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 cruelty 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 atmosphere 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 cruelty. The two descriptions of the house tell us that there are two sides to Dr Jekyll, and that in Victorian society, it was common for the good side in respectable men to show and for them to repress their darker side. In this novel, 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 released, 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 novel come across very strongly. One theme is the beast in man. Most of the novel is set at night or in foggy weather, 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 novel, 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”.
Another setting used by Stevenson is Mr Utterson’s house. Even though the novel is written from Utterson’s point of view, Stevenson does not describe Utterson’s house very well. He stepped into his ‘bachelor house’. The word bachelor represents, on somewhat level, being unattached or being lonely. This also gives the explanation of why he is described as ‘cold, scanty, long, dusty, and dreary’. He was ‘sitting by is fireside…visit from Poole’. The fireside could represent the warmth and security of he character; however, the fireside also creates a feeling of awareness and caution, which would get the audience ready for what is to come later on in the story.
When we see Mr Hyde, it is usually in a deserted place, where there is no person around. Dr Lanyon’s house was the place of a very significant event in the whole story; the transformation of Hyde into Jekyll in front of another human being. This is the first time the reader sees a character in a place they are least expected to appear. There is a change in Hyde’s behaviour. Hyde, described as animal-like throughout the story, now behaved with considerable, almost courtly, courtesy when he comments ‘What you say is well founded…its heels to my politeness…I understood’. Perhaps Stevenson tried to show the difference between the wealthy and respectable side of London and the shameless, cruel and violent side of the capital of Britain.
During the 1800s Soho was considered to be the lower-class part of London. Therefore it’s no surprise that Hyde’s house is in Soho. Infamous for its seediness and poor housing, this can give us an idea that he was not respected nor had any social class.
Stevenson uses Soho and Cavendish Square as some of his settings; wealth and poverty so close together, which can still be seen, in modern day London. Cavendish Square, the western section of London where Dr Lanyon lives was known for its wealthy residents; Soho is known for its poor housing and dinginess. Cavendish Square, in which Jekyll lives, is described as wearing “a great air of wealth and comfort” and had “a square of ancient, handsome houses,” showing that this area of London was for the upper classes of society. The words which construe Cavendish Square such as “wealth and comfort” make the reader feel positive towards where Jekyll lives. Hyde on the other hand lives in “the dismal quarter of Soho” which is like “a district of some city nightmare.” This description is a total contradiction to the one of Cavendish Square and the words ‘distant’ and ‘nightmare’ gives us an image of squalor and crime. London was like Victorian society in that on the top everything appears to be innocent and pure but under the surface it’s evil and dirty.
Stevenson uses the laboratory as one of the darker sides to Jekyll. With its decaying facade and ‘air of neglect’, the laboratory quite neatly symbolises the dishonest and contrary Hyde. His laboratory is described as “a certain sinister block of building … which bore in every feature the marks of profound and sordid negligence.” The connection between Jekyll’s house and Hydes’ in Soho similarly relates to the link between the people they represent. The buildings are adjoined but look out on two different streets. Because of the tangled layout of the streets in the area, it would be difficult to detect that the structures are two parts of a whole, just as it would be difficult to detect the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde.
In conclusion, Robert Louis Stevenson has used many different settings and various methods to convey character throughout the story. For example, pathetic fallacy is used in the novel to emphasise the duality of London, “with its general cleanliness and gaiety of note” is used against the description of Soho, “reinvasion of darkness…were of the gloomiest dye.” Cavendish Square is described to reinforce Jekyll’s character of good and Soho to support Hyde’s evil. Stevenson also uses the characters successfully to convey the ideas of duality in humans and uses the setting and atmosphere to support all these ideas. He also used ideas that many might be afraid to use for example he describes Hyde with having ‘ape-like fury’ which could be linked to Darwin’s theory of evolution.
