The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Exploring Stevenson's style

There are many clues in the two setting descriptions about the contrast between the main characters and themes.  The positive descriptions of the street the good in man, representing the characters of Dr Jekyll and Mr Utterson. Dr Jekyll was the respectable man in society, good-natured and enjoyed the company of his friends. The description of the street represents Jekyll to a certain extent; he is good, welcoming, and all the characteristics of the charming street but with a dark secret, that also connects him to the sinister building of repression, horror and evil. Utterson was a repressed man, often denying himself of certain privileges of which he enjoyed, “though he enjoyed the theatre…twenty years”. Although his character description at the beginning of the book makes him sound like a dark man- “never lighted by a smile, cold, scanty, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable” shows that he was a light character. The repression in Utterson is somewhat felt in the welcoming street as the street seems to be trying to hide its dark side by being full of happy, smiling people, florid charms etc.  Other themes are showing through in these descriptions of setting are the theme of secrecy. This comes across in the sinister block of building that has no windows, making the reader believe that the building could conceal many secrets unknown to other people. Appearance vs. reality also happens in these descriptions. The appearance of the street nice bright florid and the appearance of the building at the end of that street casts shadows over the reader’s mind as to what the building is hiding and why it is down what appears to be a charming street. The theme of repression and violence is represented by the state that the building is in. years of neglect has left the building seemingly looking like something out of a nightmare as this is where we later discover that Hyde was created.

Once again the atmosphere in the novella is changed by the description of the front of Jekyll’s house. Stevenson creates a more pleasant atsmosphere with this description of setting by describing the Jekyll’s house and the surrounding houses as “ancient, handsome houses”. this gives the reader the impression that Jekyll’s house is on a nice part of the street, compared to the back of the house which is shrouded in darkness and evil. The differences in the front and the back of Dr Jekyll’s house show the differences in his personality. The front of the house shows Jekyll as the respectable man of society, and shows his good side. The back contrasts his personality in the form of Hyde; dark, evil and full of hatred and repression. The two descriptions of the house tell us that there are two sides to Dr Jekyll, and that in Victorian societies,it was common for the good side in respectable men to show and for them to repress their darker side. In this novella, Dr Jekyll finds a way to express both his good and repressed side by creating a potion. Jekyll becomes the good person during the day, acting in the way society would accept, andd at night he was able to release his repressed self in the form of Edward Hyde. Because Jekyll had fought so hard to keep his dark side away, when Hyde was finally relseased, he was small, deformed and full of hatred. This side of Jekyll was not a side that society welcomed as it was a strict and very formal world that Dr Jekyll lived in. Revealing your darker side or darkest feelings etc, was prohibited in the Victorian era and if anyone’s private life got out, they shunned by the society and forced to live a secluded day. However Jekyll was not happy about having to repress his dark side and released with drastic consequences; the fact that Hyde was pure evil and hatred and once he was released, it was bound to become impossible for Jekyll to repress him once more.

The themes in the novella come across very strongly in the play, some in subtle hints and others boldly put. One theme is the beast in man. Most of the novel is set at night, showing the darker side of man. The characters in the story always seem to be doing things very late at night, or in the early hours of the morning. The only light in the novella, is the swinging street lamps and the moon, which is often hidden by cloud and fog. These descriptions of darkness and little light, show the darkness in man, the beast of man at its worst in the night. Many dark things come out in the night and stalk the city streets, man being able to live his life as he wished in the darkness where it seems, he is free to come and go as he pleases. This is a representation of Edward Hyde, who stalks the streets of Victorian London late night/early morning, putting fear, hatred disgust into those who have seen him or heard of his deeds. The descriptions of Hyde also represent the theme of beast in man, as he is often described as an animal, “ape like rage”.