ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

Life and works

He was born in Edimburgh in 1850 and he had a difficult childhood because of his health problems.
He decided to become a writer when he was 21, he rejected the Calvinistic education of his parents
and he started to lead a bohemian life style: all these aspects caused a conflict with his family.

His most famous works are: Trasure island, The strange case of Doctor Jakyll and Mr Hyde, In the
south seas.

Themes and style

We can find different themes in Stevenson's work:

– the theme of travel as a non-conformist life style, for example in his book An Inland
Voyage he describes a canoe trip from Belgium to France and a second book is about a
hiking in France.
– the social theme of the difficult conditions of emigrants.
– the theme of adventure and the double in Treasure Island, where the pirate character is a
father figure and, at the same time, a source of danger for the young protagonist. (This
theme is also in The strange case of Doctor Jakyll and Mister Hyde)
– the theme of adventure is central in several books he wrote when he was living in Samoa,
like In the south seas together with the traditions and customs of native cultures in a mix of
history and fiction.

The Strange Case of Doctor Jakyll and Mister Hyde

Plot

The novel is set in London in the Victorian Era.

At the beginning a lawyer, Mr Utterson, and his cousin Enfield talk about a man called Mr Hide
who knocked down a girl in the street and then he made amends giving her a cheque with the name
of Doctor Jakyll.
Doctor Jakyll is Mr Utterson's client, so the lawyer finds out that in his will he wrote that he wants
to leave all his possessions to Mr Hyde.
In that period, terrible actions start to be committed in London by a mysterious man and Doctor
Jakyll lives isolated in his lab.
One day the lawyer receives a phone call from the butler of Doctor Jakyll, who says that the doctor
has been closed in his lab for days and that he heard a second voice coming from there. When they
enter the lab, they see Mr Hyde dead in Doctor Jakyll's clothes and a letter for Mr Utterson.
In the letter, Jakyll explains that he created a potion capable to concentrate his evil side in Mr Hyde,
he confesses Mr Hyde's terrible actions and says that he wanted to kill his evil side to avoid other
crimes.

Themes

The story is based on a nightmare of the author.

The first theme is the complexity and ambiguity of human nature.

Another theme is the excess of ambition in science that can cause terrible consequences.

The most important theme is the duplicity of human nature: Doctor Jakyll and Mr Hyde represent
the two sides of the human soul, good and evil.
Mr Hydes represents the repressed instincts and emotions but also the negative aspects of the
Victorian Era, like corruption and violence. Doctor Jakyll often appears in daytime scenes and Mr
Hyde in the darkness of the night.
The tragic end shows the terrible consequences of a split personality and suggests that men should
find a balance between their good and evil sides. Doctor Jekyll represent the noble, good,handsome
man of the Victorian age, who keeps his dark side hidden. Mr Hyde is scary, ugly and primitive, he
has no inibitions and only wants to fulfill his needs. Doctor Jakyll feels better when he drinks his
potion and becomes Mr Hydes, because he is free to express his nature, but in the ends he cannot
control his dark side and the only way to stop violence is to kill himself.

Style
The story is told by four narrators: Mr Utterson, Enfield, Dr Lanyin and Doctor Jakyll. In this way
the novel is a sort of puzzle, where we can listes to multiple voices.
It is written in epistolary form, and this allows to tell the story from different points of view.
The novel is characterised by a Gothic atmosphere, with descriptions of scary places, deformities,
supernatural elements and horrible events.