Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

With a huge focus on the Gothic element of the uncanny, one of ‘The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ By Robert Luis Stevenson’s major theme is morality. The novel is about conflicting personalities in one human form; essentially it’s the struggle between good and evil. As its set in the 18^th century the industrial revolution made a huge influence in Stevenson’s work, like in “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly science verses religion is also another huge theme. Dr Jekyll is devoted to medical science and when he discovers that he can split the inner human into two people he thinks he’s onto a brake through. Obviously like every Gothic novel with the theme of science hunting its pages, something goes terribly wrong.

It’s not one of my more favourites of the classics, but because of the smaller size of the novel, with only ten chapters, it’s great to break you into older styles of writing with a higher chance of you finishing the book. That is if you can manage the first few chapters. Mr Utterson is our narrator we as readers follow his point of view, he’s a banker, need I say more? It’s hard to hate the character of Utterson; he’s polite and respects the rules. But because of his purity it makes him a little plain. Dr Jekyll on the other hand is slightly more interesting with his mysterious nature, and even more so is Mr Hyde. Nobody knows a thing about Mr Hyde except for his benefactor, Dr Jackal, who has strangely left everything to Mr Hyde in his will. And for Mr Utterson, Dr Jekyll’s friend and banker, this quickly develops into a mystery case for him to uncover especially when there is murder thrown into the mix.

Mr Hyde is probably my favourite character within the text because of how he’s dehumanized throughout the novel. He relies on his instinct and he feels no remorse for what he’s done. Mr Utterson describes him as a “creature” within the text, and later on his actions were done with an “ape-like fury” almost completely isolating him from the category of human because of his rash and unsympathetic behaviour. Some may think this kind of character is simply horrid, but in my opinion the more flawed a character is, the more interesting they become and the more I want to understand why that character is like that.

I suggest that those who scares easily don’t read “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,” it’s very different from the adventurous “Treasure Island” that Stevenson wrote in 1883 or “Prince Otto” in 1885. If you like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or you just interested in Stevenson as a writer I suggest that you visit http://w.robert-louis-stevenson.org/works.

Over all I think that this book is a must read, especially to all Gothic lovers and literature fanatics of the like. I know many people that would find this novel shocking and scary but I think that it’s a good mystery thriller to curl up with.