Another characteristic that this novel shares with typical horror stories is the battle between good and evil. This is shown in the evilness of Mr Hyde and goodness of Dr Jekyll. In Chapter 10 we find out that Dr Jekyll separated the good and evil parts of his personality into two people that occupy the same body at different times. This is where the novel differs from a typical horror story. Most other horror stories would involve two separate characters, one good and one evil, whose paths cross. Jekyll and Hyde is the same person with different characteristics dominating. This story is about the battle within one person to see which characteristics can become the strongest, good or evil.
Jekyll found he liked parts of being Hyde as he had passion and freedom of action:
‘To cast it in with Hyde was to die to a thousand interests and aspirations.’
Whereas Jekyll had a regular life and lots of friends, so to stay as Hyde he would be:
‘despised and friendless’
Jekyll has to battle with himself to decide whether he gains more of an advantage from being Jekyll or from being Hyde.
In the novel different chapters are written from different peoples’ point of view. This is a common characteristic of horror stories. This technique builds the suspense of the story.
The majority of chapters are written from the point of view of Utterson. Mr Utterson is told by his relative about Mr Hyde and he makes a strange connection between Jekyll and Hyde because of the will made by Jekyll. Utterson believes that Hyde is holding some power over Jekyll:
‘I begin to fear it is disgrace.’
Utterson’s conclusion is that Jekyll has killed Hyde but in Chapters 9 and 10 he is proved wrong and the mystery of the connection between Jekyll and Hyde is revealed. This shows that when selective views are used many things can be kept secret as an event may happen when the narrator is not there.
Secrecy is a development from the usual horror stories we read. Stevenson has used the secrecy in the book to mirror the secrecy and repressed feelings in Victorian society.
Secrecy appears often in the novel. In Chapter 6, when Lanyon dies, Utterson receives a letter which has written on the envelope:
‘Not to be opened until the death or disappearance of Dr Jekyll.’
Utterson obeys the instructions and so the content of the letter is kept a secret until the end of the novel.
The language Stevenson uses is common amongst horror stories. There are many commonly used words to convey the horror and mystery of the story:
‘darkly mysterious.’
The word ‘darkly’ implies wickedness or evil and ‘mysterious’ suggests of something uncertain or unknown.
The traditional language of horror is also closely linked to imagery:
‘his blood ran cold!’
The symbolism used in the novel is also a development from a typical horror story. The main symbolism is of the front doors and Jekyll and Hyde. Hyde’s door has suffered ‘prolonged and sordid negligence.’ Whereas Jekyll’s door is elegant and on a ‘pleasant’ street. This symbolism is used to represent ideas and events of wider importance. The ‘blistered and distained’ appearance of Hyde’s door symbolises his evil and aggressive nature. Although Jekyll has a perfect door the story shows differences from normal horror stories because Jekyll himself is not perfect. Jekyll is described as having a ‘stylish cast’ which suggests that he has something to hide or may have an evil streak in him.
The main way that ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ differs from typical horror stories is the advance in scientific findings were discovered in the 1800’s, science was a very popular subject. But the idea of the story was inconceivable to the people of that time which made the story far scarier.
To conclude, with the advances made from other novels at the time, ‘The Strange Cases of Dr Jekyll and Hyde’ is much more than a simple horror story as it incorporates many new ideas and themes that were very advanced from the period in which it was written.
