Stevenson is interested in many different themes in this novel, duality (divided self) hypocrisy, secrecy and control, and the beast in man. Duality is the main, and most important theme in the novel, Stevenson was very interested in the theme of double, as it was part of two of his other works, he may have been ‘stuck’ on this theme due to his socialisation and up-bringing, as he grew up in Edinburgh which itself had two faces: the prosperous, middle class new town, where he himself lived and the ‘old black city’ with it’s poverty, disease and overcrowding. It is also said that Stevenson led his own double life, while at university he was respectable by day, but spent a lot of time in the old time at night. Hypocrisy is also a strong theme and is shown by all of the characters, mainly through their reactions to Hyde, as he is a repugnant character, and he provokes very violent responses from all who encounter him. The beast in man may be one of his main interests because where he grew up, Edinburgh, was said to be a city with a macabre past, which fed a young man’s developing imagination and taste for horror and the supernatural.
Divided self and duality are very important to make this story work, one branch of philosophy insists that human beings are 'dual creatures'. By this is meant the animalistic side of a human being, being separate from man's unique ability of rational thinking. “ I had now two characters as well as two appears one was holy evil, the other was still old Henry Jekyll This duality in humans is the not quite so obvious 'lower level' of meaning in Robert Louis Stevenson's allegory The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The much more obvious, 'surface level' of meaning is that of a horror mystery. Stevenson explores this duality in every human mainly through Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. Stevenson suggests that in all of us there is a seed of evil, “man is not truly one, but truly two” The story also demonstrates how an innocent curiosity about our darker side of our nature can get out of hand, “in the agonized womb of consciousness these polar twins should be continually struggling”. All the characters in the story suggest good and evil, fro example, Lanyon didn’t tell anyone about what Jekyll was up to, the respected man, but was wandering the streets at night; maybe he wasn’t the good man he was made out to be.
The hypocrisy of man’s actions is a very central theme to this story. Stevenson makes Hyde represent the dark side which is present in all people, but some of the other characters want to kill Hyde, and in wanting to do this, they are rejecting what is in fact part of their true selves and so are therefore also guilty of hypocrisy. When the policeman hears of Danvers death he immediately thinks that if he finds the murderer the he will get promotion, “And the next moment his eye lighter up with professional ambition”. Lanyon also doesn’t help anyone by not telling anyone about Jekyll.
Stevenson uses several symbols to represent the predominant atmosphere of secrecy in the novel. These are in the form of locked doors, barred windows and windowless structures. The desire for secrecy is not just the physical things, but there is a lot of secrecy in the characters dialogue, “someday Utterson, when I’m dead you might learn the right and wrong of this”. The letter is also extremely secretive, reading, “PRIVATE: for the hands of J.G. Utterson ALONE, and incase of his predecease to destroyed unread” this is clearly a not for anyone but Utterson.
The setting of the novel is important as it helps create atmosphere and tension; this also includes time of day and weather which are both crucial details. London is the place where everything in the novel takes place, Jekyll and Hyde’s houses are situated in London, but they are very dissimilar, Jekyll’s house is very neat, tidy, posh, and extremely well kept, whereas Hyde’s living quarters are very untidy, the house/laboratory is in a very poor state, and it seems as if no one could live there, its crumbling away! Stevenson has done this to show how different one single person can be, and enhancing how a person can have two personalities, good and evil.
The night time is also very important, as Hyde’s attacks normally happen at night, a young girl was attacked by Hyde and trampled, and this took place “at 3 o’clock on a cold winter’s morning”. The attacks occur at night, in the dark because it shows ‘the dark side’ of a person doing terrible things “It was a wild, cold, seasonable night of March, with a pale moon”, the descriptions of the night, are almost personification of the attacks, ‘wild, cold’. The attacks also generally occur on cold, frosty nights, “frost in the air”; this implies that the character has a cold heart and no feelings for the victims of his crimes.
The door behind which Hyde disappears is completely out of keeping with the rest of the street, the door, and the building in which the door leads to shows “prolonged and sordid negligence, it had no bell, nor knocker, was blistered and distained”. This is strange, as all the other buildings in this street are in pristine condition – “freshly painted shutters, well polished brasses, and general cleanliness” This helps create the setting, because it shows how nice everywhere else is, but where the evil Mr. Hyde lives it is not very nice, just live the evil person himself – not very nice. This door connects to Dr. Jekyll’s house and laboratory the door leads directly to the laboratory, with a square courtyard in the middle, and Jekyll’s house on the opposite side, again showing the good on one side, and the evil on the opposing side. Within this complex on buildings there are many locked doors, bars on the windows, and dark rooms, hiding away secrets, and creating tension in the novel.
The weather plays a great part in revealing the themes of the novella, when Utterson and the police are trying to find Hyde the day turns to night which is a metaphor for Jekyll changing into Hyde and the dark side of the character being revealed, it also shows the secrecy of the underworld at night and the oppression of the dark side of life. The day that Jekyll transforms into Hyde in the park is a clear calm day, but he transforms due to the thoughts of evil and the growth of evil within him, this shows great hypocrisy as the quiet, joyful, still day can still produce evil.
In conclusion the setting is very important as it makes the story realistic, this can only be done if the setting itself is believable, which it is, Stevenson does this by making the setting description extremely detailed and by using vivid imagery and description. This doesn’t just make the setting realistic but also makes the book a very interesting read.
