How does Stevenson explore the theme of duality in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?

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How does Stevenson explore the theme of duality in ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’?

‘The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson: which fascinated the world with its original ideas, terrified Victorian high society as it unearthed its true ways of life. This classic, which is famous for its haunting and horrifying suggestions was first published in 1886, and hitherto still engrosses and disturbs readers of this time. Not only did Stevenson explore the theme of duality and how there are two sides to a person: the good and the evil that is embedded inside ourselves: ‘man is not truly one, but truly two’ he also discreetly touched upon different matters that he himself believed in.  Stevenson used his novel to criticise the Victorian society, which he lived in: showing how hypocritical it was. He attacked the men of his time, peeling off their masks to show how they were respectable by day but turned into demons by night; the wealthy and respected camouflaged their evil secrets and desires and hid them behind paper like walls, just out of sight. He unveiled and presented to the world the scandalous passages the upper class had weaved demonstrating how there really was a fine line between it and the classes beneath it. This essay will explore and interpret and try to understand how Stevenson explores the theme of duality in ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’?

Within his own life Stevenson experienced and saw contrasts; two different sides, duality almost. Robert Louis Stevenson was born at the height of the Victorian era: 1850. At the time Great Britain had the world’s best economic and military power and controlled vast spaces under its rule – it was not just Britain but the British Empire, which ruled over India and many other nations. The Victoria era in the reign of Queen Victoria was a period of major changes in many areas. Railways and post systems had been expanded and linked almost every corner of the nation meaning that communication and transport was so much quicker. Health improved due to medical and sanitary knowledge leaping forwards and the government finally began supporting schools allowing more children to become educated. Politically more and more numbers of people were entitled to participate in self-government. Agriculture became less important to the economy while industries began to grow rapidly and cities such as London, Glasgow and Manchester became densely populated as a swarm of people flocked to the in search for jobs. This prosperous time period where the British nation was optimistic and felt accomplished decayed however by the early 1880s as worry and pessimism began to hang over every Victorian’s head in their thoughts like a heavy grey cloud a headache that would not go away. As the urban population increased and major towns became over populated and cramped poverty became a problem. The powerful British Empire faced difficult foreign war and inside its gates workers began to demand more power and money. The number of women entering the workforce rose to great numbers and the changes in traditional society terrified and troubled many Britons. It was at this Historical junction that Stevenson wrote ‘The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’.  

In order to fully understand the world in which Stevenson was raised in and how and why he painted in his book the way he did, it is important to note the duality in the town in which he was born and grew up in: Edinburgh. At the time there were two sides to Edinburgh. It was a split city, frequently considered to be two completely separate cities, and it was this city in which Stevenson grew up in; its two-sided atmosphere helped mould his personality and his outlooks on life. On one hand there was the conventional and respectable half were those residing there were deeply religious and polite this was called the New town of Edinburgh. On the other hand there was a much more bohemian Edinburgh: with brothels, shady characters and underhanded dealings – black markets and more. In this way The juxtaposition of these two extreme different parts of town would have easily made a deep impression on Stevenson and strengthened his fascination with the duality of human nature which he incoperated into his book; refletcting Edinburgh in its London setting.  Stevenson was largely raised by his nanny whom he called: ‘Cummy’ but her true name was: Alison Cunningham who often read Pilgrim's Progress and The Old Testament to him. This influence of Alison’s stern Protestantism views and that of what Robert Stevenson saw of everyday life has been argued that it could have had influence in his writing – the strong view that all upper-class society is well mannered and the men are all true gentlemen and duality of what is religiously taught and what in truth takes place. It is also discussed that the wide spread of folk-tales Alison told Stevenson were a major source of his inspiration. Stevenson himself has a certain sort of duality to himself; there were two sides to him: throughout his childhood, he suffered chronic heath problems and was confined to bed so in this respect one moment he’d be well like most children his age and the next he’d be in bed like an elderly gentleman. Born into a family of engineers Stevenson was also raised to become one, attending the University of Edinburgh to study engineering. Although he never showed any true enthusiasm in his studies, devoting much energy into avoiding lectures and instead spent much of his time studying French Literature, Scottish history, and the works of Darwin and Spencer; this another point of his dual character.

It is safe to suggest that Stevenson took great interest in Darwin and Spencers theorys as they are one of several main aspects that run throughout his book: ‘the stange case of Jekyll and Hyde’. However I will not touch upon these particular subjects just yet as it is more convenient to incoperate them while writing abou the character of Hyde. Instead I will touch upon the setting of the book: London, and its social problems as well as prositiution and opium. As mentioned Stevenson possibly reflected Edinburgh in the books London setting, as London was then if more so characterised by two sides also.  

The book is set during the latter half of the Victorian era 1880s, in which society to the common eye especially in London was sharply divide into distinct social classes, and their corresponding communities. Michael Sadleir in Forlorn Sunset (1947) paints the city as a: ‘three part jungle’ saying that very few districts were actually public and that people could freely move in and out of them with absolute ease. In general people were uncomfortable and most often very much unwelcome to walk or even be in a part of town that was not inhabited by their own social group. This social fragment is an essential part in the setting of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde especially as you see Hyde never entered through the front door of Jekyll’s house. London was crammed with classy beautiful areas and gardens, which stood alongside squalid poor quarters, hidden brothels and opium dens; chronic poverty was at its height. His closeness in demonstrated in the book, especially the house of Jekyll were the front is in a nice pleasant posh proper as they would call it neighbourhood, as for the back, it is in an a more rough, old rundown dirty one; the thin line between the social classes.        

Stevenson wanted to expose upper-class society gentlemen; these men who maintained the appearance of morality and good doings, and religion while in actual fact leading ‘double lives’. Going to opium dens and being regular customers at brothels. For starters in London at the time Stevenson wrote ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ the Victorian view on prostitution was regarded as the: ‘great social evil’ that it was preposterous and wrong and sinful and the middle-class and upper kept the new that any women who was a prostitute was a social outcast: ‘the fallen women was a social outcast’ ideas of just sex were regarded as sinful and surrounded by guilt.  So from this view and as Britain was a greatly religious country one would have alleged that there to be little prostitution taking place in London as supposedly there would be no customers, but quite on the contrary there was a mass number of prostitutes roaming around street corners during the evenings and at night and making a good living out of it, and, judging by the average family size or by the proliferation of brothels, unwanted children and back-street abortions there was a lot of cover up and blind eyes being turned! In the 1880s in London it is estimated that there was one prostitute per thirty-six inhabitants and 1 per 12 adult males, this adding up to be 55000 prostitutes! The poor were too poor to pay for prostitution so the only solution was that Victorian gentlemen were paying for it: seeking sexual satisfaction in rough back quarters of large cities where many poor girls were driven to prostitution by poverty: this uncovering the hypocrisy of the noble society. It has been widely discussed that Stevenson demonstrated this prostitution problem by the trampling of the young girl in the first chapter of his book. Some literalists believe that this tramping was not a simple knock down and tramp over but instead something more along the lines of child prostitution of a sort.

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Additionally it is possible that Stevenson again places the idea of brothels and prostitution and upper-class hypobaric was at the very start of his book during the first chapter, of when Mr Enfield and Mr Utterson the lawyer are taking a stroll – ‘ramble’. In my opinion the ‘by-street’ that the two enter is a bit of a mystery a blur that Stevenson has created in a way a type of literal enigma that needs to be deciphered. It is my belief that the street is not what it may seem and that in actual fact it is a ...

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