R.L.

Stevenson:  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

 
Read carefully the following extract and write about the ways in which Stevenson uses both the setting and the presentation
of the characters to help develop the reader’s impressions and understanding of Henry Jekyll. You should develop the
comment you make about the extract by referring to other parts of the story. 
 
The extract is from Chapter four (The Carew murder case).
 
As the cab drew up before the address indicated, the fog lifted a little and showed him a dingy street, a gin palace, a low French eating house, a
shop for the retail of penny numbers and twopenny salads, many ragged children huddled in the doorways, and many women of many different
nationalities passing out, key in hand, to have a morning glass; and the next moment the fog settled down again upon that part, as brown as umber,
and cut him off from his blackguardly surroundings. This was the home of Henry Jekyll’s favourite; of a man who was heir to a quarter of a million
sterling.
An ivory-faced and silvery-haired old woman opened the door. She had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy: but her manners were excellent. Yes,
she said, this was Mr. Hyde’s, but he was not at home; he had been in that night very late, but he had gone away again in less than an hour; there was
nothing strange in that; his habits were very irregular, and he was often absent; for instance, it was nearly two months since she had seen him till
yesterday.
“Very well, then, we wish to see his rooms,” said the lawyer; and when the woman began to declare it was impossible, “I had better tell you who
this person is,” he added. “This is Inspector Newcomen of Scotland Yard.”
A flash of odious joy appeared upon the woman’s face. “Ah!” said she, “he is in trouble! What has he done?”
Mr. Utterson and the inspector exchanged glances. “He don’t seem a very popular character,” observed the latter. “And now, my good woman, just
let me and this gentleman have a look about us.”
In the whole extent of the house, which but for the old woman remained otherwise empty, Mr. Hyde had only used a couple of rooms; but these
were furnished with luxury and good taste. A closet was filled with wine; the plate was of silver, the napery elegant; a good picture hung upon the
walls, a gift (as Utterson supposed) from Henry Jekyll, who was much of a connoisseur; and the carpets were of many plies and agreeable in colour.
At this moment, however, the rooms bore every mark of having been recently and hurriedly ransacked; clothes lay about the floor, with their pockets
inside out; lock-fast drawers stood open; and on the hearth there lay a pile of grey ashes, as though many papers had been burned. From these embers
the inspector disinterred the butt end of a green cheque book, which had resisted the action of the fire; the other half of the stick was found behind the
door; and as this clinched his suspicions, the officer declared himself delighted. A visit to the bank, where several thousand pounds were found to be
lying to the murderer’s credit, completed his gratification.

 
In The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the eponymous personality character, Dr Jekyll, is at
the centre of many of Stevenson’s themes, namely man’s dual nature, science and religion, reputation,
repression and secrecy. In many ways, he is used by Stevenson as a construct, symbolising the
archetypal, Victorian member of the Establishment, allowing Stevenson to criticise (perhaps even
mock) the contemporary society. Very good intro
 
The extract, taken from the middle part of the novella, is significant in developing our understanding
of Hyde, and subsequently, our understanding of Jekyll as these two characters are inextricably
linked. Careful! They are one! Despite the seeming diametric opposition between Dr Jekyll and Mr
Hyde, their relationship involves a complicated dynamic. Slightly before the extract, Stevenson
exemplifies his views on the ”profound duplicity of man” through Inspector Newcomen’s reaction to
the identification of Sir Danvers Carew as the victim of the murder: he is initially concerned, but soon
“professional ambition” to turn the situation to his advantage takes over. Stevenson shows that
hypocrisy is widespread in Victorian society. Well observed
 
Shortly after the identification, Utterson leads the police to Hyde’s house, down a “dingy street” in a
“dismal quarter of Soho”. Utterson sees it as “some city in a nightmare”, a place of darkness and
swirling fog which makes him feel uneasy. This description vividly contrasts with the comfortable
house and respectable area that Jekyll lives in, which he inherited from an eminent surgeon, John
Hunter, who was known for great surgical advances, which were only possible through ‘resurrecting’
people from the grave – once again, exemplifying “man’s dual nature”. Good
 
Another important detail in the setting is that Hyde resides in Soho. Soho was an area associated with
poverty and immorality but is located in the richer, more respectable West End of London. This may
parallel the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde: the immoral Hyde is located within the respectable
Jekyll. Also, the motif of the fog is infused throughout the novella, from the “fogged city moon” in
chapter two to the “first fog” in chapter four, which “lifted a little” in the extract. The pathetic fallacy
of the fog over London may be a representation of Utterson’s mind and suspicion towards Hyde, as it
“settled down again” when Utterson deliberated on why the heir of a “quarter of a million sterling”
lived in these conditions. Good – also the mystery and the sense of something sinister
 
Before having the opportunity of transforming into Hyde, Jekyll had a “gaiety of disposition”, but felt
that he needed to hide this happiness since it was not derived from being a respectable, Victorian
gentleman. As a result, he had a “profound duplicity of life”, part of Stevenson’s way of criticising his
society, saying that it forces gentlemen into being dishonest and having a façade. Furthermore,
Christianity transforms these pleasures into sins, leaving Jekyll “plunged in shame”. This mental state
of ambivalence is described by Jekyll as “man’s dual nature” and pictured as “a dreadful shipwreck”.
Very insightful here and quotation used to very good effect
 
As the novella progresses, the hatred between Jekyll and Hyde increases, which parallels Jekyll’s loss
of control over Hyde. From the beginning, Hyde does not care about Jekyll; Hyde just sees him as a
place to conceal himself. Hyde has “more than a son’s indifference”, while Jekyll has “more than a
father’s interest”. This father-son terminology suggests that, as Hyde’s creator, Jekyll cares about
Hyde, however in the end Hyde hates that he needs Jekyll and wants to be a separate person. As Hyde
becomes stronger, Jekyll begins to hate “the brute that slept” within him. This may reflect Jekyll’s
self-loathing. Hyde “resented the dislike” which Jekyll feels towards him and punishes Jekyll by
playing tricks on him. Stevenson may be warning his readership that it is better to lead a balanced life
rather than deny one’s bad side completely. Good BUT you have not dealt yet with all of the extract
detail
 
Regarding the science-religion debate prevalent in the late 1800s, Jekyll chooses scientific discovery
over Christian morality, reflecting Stevenson’s views, which were perhaps influenced by Darwin’s
controversial book On the Origin of Species, and suggests that science has the power to construct a
much better society than Christianity. The majority of Stevenson’s readership at the time would be
devout Christians, therefore he cannot and does not overtly challenge Christianity. Instead, he
presents his ideas under a veil. Although his Christian readers will see his creation of Hyde as a
heretical challenge, Jekyll believes other scientists will “outstrip [him] on the same lines” and he
wants his scientific discoveries to be developed so that an “angel” might be created instead of a
“fiend”. Jekyll wants to carry on a legacy – he wants to be remembered for good – and at the end of
the novella, we get the sense that Utterson will repress this since he is himself a part of this repressive,
Christian society. Therefore, Stevenson is subtly attacking the Christian society for suppressing
scientific progress.
 
There are many clues in the novella that Jekyll prefers Hyde, and by extension, Stevenson is
suggesting that in some ways Hyde is a better human being than Jekyll. Oh you are living dangerously
here. “More intense” might be a more usefully cautious term for “better” which has such strong
association with morality When Jekyll first became Hyde, he states that “[He] came to [himself] as if
out of a great sickness”. Jekyll is the sickness: Hyde is the cure. Stevenson is trying to convey that
Hyde, the “troglodytic”, “ape-like” pleasure seeker, is his more natural state, whereas Dr Jekyll, the
conditioned product of society, is a kind of “sickness”, i.e. Hyde is not fake or superficial, unlike
Jekyll. In the beginning, Hyde was not a sinner, but rather a pleasure seeker, and Stevenson is
suggesting that that is Jekyll’s, indeed man’s, natural state. Once again, it is only Christian society
that has labelled natural pleasure-seeking as a sin. Moreover, Jekyll points out that his new identity is
“natural and human”. This idea is presented in the descriptions of the two eponymous personalities:
Jekyll is described as “elderly and discontented”; however as Hyde, he felt “liberty, the comparative
youth, the light step, leaping impulses and secret pleasures” and “younger, lighter, happier” (the
absence of ‘evil’ from this attractive list of features is very interesting). This is another clue that
Jekyll’s life as Edward Hyde is not full of evil deeds, but simply the freedom to pursue pleasures
which are rejected by Christian society. You argue this very well, drawing expertly on apposite parts
of the text.
 
While the novella is viewed by some as a depiction of the struggle between good and evil, with Jekyll
symbolising good and Hyde symbolising evil, Jekyll cannot be characterised as an innocent victim,
since he enjoyed indulging his evil side without having to deal with the consequences. He is delighted
at the thought of pleasure without shame: he “smiled at the notion” and finds it “humorous”. He
makes thorough arrangements, such as furnishing Hyde’s house “with luxury and good taste”, so that
he can indulge in his evil side. Give this more thought. A Victorian reader could well have seen this
reference to luxury as an indication of homosexual inclination Jekyll’s language conveys that he
enjoys the freedom of being Hyde; he describes himself as like a “schoolboy”, throwing off society’s
constraints and jumping into the “sea of liberty”. Although Jekyll is shocked by the actions of Hyde
and feels “remorse”, his “conscience slumbered” because he felt it was “Hyde alone” who was guilty.
Jekyll knows what Hyde is capable of and that he might one day take over Jekyll, but he is not strong
enough to stop it since he enjoys being Hyde too much. Also, the fact Hyde eventually takes over
makes the reader wonder if there was more evil than good in Jekyll after all.
 
Despite that, the reader still views Jekyll as a sympathetic character. In the end, Jekyll admits that his
experiment failed – he realises that it is not possible to cast off man’s evil side because it “returns
upon us with more unfamiliar and more awful pressure”. This contrasts with his earlier pride and
excitement at the results of his experiment. It is possible to feel sympathy for Jekyll because he is
presented as an ordinary man dealing with some challenging issues of human nature. Perhaps you
understate this. Jekyll the Promethean hero or victim? The reader’s sympathy for Jekyll is increased
by the horror of his fate. He says that he is facing punishment and that “no one has ever suffered such
torments”.
 
In conclusion, the characterisation of Jekyll throughout the novella is quite complex and at times
contrasting, and it is achieved by Stevenson through the use of language, setting, contrasts, context
and the inseparable (both physical and mental) relation with Hyde. Stevenson uses Jekyll as a vehicle
for conveying his ideas on many controversial themes at the time. The dichotomy of the reader’s
feelings towards Jekyll is summarised by the self-pitying statement, “If I am the chief of sinners, then
I am the chief of sufferers also”.
 
 
Well, clearly grade 9. Expertly and confidently argued, showing insight and depth of understanding.
You would be an excellent student of English in sixth form and beyond.