The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

“‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ has more to do with Gothic tradition than late 19th Century psychology”. Discuss this statement with reference to Victorian morals and society as well as the writer’s craft.

“Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” is set in a gothic genre of suspense and mystery. The novel was written by Robert Louis Stevenson set in Victorian England 1886 and at a time when scientific experiments and knowledge was expanding, including the theory of Charles Darwin. The first Gothic novel was ‘The Castle of Otranto’ written by Horace Walpole in 1794. Other eminent authors include Matthew Lewis famous for his novel ‘The Monk’ and Ann Radcliffe, who was well known for her novel ‘The Italian.’ The novel was compiled at a time when most people in the 19th century were concerned with the doppelgänger (double self), death and rebirth, urbanism, decline of the Empire, sexual revolution, and sexual epidemics.

“Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” was written during the period in history where there was a huge gap between the modern and respectable community in contrast to the other side, which was well known for its brothels and shadiness. Victorian society was divided into divisions. Such divisions included men against women, rich versus poor, and science versus art.

Gothic literature, around from 1790-1820 finishing with Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’, was influenced from the late 18th century on late Victorian writing. Such examples include ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ written by Oscar Wilde in 1891 and ‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker in 1897. These were of course written after “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”.

The major theme of this novel is the dual nature of the human psyche. It was Freud, a psychologist, who developed a revised theory –the structural model- that describes personality in terms of three constructs: the id, the ego, and the superego (this will be explored further in the psychology section). However Stevenson was writing before Freud and before modern psychology. He does not, therefore, use the words of Freudian psychology, yet repression, sublimation and denial all feature.

" The unconscious is the true psychical reality; in its innermost nature it is a much unknown to us as the reality of the external world, and it is as incompletely presented by the data of consciousness as is the external world by the communication of our sense organs."

--Sigmund Freud (Rieff 32)

However, Stevenson's story of the kindly scientist who drinks a potion that transforms him into a stunted, evil version of himself is a story of horror, which preceded modern psychology. Therefore the novel can be associated with both Gothic tradition and late 19th Century psychology. As a result, both these themes allow the novella to be analysed from two different points of view. I will first scrutinise Gothic tradition.

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“Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” contains many of the signature characteristics of Gothic fiction. Such examples include most of the settings being dark, gloomy and mysterious, women playing a particularly small role in the text (when women do appear they are in subservient roles or victims) and there is a beast too, Hyde. Also the fact that the novel includes nature, secrecy and the horrific tragedies of murders too provides a Gothic sense of feeling. In ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Dracula’ a beast is also evident. Also “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” is associated with supernatural events taking place. Usually in works of Gothic fiction, the supernatural elements are subtly intermingled with realistic aspects of the story, and this text is no exception. The fantastical idea that a drug could transform a person into the physical form of the pure evil in their soul is juxtaposed with the everyday actions of Mr Utterson, such as his walks and dinner parties. Another way in which supernatural forces are brought into the plot is the constant references by everyone to Mr Hyde as Satanic. Such as Enfield describes him "really like Satan". This gives a sense that Hyde is allied with the devil, a strong supernatural force. This theme of supernaturalism is also revealed in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ when Dorian pledges his soul if only the painting could bear the burden of age and infamy, allowing him to stay forever young.

Throughout the novel, Stevenson goes out of his way to establish a link between the urban landscape of Victorian London and the dark events surrounding Hyde. He achieves his desired effect through the use of nightmarish imagery, in which dark streets twist and coil, or lie swathed in fog, forming a sinister landscape befitting the crimes that take place there. At the beginning of the novel, it is clear that Mr Enfield is “coming home from some place at the end of the world, about three o’ clock of a black winter morning”. ‘The Italian’ also uses this effect of night time as we read that a journey is being completed “in the last moments of departing light” through “the silent gloom”. As for the crimes that took place in the streets, these include an unknown man who “trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground”. This man is described as being “like some damned Juggernaut”. Also the other murder of Sir Danvers Carew is witnessed by a maidservant from her bedroom window. She describes how the victim, “an aged and beautiful gentleman” whom she did not recognise and who seemed to have “an innocent and old-world kindness of disposition”, encountered a very small man whom she did know, Mr Hyde. In such images, Stevenson paints Hyde as an urban creature, utterly at home in the darkness of London – where countless crimes take place, the novel suggests, without anyone knowing. These malevolent murders bring up about the significant theme of mystery, which in turn overlooks much of the plot and keeps the reader in suspense. In ‘The Italian’ the knowledge to whom Ellena’s father may be also allows the reader left thinking in puzzlement.

“Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” was significant to the time of it’s publish as it was at a time when the notorious ‘Jack the Ripper’ troubled the city of London inserting fear upon the public.

The use of detail of the gothic setting in the novel evokes terror and fear. This is achieved as Stevenson carefully describes the place, weather, season, time, characters and the incidents in the jokes related by Mr Enfield. The effects of these descriptions build up a more ominous side to the story.

Weather has a major impact of gothic tradition used in “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”. There is an insertion of a few literary techniques which can be related with the weather theme. Pathetic fallacy – when the weather reflects the action of a novel – is one which is widely used in chapter 8, “The Last Night”. One particular paragraph is shown on page 27 when the weather is described as being “a wild, cold, seasonable night of March, with a pale moon, lying on her back as though the wind had tilted her.” Personification has been tied in with the usage of this quotation, and it gives the moon the characteristics that of which humans have. However, Stevenson narrowly inserts foreboding into this chapter as it is implied that something terrible is going to happen: “For, struggle as he might, there was borne in upon his mind a crushing anticipation of calamity.” In ‘The Italian’ personification is evident too. Trees are described as throwing “their broad arms over the cliffs”. We can also notice how when Sir Danvers Carew is murdered, “a fog rolled over the city” and “the lane was brilliantly lit by the full moon”. It is clear that Stevenson wants to create a typical gothic tradition by the settings being gloomy and dark. Once again, the effect of this fog gives a vivid sense of foreboding, as it is not clear what might happen under the cloud of fog. It may be that something bad might arise. This effect of fog is most clearly evident in Charles Dickens’ ‘Bleak House’. One whole paragraph is used just for the description of fog: “Fog everywhere. Fog up the river; fog down the river. Fog on the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights.”

While on the subject of nature being described with human characteristics (i.e. personification), nature is also used as a Gothic theme. Nature is used in ‘The Italian’ to reflect “the appearance of the people” as they are described as being “as wild as their country”. The effect of the landscape in ‘The Italian’ has taken its toll on the people and their appearance, and this can be related to “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” as the city has taken its toll on the novel. Mr Hyde’s presentation is associated with the surroundings in which he lives in “a dingy street, a gin palace, many children huddled in the doorways.” However, Dr Jekyll lives “round the corner” from Mr Hyde and his house is described as wearing “a great air of wealth and comfort”.

One other major theme of Gothic tradition includes that of a secret or locked room, again providing the reader with a sense of mystery. Just as ‘The Italian’ includes “a stone chamber, secured by doors of iron”, “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” too contains a peculiar locked “cabinet” in which Poole, Dr Jekyll’s butler, believes his master has been murdered and that the person who has locked himself away is Hyde. The fact that these secret rooms are included in the novels, allows the reader to speculate the strange things that might be going on behind the sealed doors of the rooms.

All in all, Gothic literature is extremely evident in “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” but at the same time it is heavily influenced by Victorian psychology, which I will now be commenting on.

Victorian society was heavily based on power, wealth and culture. Victorians believed they were ethical, moral people and their society was that of an ideal one; however with the amount of crimes taking place – i.e. Jack the Ripper – this was not the case especially since Victorians were sexist and racist.

Even though Stevenson sets his story in the heart of London using such respectable professional people as lawyers, doctors and men of science, what he shows us is a city fraught with divisions. Such divisions included those between the rich and poor, men and women, country and city, science and art, and also good and evil – shown to us by Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, who not only does he represent a form of rebellion against the arrogant domination of the upper classes and government, but also “the beast in man”.

Stevenson greatly investigates the duality of human nature in his novel. This theme does not emerge fully up until the last chapter, when the complete story of the Jekyll-Hyde affiliation is exposed by “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case”. Therefore, we confront the theory of a dual human nature unambiguously only after having witnessed all of the events of the novel, including Hyde’s crimes and his eventual eclipsing of Jekyll. Dr Jekyll describes his dual personality as “the animal within me licking the chops of memory”. The text not only posits the duality of human nature as its central theme, but forces us to consider the properties of this duality and to contemplate each of the novel’s episodes as we weigh various theories.

Such a theory includes that of Freud’s theory of the id, ego and superego. The id is entirely unconscious and represents the primitive self of us. It is the self indulgent and selfish side of us. The ego, however unlike the id, spans the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. The ego is the only component of personality that can interact with the environment. Lastly, the superego is the part of personality that establishes standards of right and wrong. The superego is the ethics and morality behind our personality. In the 19th Century, it was believed that the id was represented by a troll like figure, and Hyde is described as being “pale and dwarfish”.

As Stevenson probes the depths of human psychology and challenges our perceptions of good and evil in society, we are struck by the disturbing face of evil. Dr. Jekyll tries to repress and kill off the Mr. Hyde in himself, but that alter ego is a part of who he is. He cannot renounce or destroy that part of himself.

In ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ Dorian, represented by his ego and superego, is in conflict with his id represented by the picture painted of him as a young, handsome man.

In “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case” the story of Jekyll’s downfall is revealed to Mr Utterson. Jekyll suggests to us that mankind has a split personality when saying “severed in me those provinces of good and ill which divide and compound man's dual nature.” Stevenson provides us with the message that man has two sides to him – not just Jekyll. There are many quotations to suggest this too. Such examples in this chapter include: “primitive duality of man”, “the agonised womb of consciousness, these polar twins should be continuously struggling”- this is in fact a metaphor describing our consciousness being like a womb, “man is not truly one, but truly two” and lastly “I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life”.

From what Stevenson has produced, I can conclude that “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” cannot easily be seen as having more to do with Gothic tradition than late 19th Century psychology. We must take into account that psychology is a subject matter and Gothic is a style, however I consider the novel has been written carefully and equally in terms of Gothic tradition and late 19th century psychology as I believe the style of Gothic literature has been heavily influenced by Victorian psychology. Some might argue against Gothic tradition being the more dominant argument, simply for the reason that Stevenson has not included involvement of haunted castles and dungeons, two of the most obvious Gothic traits.

As a closing statement to this essay, I can admit “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” was published truly as a chilling shocker in 1886 and still today remains as an original classic.

Simran Kooner

10HA

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