way, to describe and emphasise evil.

The fog’s colours are important because they also contribute to the mood. There are several quotes that tell us about the colours:

“hues of twilight”

“muddy”

“brown as umber”

“a great chocolate coloured pall”

All of these quotes describe a dirty dark brown colour that reminds us of evil, and dirt, all images we associate with evil and wrong.

Another important way of showing the duality of humans and good and evil is the settings used in the book. Soho and Cavandish Square are the two locations in the book that symbolise good and evil. The fact that Dr. Jekyll lives in Cavandish Square, but his house is joined onto Hyde’s house, which is in Soho emphasises Jekyll’s duality. Soho in the Victorian era was an area of London that wasn’t respectable, and was seen as a “bad neighbourhood”, and is often described in a bad way, and because Hyde lives there it is linked to the idea of evil. We find out about Soho through very descriptive quotes:

“[Soho is] the dismal quarter of London”

“slatternly passage”

The locations in the book are incredibly important because they show the duality of the characters in the book. Lanyon’s surgery and consulting rooms are important because we only ever see Lanyon in these locations, which could mean that his character doesn’t have a dual nature, as we never see what he is like at his own home.

I think that fact that we don’t see Utterson in two majorly different locations gives the same impression as Lanyon. I think that maybe only Jekyll and Hyde are the only characters that have dual natures, as they are the only characters that have two different locations that they travel between.

In Conclusion I believe that the dual nature of humanity is represented mainly through Jekyll and Hyde, but not so much in the other characters. I believe that there is a factor of duality in every person, but Jekyll’s experiments and pushing his ideas to this limit was too extreme, and this is why the experiment ends in Jekyll’s suicide. The dual nature of this character is almost like a warning to Stevenson’s audience, to not be caught in the frenzy of hypocrisy and the importance of reputation, because eventually everybody will find out your secrets, and when they do, if they have been hidden they will eventually hurt you more than you anticipating.

I think that the representation of good and evil in the book is mainly shown through Hyde and the people he meets and the places he goes to. Evil is shown in all aspects of his life, and is very well shown through the weather and the fog.