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Jekyll, Hyde and Duality
Chapter 6 or “Remarkable Incident of Dr. Lanyon” begins with aa description of how Dr. Jekyll has changed back for the better after the disappearance of Mr. Hyde. He has started to be more social and positive, entertaining and working more in charity. But then suddenly Jekyll starts refusing to take visitors. Utterson knows that Lanyon has seen Jekyll so decides to talk to him, only to find that Lanyon is in terrible condition. He explains he’s had “ a shock” and he expects to die soon. He also shows a great distain for Jekyll. He explains that after his death all will be explained. Utterson then exchanges letters with Jekyll but this doesn’t shed anymore light on the matter. Jekyll explains that he understands Lanyon’s views and still refuses visits. Soon later Lanyon dies and Utterson picks up an envelope marked for him to open at Lanyon’s death; only to find another envelope marked to be opened at Jekyll’s death. Utterson honors the marking of the letter.
“Incident at the Window” begins with Utterson and Enfield taking their walk discussing the door, Hyde, and Jekyll. After discussing concern for his health, they see Jekyll at his window. They ask him to join their walk but he refuses politely, though they suggest it would be good for him. They decide to continue talking when suddenly a look of horror appears on Jekyll’s face and he slams the window, vanishing. This encounter shocks both men.
In “The Last Night” Poole come to Utterson concerned for the well being of Jekyll. When reach the house the voice coming from the lab is not Jekyll’s. The voice refuses to receive visitors and Poole explains that he keeps getting sent on errands by this person, for an ingredient that no one has. Poole reveals that the man inside is Mr. Hyde. With this new knowledge Utterson decides to break into the lab. Utterson demands to be let in but the voice, which Utterson knows to be Hyde’s, refuses. They break down the door and find Hyde on the floor seemingly poisoned. Hyde is clearly wearing a suit of Jekyll’s but there is no sign of him or his body. They then find an envelope addressed to Utterson containing a will leaving everything to him, a note telling him to read Lanyon’s letter, and a sealed envelope. Utterson then leaves to read Lanyon’s letter.
The chapter “Dr. Lanyon’s Narrative” shows the events as they transpired according to Lanyon through a letter to Utterson. The story begins with Lanyon receiving a letter from Jekyll after his dinner party. The letter asked him to break in to Jekyll’s lab and steal a specific drawer, take it home and wait. It said that if he did this all would be explained. He did as asked with the help of Poole and a locksmith taking vials with red liquid, salt, and a book of notes. He waited at home and at the stroke of midnight Hyde showed up exchanging no pleasantries and asking to be directly shown to the drawer. Hyde mixed the ingredients and before drinking to offered Lanyon to not see what would happen next. After he drank it Lanyon watched Hyde transform back in to Dr. Jekyll. The letter then explains that this wrecked all that Lanyon had understood to be true and would lead to his death.
The final chapter is the tale told from the perspective of Dr. Jekyll through the letter he leaves for Utterson. In his letter he explains that he has always felt that there were two sides to him and he always felt guilt for the darker one he hid from the world. He explains that in creation the potion he risked his life by taking it a first but after the transformation his darker impulses took hold. At first he welcomed the new him in which he was able to release his repressed impulses without guilt. This was fine until he transformed without taking the potion. This scared him into stopping the transformation for two months, until he gave in to his desire and drank the potion again. Hyde having been repressed for so long lashed out and murdered Carew, with no remorse. This made him vow to never transform again. This was fine until Hyde took over again; knowing the police would stop him if he went home had Lanyon get his potions. He was growing weaker as Hyde grew stronger, having to take double potion to hold him back. Not being able to recreate the potion and facing certain death, Hyde decided to poison them both and end it.
Anne Stiles compares Jekyll and Hyde to the “Dual-Brain Theory”, which states that the left side of the brain relates to intelligence, linguistic, and logical thinking; while the right is more emotional, inferior, and prone to wrongdoing. This theory is problematic at its base as it states that the left side is more predominantly used by white intellectual males, while the right is for the feminine and animal. Putting aside its racist and sexist connotations, it does have a strong connection to the literature. Through this lens, you see Dr. Jekyll as the clear left brain and Mr. Hyde as the clear right, even giving Hyde animal like characteristics.
Diving further into their characteristics making them both great examples of this theory. On the side of the left brain you have Jekyll, a well-mannered, well liked, intellectual. But this potion seems to switch the function of his brain to the lesser used right side. This leaves you with Hyde, an unpleasant man, who is disliked by everyone who meets him. Hyde also connects the criminal aspect of this theory by literally committing assault and murder. As the right side is used more it grows while the other shrinks.
Though this connection clearly holds up, I always thought of it a little differently. I always thought of both sides as one cohesive person, and what makes us who we are is what we choose to listen to and/or repress. It was also my understanding that the potion was a metaphor for drugs or alcohol. The way it inhibits our normal behavior and can wildly change someone who is known to be a stand-up person. The thoughts have always been there but the filter or decision making holding them back is gone.
A connection I definitely did see was to Samuel Taylor Coeridge’s “Christabel”. How you see this kind person and everything is not quite what it seems. You never quite know what is happening in someone’s head or what they’re capable of. Such as Geraldine has a façade and turns out to have malicious intent.
Discussion Questions:
1) If anything what do you think the distinction between Jekyll and Hyde symbolizes?
2) Do you think all people have a good and evil side?
3) Would the potion have the same effect on all people?
Robert Louis Stevenson,”The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Ch 1-5
A wealthy lawyer, Mr. Utterson is a very boring man, who is very close with his relative, Mr. Enfield. One day, on their usual Sunday stroll, Enfield walks pass a building and recalls a incident that happened late night as he was walking past the neighborhood. He recalls that a very despised man was crashed into a young girl and tried to run away, but Enfield grabbed him by his collar and took him back to the angry crowd. They wanted to kill him, but he offers a big check to them. As Enfield saw the name on the check, he let him go and went on with his night. When, Enfield reveals the name of the accused’s name, Hyde to Utterson, he is taken into utter shock. After he came back from his walk, Utterson studies the will that he drew up for his client/friend, Dr. Jekyll. It states that if Jekyll goes missing or dies, all of his property will be given to Edward Hyde. Utterson feels that Hyde is probably holding something over his friend, after hearing about his behavior. At night, he is tormented with nightmares of a faceless man running after a small kid and he is standing besides Jekyll’s bed, giving him orders. Soon after, Utterson walks past the same neighborhood Enfield had described to him, hoping to cross paths with Hyde. When Hyde finally appears, Utterson introduces himself and as he gets a clear picture of his face, he is utterly taken back with his not so appealing features. He could not describe what was so ugly about him. Hyde tells him where he lives, and Utterson took this as a sign to Jekyll’s death. After paying visit to him, Utterson runs down to Jekyll’s house and realizes that Hyde’s building is connected to Jekyll’s townhouse. He runs into Jekyll’s butler, Poole, who reveals that every servant has to obey Hyde’s orders. A couple of weeks later, when Utterson is invited to Jekyll’s house, where he finally comes out clean about the will and says that he does not trust Hyde. However, Jekyll makes him promise to carry out the will if anything happens to him.
One year later, a maid sitting by window witness a murder across the street, by a man who she recognized as Mr. Hyde. She describes that he beat the man to death with a stick. Police finds a letter with Utterson’s address on the death body. Utterson takes the police to the place, where Hyde used to stay, where he ponders upon the fact that a man like him is heir of Jekyll’s property. As they look around, police find a burned check book and a murder weapon. They hope that Hyde will eventually withdraw some money and they will have to wait for that moment. Utterson visits Jekyll once again and Jekyll discloses that Hyde and him and are no longer friends. He then shows him a letter that Hyde wrote to him stating that he has hope to escape and he does not feel worthy of his Jekll’s fortunes. Utterson takes the letter with him, when one again he runs into Poole, who disclaims that no letter was ever delivered to Jekyll. Finally, Utterson consults with his clerk, Mr. Guest, a handwriting expert. He discloses that the writing on the letter matches with the writing of Jekyll’s.
The theme of Good vs. Evil quickly changes as we come to the end of chapter 5. From the beginning, we have seen Hyde as the Evil man, beating up a little girl, his ugly face symbolizing the darkness he possess and spreads around the entire London. However, we realize that Jekyll is forged a letter for a murder. Why is that? We always focus on the outer appearance of the person and be ignorant of how a person is from inside. The appearance is also another major part of the story.
We can compare this piece of literature with Frankenstein’s novel Monster, which also depicts the story of a horrified ugly looking monster. Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll are scientists in their respective tales. They both consisted of an individual that they obsessed about and played an important part in the character. Frankenstein was passionate with “creature”, whereas Jekyll with Hyde. Both novels consisted of a laboratory that plays an important role in the literatures. Frankenstein creates a monster that he despises of, whereas Jekyll’s laboratory is connected with Hyde’s building, who also has the keys. Both tales pick children as their first victims, who is murdered by their obsessions. Most importantly, they are both isolated from the society.
Discussion questions
- what kind of a relationship does Hyde and Dr. Jekyll?
- Why is this literature focusing more on the appearance of the individuals?
- why is there a connection between Hyde’s building and Jekyll’s building?
