The idea of duality is constant throughout the novel. Stevenson examines the duality of human nature as most clearly expressed in the revelation that Mr Hyde is in face Jekyll evil characteristic. Hypocrisy of Victorian values is an indictment of society Stevenson makes. He suggests that good and evil are inseparable in human nature. Violence is also a basic theme of the novel. We unearth earlier on the novel that Hyde enjoyed committing violence. Through this imagery f senseless violence against innocent victims, Stevenson expresses the true depravity and pure evil of Mr Hyde, Stevenson focuses on the struggle between good and evil in the mind of the character Dr Jekyll, throughout the novel. Stevenson also presents the theme beat in man through the creation of Mr Hyde.
The novel reaches climax during the chapter ‘The Last Night’. Dr Jekyll’s butler Poole visits Mr Utterson and tells him that he thinks the doctor is in trouble and fears “foul play”. Utterson goes to Jekyll’s residence and attempts to enter the doctors’ laboratory. At first they are not able to but eventually Utterson manages to break down the door to find inside, Mr Hyde body lying on the floor. They search the laboratory and elsewhere but find no trace of Dr Jekyll’s body. Then they find several items including a will in Uttersons name, a note to Utterson with the present date on it and a sealed envelope. The climax has been created through Stevenson’s style which includes his descriptive setting.
During Mr Utterson’s and Poole’s journey through London, Stevenson uses vivid descriptions to evoke a sense of the Gothic and build tension. He presents his characters with “a pale moon, lying on her back as though the wind had tilted”. Stevenson describes the moon as being “pale” which is instantly visible as this could suggest that the usually bright moon has had her brightness dimmed. This would suggest the setting is darker which makes it more threatening and unclear. The “wild, cold, seasonable night” reflects the general Gothic atmosphere and tone established. Stevenson does this through the clever use of adjectives that provide readers with a vivid understanding of the setting’s surroundings. Stevenson also uses imagery when he describes the “pale moon, lying on her back”, giving the moon actions. Furthermore, describing the moon as “pale” could remind the audience of death and blood draining from the face as if the moon was a victim. Stevenson personifies the moon as a female which too has implications. During the Victorian era, women are generally Victorian wives or sometimes prostitutes, either way subjective to male domination. The wind was able to tilt the moon and so must have characteristics of strength and aggression which were both typical male traits. This way, Stevenson presents the moon as submissive and powerless to the mate wind. A lot of mystery is presented to the reader throughout the chapter in numerous ways such as when the wind “flecked blood into the face”. Stevenson makes the reader ponder what “blood” it was which may build suspense to the reader because they do not know whose blood the narrator is talking about. Stevenson uses setting to reflect Utterson’s feelings of what is about to happen. Utterson had not seen the streets of London so deserted and becomes “conscious” as no one is around and wishes to “touch his fellow-creatures”. This gives Utterson a premonition of disaster because “borne in upon his mind” was the “anticipation of calamity” which Stevenson uses to build tension through a climax.
Utterson represents a typical Victorian gentleman. He constantly seeks to preserve order and decorum and can be seen to follow the strict Victorian code of conduct and manners and could provide an undercurrent of sexual repression. Stevenson shows that Utterson is a gentleman who is of a high class. The audience can see this when Poole visits Uttersons house and he offers Poole to “take a seat” and gave him a “glass of wine”. This politeness is part of the Victorian etiquette and places Utterson in a higher class. His place in society also impacts on class. Utterson is a lawyer, which was a well respected occupation during the Victorian era and he referred to as “sir” by Poole which suggests Poole is of a lower class and has a lower status in society because he works for Dr Jekyll as his servant. When Utterson investigates what becomes a supernatural sequence of events, he never allowed himself to even consider the notion that something mysterious may be going on. He merely refers to the situation as a “very strange tale”. He considers that misdeeds may be occurring but not that the supernatural or metaphysical might be taking place. When Utterson arrives at Dr Jekyll’s house and sees all the servants “huddled together like a flock of sheep” and “peevishly” tells them Dr Jekyll would not be pleased. Once more, Stevenson presents us with status and how it affected the typical Victorian gentlemen’s attitude. While Utterson and Poole were outside the door of Dr Jekyll’s laboratory, Poole described Dr Jekyll’s behaviour for the last week. Stevenson provides the audience with an in depth understanding to Mr Hyde’s characteristics.
Stevenson uses the pronoun “it” in place of “he” when the noise of Mr Hyde is heard from behind the doors of Dr Jekyll’s laboratory. The use of the pronoun “it” could tell the audience that Mr Hyde has lost humanistic quality which could imply the animalistic imagery that Stevenson uses when Poole describes the actions of Mr Hyde as “rat” like. This could suggest that it was vermin, like what used to carry the plague which can be interpreted that like the plague, Mr Hyde went around killing people. Stevenson shows some significance in Mr Hyde’s need for a certain drug. Poole expresses to Utterson how the voice coming from the laboratory, sent him “flying to all the wholesale chemists” in London and that he seemed desperate for some ingredient that no drugstore in London sells. In Victorian society, there was a rampant, though covert, use and abuse of drugs and alcohol. Developments in science and medicine made some drugs freely available. Stevenson could be making wider social comments about the availability of drugs and the effects they had on Victorian people. The theme of hypocrisy is variable here as Jekyll was a doctor and his occupation involved him prescribing drugs to patients in his good side, however, now as Mr Hyde we see him asking for them.
As Poole continues to tell Utterson what happened the last week. Utterson finds out that Poole had in face seen him “digging among the crates”. Mr Hyde is described to have “whipped upstairs” back into the cabinet. Stevenson uses animalistic imagery when he describes Hyde’s actions of running back to the cabinet. “Whipped” could be the natural animalistic way to protect himself and his presence. Hyde also reacts with “a kid of cry”, which could also be interpreted as an animalistic noise and a way to cry out for help as well as show the emotions of himself which would be very sad and regretful. The animalistic traits in Hyde could also link in with Darwin’s theory “survival of the fittest” and evolution. When Utterson and Poole break in to Dr Jekyll’s cabinet, the audience are given an unusual description.
Stevenson gives the audience a completely different type of setting once Poole and Utterson are inside. The description subverts typical conventions of Gothic texts. They both enter the cabinet in “quiet lamp light” and “papers neatly” on the table. This is nothing like the descriptions Stevenson has given the audience before which were typically of the Gothic genre and included dark settings. This contrast could highlight that Victorian society has its good part as well as its negative points.
In the cabinet, Utterson finds a pious book and is “amazed” to find the book with blasphemies annotated on it. This was significant because Stevenson explores the theories of Darwin through Dr Jekyll. Furthermore, it changed the attitudes about what is right and wrong in Victorian society. Through the chapter Utterson is keen to protect Dr Jekyll’s reputation.
Even when Utterson is summoned by Poole to Jekyll’s house and all the servants are gathered frightened in the hallway, Utterson continues to look for an explanation that preserves reason. He desperately searches for excuses not to take any dramatic steps to interfere with the doctor’s life. In Utterson’s devotion to both decorum and reason, Stevenson depicts Victorian society’s general attempt to maintain the authority of civilisation over and against humanity’s darker side. This enforces the hypocrisy within Victorian society. Stevenson suggests too that just as Utterson prefers the suppression or avoidance of revelations to humiliation or disorder the truth might unleash, Victorian society prefers to repress and deny the existence of an uncivilised or savage element of humanity, no matter how fundamental that element may be.
The Gothic genre is demonstrated throughout most of the chapter. Stevenson uses imagery frequently to convey to the audience the general Gothic atmosphere. Through his writing style he builds tension and evokes a sense of Gothic. The chapter ultimately conforms to the Gothic genre conventions throughout; only at one point the audience sees a change in setting and atmosphere when Poole and Utterson enter the cabinet. Stevenson explorers issues of the time and goes into some controversial exploration and writes in a very elaborate style in comparison to modern day texts.