How does Stevenson explore good and evil through the characters of Jekyll and Hyde?

by thefatkoalagmailcom (student)

HOW DOES STEVENSON EXPLORE GOOD AND EVIL THROUGH THE CHARACTERS OF JEKYLL AND HYDE?

Are the differences between good and evil distinct, or ambiguous? Robert Louis Stevenson, author of the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, expands upon the ideas of the benevolent and malevolent in his novel, in order to expose the austere nature of Victorian society at the time. He does this through the use of dualism, repression and the overtones of religious guidance. The novel, published in 1886 and set in a nameless British city, applies moral views stemming from the Victorian era, a time of strict social conduct, emotional restraint and rigid adherence to religion.

Stevenson investigates the duality between good and evil by suggesting that all humans have evil within them, but subdued and hidden. This is implied in his divergent descriptions of the two; he portrays Jekyll to be, “A large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty”. The triple adjectives all play to the stereotype of a successful, handsome middle-aged man which was seen as the accepted stereotype of all men in the Victorian Era. The phrase ‘well-made’ has a double meaning, suggesting both physical masculinity and wealth, a successful businessman having carved his own fortune. ‘Smooth faced’ not only suggests attractive features but also an unblemished reputation, which in all society is greatly idealised and upheld: a tarnished image was tantamount to social ruin. However, when Jekyll is in the form of Hyde, he is “not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable.” The repetition used in this line describes how difficult it is to create an adequate portrayal of the man: significance of Hyde’s inconceivable yet hideous abnormality. This inability to express Hyde’s characteristics reinforce the notion that Hyde is a creature not of this world, one undescribable by human words. This idea of a hidden aspect is furthermore complimented by Hyde’s savagery, primitive and animalistic in its Victorian environment. Hyde is often depicted as excessively hairy and grotesque, to be ‘something troglodytic’, a word for prehistoric creature. Stevenson implies that Hyde simply represents man’s natural form, stripped of culture and conscience. In the Victorian era, so said to have been an age of expansion, the connection between evil and barbarity was easily formed, possibly due to discovery at that time of other differing cultures. The potency of evil is also revealed when Hyde alters the relationship to the point where, “at the very moment of that vainglorious thought, a qualm came over [Jekyll], a horrid nausea and the most deadly shuddering ... [he] was once more Edward Hyde.” Merely with an indecent mind, Jekyll unconsciously transforms into his doppelganger, without the use of the potion. The visual imagery of associated with this makes it seem as if a disease suddenly manifested inside Jekyll, insinuating disgust and surprise. By this, Stevenson seeks to advise readers of how evil is omnipresent yet dormant if unprompted.

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In addition, Stevenson uses the theme of repression to accentuate the conflict between one’s true self and public appearance as shaped by social construct. This coexistence between the two is especially evident in Jekyll’s lengthy hiatus, free of Hyde. In the novel Jekyll, when having to choose between his two personalities, ‘preferred the elderly and discontented doctor...and bade a resolute farewell to the liberty [of Hyde]’, clearly abandoning Hyde. Yet, in spite of his serious pledge Jekyll turns to his doppelganger in the space of a few months. He states that despite his determination in suppressing his urges, 'time began at last to obliterate the freshness of my alarm; the praises of conscience began to grow into a thing of course; I began to be tortured with throes and longings, as of Hyde struggling after freedom’. The metaphors ‘freshness of alarm’ and ‘praises of conscience’ are analogies for how as every moment passes, Jekyll’s inner urges to to release his darker cravings intensify. Victorian society implies that the ‘hidden evil’, as touched on in the previous paragraph, is one’s true identity - Hyde. However, it is undesirable when compared to a crafted, outward character attuned to public ideals. Jekyll’s civility, generosity and success are the defining aspects of his character, and by social standards where one’s decency and popularity is as it appears outwardly, he attained fame. However, Jekyll admits that ‘many a man would have even blazoned such irregularities as I was guilty of; but from the high views that I had set before me, I regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense of shame.’ In order to maintain his high social expectations and reputation which he had achieved, Jekyll is forced to conceal his indecent pleasures, which was an integral part of his individuality. Consequently, the more fame he garners the more repressed his character becomes. Jekyll was at a crossroads, between keeping his private self hidden and thus artificially suppressed or confessing them at the expense of his image. Through this, Stevenson suggests that humans should not suppress themselves in such a manner, criticizing the Victorian social standard of the time, which forgoed happiness for decorum. The very idea that one’s genuine and authentic identity is despised and controlled is very unnatural to Stevenson, who lived a fairly Bohemian lifestyle which may have contributed to his beliefs which run contrary to that of Victorian England. He depicts this artificiality in this bare manner between Jekyll and Hyde to highlight to his Victorian readers the restrictions that they automatically impart on themselves for societal acceptance.

Moreover, Stevenson uses Christian reference and ideals to identify and highlight the differences between good and evil, also in alignment with the strict religious beliefs adhered to within Victorian society, establishing rapport and plausibility with the Victorian audience of its time. Of Hyde, when Utterson states that “if ever [he] read Satan's signature upon a face, it is on that of [Jekyll’s] new friend”, he likens the brutish manifestation of Hyde to that of the Devil, the opponent of God and the herald of evil. The indication that the features of Hyde are akin and distinctive to the horrifying mask of the Devil, suggested by the use of the noun ‘signature’, presents a clear-cut image of Hyde’s personality. Satan, in the bible, takes many forms to disguise himself and his purpose, in order to deceive others. Likewise, Utterson believes that Jekyll’s ‘new friend’, as far as he has understood, is the literal embodiment of evil, and poses risks to Jekyll’s wellbeing. The very notion of Hyde coming into being from the soul of Jekyll is alike to Lucifer’s creation by God, and his eventual banishment to Hell. In addition, Stevenson, himself a devout Presbyterian, attempts to demonstrate the righteousness of religion, when ‘the pangs of transformation had not done tearing him, before Henry Jekyll, with streaming tears of gratitude and remorse, had fallen upon his knees and lifted his clasped hands to God.’ The repentance by the religious Jekyll in light of Hyde’s immorality serves to show readers where one may turn to for pardon in times of turmoil, as Jekyll is relatively devoid of Hyde for the remainder of this period of time in the story. A stark contrast is also formed from Jekyll’s seemingly selfless askance of forgiveness for the sins of Hyde, considering that Jekyll sees Hyde as a separate man disconnected from his control; he comments that ‘it was Hyde, after all, and Hyde alone, that was guilty’ earlier in the novel to justify his innocence. Seeing Hyde in this manner is all the more distinct with his actions set against Utterson, is portrayed as the epitome of Victorian standards, who sits with ‘a volume of some dry divinity on his reading desk, until the clock of the neighbouring church rang out the hour of twelve, when he would go soberly and gratefully to bed.’ Utterson behaves with religious propriety; he educates himself with theological texts and bases his schedule at the ringing of church bells. This makes apparent, to Stevenson’s Victorian readers, the advantages one may reap from the pursuit of spiritual practices as shown by Jekyll and Utterson’s characters in the story; rather than emulating Hyde, whose brutality and moral deviation is linked to doubting Christianity and association with the devil.

To conclude, Stevenson reveals the rigid controls Victorian society imparts on people. He exposes how society has established repression as the standard. He implies that the conflicting duality of morals is directly linked to one’s private self that is suppressed, and depicts the fine line they walk between doing good or evil. All are influenced by both the malevolent and the benevolent; it is simply the management of balance between the two that differs. This is entailed in a manner which reflects upon the Victorian teachings and beliefs of the time the novel was written and its audience, and uses religion to give justification and verisimilitude to the story for readers to easily comprehend. These three themes tie together Stevenson’s overarching intention: to enlighten readers on the idiosyncratic and artificial nature of their rigid society.

Word Count: 1500