About book The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (2003)
”It came about that Edward Hyde was so much smaller, slighter, and younger than Henry Jekyll. Even as good shone upon the countenance of the one, evil was written broadly and plainly on the face of the other. Evil besides (which I must still believe to be the lethal side of man) had left on that body an imprint of deformity and decay. And yet when I looked upon that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no repugnance rather of a leap of welcome. This too, was myself.” Richard Mansfield was mostly known for his dual role depicted in this double exposure. The stage adaptation opened in London in 1887, a year after the publication of the novella. (Picture 1895).Dr. Henry Jekyll is a brilliant man who in the course of trying to understand the human psyche has turned himself, with tragic results, into a guinea pig for his experiments. He has unleashed a power from within that is turning out to be too formidable to be properly contained. This book was released in 1886 and at first none of the bookshop wanted to carry the book because of the subject matter, but a positive review had people flocking to the stores to read this sinister tale of hubris overcoming reason. The American first edition is the true first edition because it preceded the London edition by three daysThe timing was perfect for releasing such a tale. The Victorian society was struggling with the morality that had been imposed upon them by the previous generation. They were embracing vice. Many men of means living in London now found themselves hearing the siren song of pleasures available on the East End. They could be as naughty as they wanted and safely leave their depravity on that side of town before they return to the respectable bosom of their family and careers. They were struggling with the dual natures of their existences. The thunder of the church and the faces of their sweet families made them feel guilty for their need to drink gin in decrepit pubs, smoke opiates in dens of inequity, consort with underage whores, and run the very real risk of being robbed by cutthroats. This walk on the wild side also allowed them the privilege of feeling completely superior to all those beings providing their means of entertainment. Jekyll as it turns out is no different. He relishes the adventures of his other persona even as he feels the mounting horror of losing control of this other self he calls Mr. Edward Hyde. Furthermore, his creation has no loyalty. ”My two natures had memory in common, but all other faculties were most unequally shared between them. Jekyll (who was composite) now with the most sensitive apprehensions, now with a greedy gusto, projected and shared in the pleasures and adventures of Hyde; but Hyde was indifferent to Jekyll, or but remembered him as the mountain bandit remembers the cavern in which he conceals himself from pursuit.” Spencer Tracy plays Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1941.Unfortunately indifference becomes more personal, more brutal in nature, as Hyde becomes more and more a caged animal that does not want to have to embrace the pretenses of Jekyll’s respectable position. ”The hatred of Hyde for Jekyll was of a different order. His terror of the gallows drove him continually to commit temporary suicide, and return to his subordinate station of a part instead of a person; he loathed the necessity, he loathed the despondency into which Jekyll had fallen, and he resented the dislike which he was himself regarded.”The tincture that has so far allowed Jekyll to contain Hyde is needing to be doubled and tripled to give Jekyll some modicum of control over his deviant nature. Jekyll contacts every apothecary he knows trying to find more of the solution he needs only to discover that the original batch that he used to make his “grand discovery” with must have been tainted with a foreign substance unknown to any of the suppliers. This foreign substance, unfortunately, is the ingredient that made the emergence and the restraint of Hyde possible. Dire circumstances indeed. Men who normally did not read novels were buying this book. I believe they were looking for some insight into their own nature maybe even some sympathy for their own urges. They made a book that quite possibly could have been thought of as an entertaining gothic novel into an international best seller. New generations of readers are still finding this book essential reading. Even those that have never read this book know the plot and certainly know the names of Jekyll and Hyde. It has inspired numerous movies, mini-series, comic books, and plays. It could be argued that it is one of the most influential novels on the creative arts. It was but a dream. Robert Louis Stevenson was stymied for a new idea. He was racking his brain hoping for inspiration. ”He had his names for the agents of his dreams, his whimsical alter ego and writing self. Stevenson referred to these agents, it pains me to admit, as ‘the little people’ and the ‘the Brownies.’ His hope was that they would supply him with marketable tales.” RLSIt came to him in a nightmare that had him screaming loudly enough to wake the whole household. It was a gift from the depths of his mind, maybe an acknowledgement of his own dark thoughts, his own darkest desires.He wrote the nightmare down on paper feverishly over ten days. When he read the final draft to his wife, Fanny, her reaction was not what he expected. She was cold to the tale, completely against publishing such a sensationalized piece of writing. They argued, thin skinned to any criticism as most writers are especially when it is a complete repudiation of a piece of writing he was particularly proud of; Stevenson, in a moment of rage, tossed the whole manuscript in the fireplace. Be still my heart. There is no arguing with success of this magnitude, but I can’t help but wonder what was in that first draft. If there is a criticism of this novel it would be for the restrained nature in which it is presented. Did Stevenson just let it all go? Did he give us more elaborate details of Hyde’s excursions? Was Jekyll’s glee in Hyde’s adventures more fully explored? I understand Stevenson was a fiery Scot given to flights of temper that could only be doused with something as dramatic as throwing 60,000 words into the fire, but how about flinging the pages about the room, and storming away followed by the proper slamming of a door to punctuate displeasure. In my mind’s eye I can see his stepson, Lloyd Osborne, carefully gathering the pages, scaring himself reading them in the middle of the night, and keeping them for all posterity between the leaves of a writing journal. In 1920 John Barrymore played Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.Stevenson was obsessed with the concept of good and evil. We all have a side to our personality that we prefer to keep hidden. We all wear masks. For now our inner thoughts are still our own, but don’t be surprised if the NSA has figured out how to tap in and tape those as well. Sometimes wearing the mask becomes arduous. Another entity fights to be allowed to roam free. We want to be impulsive, self-gratifying, slutty, sometimes brutal, but most importantly unfettered by our reputations. I wouldn’t necessarily call that evil, but there are people who do have true viciousness barely contained and we have to hope they continue to restrain it. The Victorians identified with Jekyll/Hyde and maybe to know that others are also struggling with doing right without doing wrong certainly made them feel less like an aberration when they next felt the itch for the East End. I’m sure this book was the source of many fine conversations as they drank their gin and smelled the musky hair of the doxie on their laps. The author with his wife and their household in Vailima, Samoa, c. 1892 Photograph of Robert Louis Stevenson and family, Vailima, on the island of Upolu in Samoa. Left to right: Mary Carter, maid to Stevenson's mother, Lloyd Osbourne, Stevenson's stepson, Margaret Balfour, Stevenson's mother, Isobel Strong, Stevenson's stepdaughter, Robert Louis Stevenson, Austin Strong, the Strong's son, Stevenson's wife Fanny Stevenson, and Joseph Dwight Strong, Isobel's husband.The word that most of his friends and acquaintances used to describe Stevenson (RLS as I often think of him) was captivating. He was sorely missed when he made the decision to move to Samoa taking himself a long way from supportive friends and his fans. He was searching for a healthy environment that would restore his always ailing health. Unfortunately the new climate was found too late, he died at the age of 44 from a brain aneurysm leaving his last novel, the Weir of Hermiston, unfinished. Many believe that he was on the verge of writing his greatest novel. Oddly enough, F. Scott Fitzgerald a very different writer from RLS, but also a favorite of mine died at 44 as well. Critics also believe that The Last Tycoon would have been his best novel if he’d had time to finish it. It does make me wonder about the wonderful stories that were left forever trapped in the now long silent pens of RLS and FSF, but they both left lasting monuments to literature. Even those that don’t appreciate their writing the way I do still have to admit that their impact was undeniable.
It's a musical. It's a movie. It's a syndrome. It's...Miles Davis. What is Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and why is everyone talking about it? Science gone wrong? Drug use? Insanity? Dual personality: good vs. evil? The hypocrisy of Victorian society? Is it about the beast within? Sexual repression? Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has been absorbed into our culture so completely that it is difficult to separate fact from fiction. Here then are the facts. In my own words, I summarize exactly how it all went down:Stern but lovable lawyer Mr. "I incline to Cain's heresy" Utterson is friends with Mr. Richard Enfield, who, one day, sees a certain door of an odd house whilst they are out on a walk. Enfield tells the story how one black winter night he was out at three o'clock in the morning. The streets are completely deserted. Suddenly he sees a man going one way and a little girl going the other, and they collide. The man tramples over her, not expecting to see a child out in the middle of a winter night. A group of hateful women, wild as harpies, gather in the street (the girl's family), very angry. Instead of taking responsibility for letting the girl out alone at that dark hour, they exhort from this trampler 100 pounds. He pays it promptly and without argument, because of the strong-arm tactics of Enfield (who learns the man is named Hyde). After this incident, Enfield becomes obsessed with Hyde and stalks his house.It turns out Mr. Utterson is in charge of the will of a certain client, Henry Jekyll, M.D., D.C.L., L.L.D., F.R.S., etc., and Edward Hyde is the sole heir. Indignant upon hearing the story of the girl, he goes to another friend, Dr. Lanyon, who is red-faced and drinking wine. They gripe together about Jekyll, a mutual friend, because he has become "too fanciful" and has gone wrong, wrong, wrong. Mr. Utterson decides to continue the stalking of Hyde."In the morning before office hours, at noon when business was plenty, and time scarce, at night under the face of the fogged city moon, by all lights and at all hours of solitude or concourse, the lawyer was to be found on his chosen post."If he be Mr. Hyde," he had thought, "I shall be Mr. Seek."And he is rewarded - he catches Mr. Hyde entering the house one day, demands to see his face, decides that the face has Satan's signature, and then makes the vaguely threatening statement, "Now I shall know you again,"..."It may be useful."He thinks about how Jekyll was wild when he was young and has some punishment coming. Then, a bright idea occurs to him: find a way to blackmail Hyde."This Master Hyde, if he were studied," thought he, "must have secrets of his own; black secrets, by the look of him; secrets compared to which poor Jekyll's worst would be like sunshine. Things cannot continue as they are." A fortnight later, he brings up the subject of the will with Dr. Jekyll, and tries to turn him against Hyde. Jekyll basically tells him to mind his own business, as he can get rid of Hyde whenever he chooses to. Twenty-six fortnights later: a horrible murder takes place, witnessed by a dreamy maid looking out a window. She faints for three hours and then calls for the police. The murderer is long gone - but happily she recognizes that it was Mr. Hyde who committed the crime.Hyde being heir to a quarter of a million sterling, Jekyll's money, is foremost in Utterson's thoughts. He takes a cab to Hyde's house, accompanied by an inspector from Scotland Yard. And ew. The neighbourhood includes "a gin palace, a low French eating-house... many ragged children huddled in the doorways, and many women of different nationalities passing out, key in hand, to have a morning glass." The servant who answers the door had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy. However her manners were excellent. She is delighted Hyde is in trouble, but he is not at home.So back to Jekyll's. He is sick and gives Utterson a letter signed by Hyde, which says "that the writer's benefactor, Dr. Jekyll, whom he had long so unworthily repaid for a thousand generosities, need labour under no alarm for his safety."Ah, that's really quite nice, Utterson thinks, and feels guilty about his past suspicions of Hyde. But still, he says to Jekyll, the man meant to murder you. Utterson keeps the letter, shows it to his head clerk who happens to be an expert on handwriting. He immediately recognizes it is the hand of Jekyll. Well, some more fortnights pass and Hyde seems gone for good. The death of Danvers was so worth it Utterson thinks, to get Hyde to disappear. And now that the evil influence is gone, a new life begins for Dr. Jekyll.Jekyll does "good" during this time, and it was like the old days had returned. Then for no reason, he shuts the door on Utterson again! Dr. Lanyon gets sick and dies because of a shock he has had! He leaves a letter explaining the whole thing, but there's a catch, it's "not to be opened till the death or disappearance of Dr. Henry Jekyll." Jekyll returns to his reclusive ways. Utterson goes on his usual walks with Enfield. They speak of how repulsive Hyde is. They see Jekyll one more time. He is not well. A week later his servant comes pleading for help. Jekyll is acting weird. They go to his house, and find that Jekyll has locked himself in the lab. They decide to break down the door, and find a still twitching body. It is Hyde! Unfashionably dressed in oversized clothes.There's no sign of Jekyll. But they find some papers and a letter to Utterson from Jekyll, telling him to read the letter, or "narrative," left to him by Lanyon, within which is also one from Jekyll. It explains everything. The end.Right! The letters. Lanyon's narrative: Jekyll asks Lanyon to do him a farrago of a flavour, which Lanyon thinks proves Jekyll is insane. But friends do not let friends down. Lanyon breaks into Jekyll's lab, steals some chemicals, and later gives them to a little guy that comes to his house who is dressed in clownishly big clothes. The little guy mixes the chemicals and asks Lanyon if he wants the blue pill or the red one."And now," said he, "to settle what remains. Will you be wise? will you be guided? will you suffer me to take this glass in my hand and to go forth from your house without further parley? or has the greed of curiosity too much command of you? Think before you answer, for it shall be done as you decide. As you decide, you shall be left as you were before, and neither richer nor wiser, unless the sense of service rendered to a man in mortal distress may be counted as a kind of riches of the soul. Or, if you shall so prefer to choose, a new province of knowledge and new avenues to fame and power shall be laid open to you, here, in this room, upon the instant; and your sight shall be blasted by a prodigy to stagger the unbelief of Satan."The little guy drinks the potion, turns into Dr. Jekyll and the clothes suddenly fit perfectly. More than Kind of Blue, the shock is too much for Lanyon. How he wishes he had chosen the blue pill.Jekyll's narrative: Look, I'm equally me whether I do shameful or good deeds. And guess what? man is not truly one, but truly two. And probably a whole lot more. I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both.Hmm, if I could split these identities apart... If each, I told myself, could but be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was unbearable; the unjust delivered from the aspirations might go his way, and remorse of his more upright twin; and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path, doing the good things in which he found his pleasure, and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil. But blazes! enough is enough. That damn Hyde wrote dirty words in my books! And killed a man. Sigh.I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end.(ps, my thanks to Nicholas for this link)
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I finally got to read a tale so well-known around the world. It wasn't a disappointment, although the Hyde in this 18th century piece of literature is less violent than later adaptions, likely due to the age of the times. The rigid Victorian background setting, as well as the Dr. being at the height of social esteem for his profession, drives home the point that a person would love to let go and unwind against the oppressing constraints. Always having to be polite, proper, careful, and courtly had to have grown old for some. I know it did the author himself, who took to hanging out in unruly areas for some release before leaving for more isolated surroundings where he could relax and let his hair down (so to speak).Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an excellent literary study on the bizarre, complex dual natures inside humanity. Whether one thinks this duality is a plague of humanity, or else a relief, is up to debate and interpretation. A shorter piece, it needs no further length to serve its purpose. It's told through the viewpoint of a friend, so that it's as if the reader is outside looking in, seeing a mystery unwind, makes the theme more potent. Being inside the mind of the man would not have worked as well in some ways, but would have worked better in others. The mystery would have been lost on what was going on, but on the positive side more emotion would have been felt as he struggled with his internal demons if we could have been an actual part of his thoughts.Stevenson having it from an outside perspective made it more of a mysterious study and observation rather than an experience. Still it was easy to relate to as we all understand. The good Doctor Lanyard could not understand, clearly, as he was so horrified it was indicated it led to his death or else played a massive part. This could be because so many of the Victorian times were always in the mindset of being right and proper that it would not have even considered to some to let this side of themselves out, that this side even existed to be released. Although 18th century literature, it is easy to read and not bogged down by over-flowery and drawn-out wording, so should appeal to audiences today. The theme is something that will always appeal, no matter the generation, especially healthier ones that have long recognized the dual nature of man.
—Erin (Paperback stash) *is juggle-reading*
Rating Clarification: 3.5 StarsAfter my personal literary debacle that was Frankenstein: Or The Modern Prometheus, I approached this classic with trepidation. However, it seemed like a good time of the year to try another "mankind vs. monster" kind of read, so I took the plunge.I'm glad I did, as I really enjoyed this story of a man divided against himself. Even though Robert Louis Stevenson told the story almost entirely through a third party, and there was a limited number of pages (84 in this edition) to develop the story and the duel characters of Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde, it was nonetheless a brilliant piece of classic fiction.Stevenson delves into the mind of a man who has all the outward symbols of a worthy Victorian life. But inside, this man longs to free himself of these finer attributes and luxuriate in his baser instincts. This longing develops into a scientific quest, which eventually bares fruit in an elixir which can turn him from one personality to another. Dr. Jekyll slowly begins to see the folly of his bi-polar adventures. Is it too late for him by the time he comes to this realization?I was blown away by the way Stevenson wrote about Dr. Jekyll's rationalizations on his experiments and his life while under the guise of Mr. Hyde. It was so logical and well thought out that is was chilling. Good and evil and all the shades of grey in between are perfectly encapsulated in this one little novelette.
—Hannah
I feel the same way, I read an abridged "re-written for children" version of this and I didn't like it very much and most of it has to do with the revelation, but its more than to me. The thing is, I've seen adaps of the character(s) in other movies and in those movies, they portrayed Mr. Hyde as a Hulk-type and I thought that was really cool and Book!Hyde was kinda meh to me.
—Raeleen Lemay
