Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

What is good? What is evil? These are the main questions that come to mind when reading The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This story follows Dr. Jekyll, a well known and respected London doctor who develops a drug that enables him to separate his evil, pleasure-loving self from his upright, respectable self. Throughout the story, he experiences a double life until his evil side starts to take over. The battle between good and evil is a reoccurring theme throughout the reading including instability of self; the effects of repression; and the code of secrecy among professional men.

Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde represent good and evil and its ongoing battle with each other. However, Jekyll is not evil to begin with; he is someone whose pleasures did not line up with the expectations and restrictions of society. He wanted to keep is “respectable” qualities separate from his “evil”, “sin-seeking” qualities; thus, creating Mr. Hyde.

“The Late Victorian era was famed for its outstanding morals and social customs, and was often seen as being a period of peace and perfection for England. England’s poster city, London, was said to be the pinnacle of excellence and a place of prosperity, where people behaved within the boundaries of the highest moral standards” (Mack). However, this idea of the perfect society was merely a façade. Often, during this time, people were encouraged to hide their true selves. I believe that Stevenson wanted to expose these flaws in London’s history by creating the character know as Mr. Hyde. Hyde represented the imperfections of society and people and the dualities of human nature that led to London’s repression.

The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde define male society during the Late Victorian era. Men were expected to embody “respectable”. This meant that they were to represent sobriety, thrift, cleanliness and honesty. Often times, men would cover for one another in order to preserve these ideals. Secrecy played a big role in society and in this story. The “code of silence” would bind men together in this patriarch.

One example of secrecy comes from the part in the story where Dr. Lanyon, a doctor and close friend of Jekyll goes to his death without exposing Jekyll’s secret. Instead, he leaves a letter for Mr. Utterson, the lawyer that in the event of Jekyll’s death that he would keep the faith. Another character, Enfield, a cousin and friend of Utterson, directly avoids any knowledge of others’ secrets. Enfield says: “I feel very strongly about putting questions; it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgement. You start a question, and it’s like starting a stone. You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting others; and presently some bland old bird (the last thing you would have thought of) is knocked on the head in his own back garden and the family have to change their name. No, sir, I make it a rule of mine: the more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask.”

Mack, Valerie. Reputation and Social Perfection: The Social Creation of Mr. Hyde. 2012, pp. 2–3.

https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=gateway