How does Stevenson Convey to the Reader the Nature of Duality in 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'?

               The theme of duality is emphasized through the symbols used. The setting in itself is a powerful symbol. There is a contrast in the street and the dingy neighbourhood in the beginning of the story itself. The city is divided into two parts – the posh part where Jekyll and all the respectable gentlemen reside and Soho, which is described as the underworld, where evil things happen such as gambling, womanizing etc. At night, the respectable people used to go to Soho. This shows the duality of the men of those times. Even the house of Jekyll has a dual appearance. The back of the house ‘bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence’. There are no windows and just a single door. This could mean that the human mind is closed and is unable to reach out to others. The laboratory never sees sunlight and is always filled with darkness. This reflects Hyde’s personality. Meanwhile, the front of Jekyll’s house was beautifully decorated and seems very rich and inviting. It ‘wore a great air of wealth and comfort’. The cabinet door also can be seen as a powerful symbol. Jekyll lies inside the room all the time and the truth is prevented from being found out. The door is a passage to the truth. Hyde can be symbolic of ‘the beast in man’. Throughout the book, Stevenson describes him, using animal imagery. He is described as ‘hissing’ like a snake and moving through like a ‘juggernaut’. Poole also tells Utterson that the man in the room ‘moves like a monkey’ and cries out 'like a rat’. The atmosphere too is a very effective symbol. The fog that always lies in the city symbolizes that the fact that there is fog over people’s mind and it prevents them from seeing the truth. Whenever Hyde ventures out, the weather is cold and foggy and this goes hand in hand with Hyde’s character. Thus pathetic fallacy is very cleverly used. Another interpretation of the fogginess could be that Utterson was always getting close to the truth but could not put his finger on it.

            Stevenson chose to have the use of several narrators, which shows us the story through different perspectives. This allows the reader to see clearly into their characters and to understand their relationships. Throughout the novel, Stevenson shifts to alternating points of view, from first person to third person narrative, and back again. The multiple viewpoints show us each character’s reaction to the events, linking to the word ‘duality’, which is showing sides. Another technique used by Stevenson is revealing the plot via letters, diaries and casebooks. This gets us very much involved in the story. Stevenson also uses dreams as a technique as in when Utterson has a dream, which is full of evil foreboding. He also uses pathetic fallacy in his narrative.

      The language used by Stevenson is simple and easy to understand yet it is very effective and has many symbolic meanings. Many figures of speech have been used such as similes, metaphors and alliterations. Firstly, to learn plenty about the characters, Stevenson chooses the dialogues between characters very carefully. Jekyll is like Utterson, and they are both respectable men, and speak very politely and in a reserved manner. In stark contrast to them is Hyde, who speaks in a harsh, direct and unruly way. Jekyll also uses language in an attempt to distance himself from Hyde and refers to Hyde as ‘he’. This is an irony in itself as they both are the same person. Some of the names of the characters have a meaning as well. For instance, the name of Hyde gives an impression of a mysterious, shady, secretive person who is in hiding. To the reader, Jekyll may seem as the evil one because of the way it is spoken. Poole was loyal to his master and may mean ‘pool of dark secrets’. Utterson’s friend, Mr. Guest, also has a meaning to it. Stevenson also uses a pun in his story. When Utterson goes hunting for Hyde, he says “If he be Mr. Hyde, I shall be Mr. Seek” Stevenson has cleverly used animal imagery to describe Hyde. He says that Hyde had an ‘ape-like fury’ and a ‘hissing intake of breath’ and he also had ‘light footsteps’ like animals do. There are traces of Darwinism in this novel as ideas are brought up such as evolution, and showing two sides as one.

                 Stevenson also implies philosophical ideas. Stevenson conveys Freud’s idea in this novel by using Jekyll and Hyde and using the idea of duplicity. Sigmund Freud’s views were new and controversial, as they challenged the accepted Victorian beliefs. Stevenson puts forward these ideas in his novel. There is the idea of the ‘hidden’ sides of a person as we see in Dr. Jekyll. Even Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is reflected in the story as some of the characters, mainly, Edward Hyde, displays a lot of characteristics and mannerisms that are animalistic in nature. Stevenson stresses on the point that humans are a mixture of both – good and evil. Every person is a shade of grey. By stating this point, Stevenson implies that we are imperfect humans.

          In conclusion, Stevenson explores the duality, which lies within man very well and also describes this in Jekyll's suicide note when he writes, “all human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil”. Stevenson uses various methods such as the characters, the symbolism, the narrative technique and also the language use to explore the ‘nature of duality’ in man. Stevenson wanted to show the world, which at the time was new to the psychological and philosophical ideas, the dual nature of man and idea of split personality. Darwin’s theory of evolution and Freud’s creation of psychoanalysis are well portrayed in this novel. Overall, Stevenson clearly implies that humans are a mixture of ‘good’ and evil’ and challenges the ‘human perfectibility’, which was presumed for the upper class at the time.

       I particularly enjoyed this novel as it was exploring various themes at the same time. One interesting point is that, when Jekyll made up the ‘transforming draught’, it never was intended to turn him evil. It was just his desires which propelled him to being Hyde. The potion just acted as a catalyst and in the end it was Jekyll who destroyed himself. We had discussed this in class and it struck me as it wasn’t an evil potion. This also shows that Jekyll wanted to break through the Victorian laws and meet his inner desires, which leads us back to the ‘nature of duality’.