duality

• Andrew Lang: 'Mr stevenson's idea his secret but a very open secret is that of the double personality in every man'
• The theme of the dual nature of humans is not subtle in the text
• Jekyll himself mentions the theme of the dual nature of humans
• The theme of the dual nature of humans is found in the contrasting descriptions of setting as well as in stevenson's use of contrasting language
• Gothic fiction


  Often contains monsters, horror, death, night time settings, ominous weather and inexplainable events
• Gothic elements in Jekyll and Hyde


  • Night time settings
  • Ominous weather
• Scientific case study


  Publications where scientists would present case studies based on patients
• Stevenson's full title "The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" is reminiscent of a title from a scientific case study
• Structure of Jekyll and Hyde


  • Starts with a third person narrator writing mainly from the point of view of Utterson
  • Ends with letters from Lanyon and Jekyll resembling the concrete data placed toward the end of the traditional 19th century case study
• Gothic fiction


  Obliged to evoke fear or suggest mystery
• Science


  Attempts to contain fear and offer a rational explanation for all phenomena
• Stevenson combined the basic structure of the case study with the tone and subject matter more appropriate to the gothic
• The separate narratives at the end of Jekyll and Hyde are placed differently compared to other gothic fiction like Frankenstein and Dracula
• Starting with the main story made up of a third person dispassionate narrative then adding in letters at the end is exactly what we would find in scientific case studies
• stevenson mixes the scientific journal and gothic fiction to display the theme of duality within the structure of the novel itself
• scientific journal themes- dispassionate thrid person perspective through utterson and first person perspectives toeards the end to act as concret evidence (lanyon and jekyll)
• Robert Louis Stevenson explained how he had long been trying to write a story on the subject of the dual nature of humanity


  1892
• Stevenson's view of human nature


  A human is not simply one but consists of multiple personalities or mindsets that constantly battle with each other
• Stevenson wrote letters to friends about his childhood spending in bed suffering from dangerous fevers, and it was at this time he says that he really became aware of another person, another consciousness within him
• The two selves Stevenson referred to


  • Myself and the other fellow
  • The other fellow was careless, reckless and irrational
• The two characters Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde


  Found to be one and the same person
• Stevenson: 'Man's jewel nature'
• How Stevenson presents the theme of duality


  • Through his use of genre
  • Setting
  • Language
• The two opposing genres in Jekyll and Hyde


  • Gothic fiction
  • Scientific journal
• The novella conforms to the dual opposing genres of gothic fiction and scientific journal
• Gothic fiction aims to


  Create fear and mystery
• Scientific journal aims to

  Offer a rational explanation
• Stevenson's choice to set the novella in London represents the theme of duality
• 1800s Britain


  • Time of great change
  • Influx of working class/lower class people into cities
  • Upper classes nervous and created no-go areas
• London had a dual personality of two opposing sides
• Specific settings in the novella


  • Contain contrast to symbolize the contrasting natures of Jekyll and Hyde
• Opening chapter


  • Positive description of a street
  • Negative description of Jekyll's laboratory door
• Oxymoron


  A figure of speech using seemingly contradictory words, e.g. "trampled calmly"
• Stevenson's use of oxymorons reflects the opposition of nature found in the characters of Jekyll and Hyde and also in his beliefs about the dual nature of humans
• gothic creates fear and mystery but scientific journals offer rational explanations, they oppose eachother