The diversity between these two quotes shows how the higher and lower classes differed which reflect the Victorian way of life.
However, if you look at the story in more depth, the reader begins to see a deeper meaning hidden in the words of the novella. Stevenson brings his own influences of his Calvinist beliefs into the novellala and writes about his theory of man.
He believes that there are two parts of man, one that is purely good and the other which is evil and that you cannot be one without the other. The story illustrates this in the two characters of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Mr Hyde is the evil side of Dr Jekyll, but he is restrained from being wholly evil by Victorian society. When looking at Dr Jekyll closely, the reader can see his duplicity. He is portrayed as a good person but if this were true, he would not have wanted to create such a wicked being as Hyde. The main point that Stevenson was trying to bring across to his readers was the dangers of ignoring this theory. Stevenson’s novella shows that the more you restrained the bad side of you, the more it comes out raging which reflects the ‘profound duplicity’ of Victorian life. The Victorians, themselves had a duplicite way of life. The higher class thrived on reputation and keeping up appearances but lead a double life as one third of the houses in London were brothels. Considering that the lower class had to struggle for money, it is obvious to us, in the twenty-first Century, that it was the men from the upper class who were keeping this trade alive.
Take Utterson, one of the main characters in the book. He is a well respected man, but like the rest of the upper class society finds that indulging in enjoyable things is sinful. For instance, he liked good wine but drank gin, he loved the theatre but had not entered one for twenty years, ‘He was austere with himself.’ Utterson would go on long walks with his friend Enfield but they hardly ever conversed. These are all examples of how the Victorians believed you should behave.
Both classes were religious and went to church regularly however it was becoming fashionable to question things for instance the church. Philosophical thinkers like Darwin began to disagree with what the church said which infuriated the Victorian people. Darwin’s most well known theory is about humans evolving from apes. Of course this was dismissed by the Victorians and they thought of him as a madman but Stevenson uses this idea in his novella. There are many references to Hyde acting animalistic and like an ape, ‘Mr Hyde broke out of all bounds…Ape-like fury…Ape-like spite…Ape-like tricks…insensate cruelty…’
Lanyon is an old friend of Utterson and Jekyll and he appears to be well respected and an excellent Doctor. However towards the end of the novella, we find that Lanyon has a greed for knowledge. Knowledge was not frowned upon by the Victorians but the passage in which Lanyon learns about Jekyll and Hyde makes references to Satan’s fall from grace. ‘and your sight shall be blasted by a prodigy to stagger the unbelief of Satan.’ This would have been understood by the obsessive religious Victorians and they would have found it much more shocking then we would today.
Another example of how appearances can be deceiving is Hydes landlady who was employed by him when he was in Jekyll’s state. She is described to have ‘an evil face’ and is perceived to be a horrible character. The question that is running through the readers mind is how could Dr Jekyll, who is supposed to be a good person, be in contact with these sort of people. The answer to this comes back to Jekyll being deceitful and shows the double life that he was leading.
The upper class believed the Victorian society to be a success. They could have a secret life by visiting brothels and other such places but still keep the most important thing to them; their reputations. But we can see that Victorian society shows the ‘profound duplicity’ which is exhibited through Jekyll’s behaviour and his need to create Hyde.
