Year 11 Literature Jekyll and Hyde Exemplar
Question: Explain how the use of imagery, alongside symbolism and/or allusion, is crafted to explore one or more ideas in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a Gothic novella written by author Robert Louis Stevenson and first published in 1886. It follows London legal practitioner named Gabriel John Utterson as he investigates the mysterious occurrences between the respected Dr Henry Jekyll and the malevolent Mr Edward Hyde. As the story progresses it is revealed that Hyde is the alter-ego of Jekyll, separated from his consciousness into a new person through a radical scientific process in order to quell the constant internal antagonisms felt by Jekyll as a result of his conflicting desires. In doing so, Jekyll developed a monster of pure evil, stripped of any moral reason by which to control himself. Throughout the story, these two men become hyperbolic symbols of the dual parts within each individual. Through the development of this idea of duality, we see the influence of great minds of Stevenson’s time shining through, most notable that of Charles Darwin. With the publishment of The Origin of Species in 1859, it seems natural that an agnostic mind like Stevenson would take to his profound new ideas about human nature, including the distinction between the civilized part of man and the enduring qualities of our evolutionary background. A second thinker who influences the moral composition of the text is that of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher who released many philosophical readings through the late 1700s. He also made the distinction between the part of our minds accountable for reason, and that associated with our non-rational impulses. In the novella, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, author Robert Louis Stevenson employs symbolism, imagery, and allusion in order to explore Darwinian and Kantian ideas regarding the human condition.
Stevenson employs language features including symbolism and imagery to construct the foil characters of Hyde and Jekyll in order to explore the dual nature of man. The duality of man is a philosophical idea stating that there exist two sides of a person, that of the civilized, moral, and reasonable, and that of the barbaric, immoral, and impulsive. The internal divide is made plain by the literal divide of Henry Jekyll, with the creation of Hyde, who represents all about Jekyll that is unfavourable. A description of the two juxtaposing personas can be found in the surroundings around them, by which Stevenson expresses their nature through sensory imagery. In the case of Jekyll: “a comfortable hall… warmed by a bright open fire and furnished with costly cabinets of oak” These are the words that describe the entrance to Dr Jekyll’s home, and upon first glance the reader is presented with attractive visual imagery, developing a sense of good-naturedness along with the warm tactile imagery, as if the reader can feel the welcoming flames of the fire. Furthermore, the consonance associated with “costly cabinets of oak”, adds a calming, rhythmic effect to the end of the sentence which only enhances the gratifying mood. These qualities become symbolic of the benevolent and respectable nature of the good side of Dr Jekyll. Alternatively, in the case of Hyde, the book reads: “This mournful reinvasion of darkness, seemed, in the lawyer’s eyes, like a district of some city in a nightmare”. With this sentence, the reader is stricken with the harrowing image of Soho, the place of Hyde’s residence. The macabre imagery develops a sense of anxiety for one’s safety, as if the unexpected has become the expected. Such a place provides a flawless embodiment of the characteristics of Edward Hyde; evil, impulsive, and uncontrolled. With this Stevenson solidifies the characterization of Jekyll and Hyde as a fierce dichotomy in ideals, alluding to the Darwinian idea of duality. To quote the great thinker: “Man still bears in his bodily frames the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.”
In the novella, the characters of Jekyll and Hyde are used in order to allude to ideas of Kantian ethics. Philosopher Immanuel Kant theorised that it is the ability to reason that makes the distinction of morality, stating that while most elements of nature are acted upon, humans being rational individuals are actors in themselves. To quote: “The only objects of practical reason are therefore those of good and evil”. In the novella, this concept is echoed through the evil alter-ego of Hyde and can be seen in the quote: “Jekyll would suffer smartingly in the fires of abstinence, Hyde would be not even conscious of all that he had lost”. Here a key difference is highlighted between the two men, and that is of their conscious nature. While Jekyll is subject to deep contemplation over his actions, Hyde possesses no such ability, and consequentially seems to act purely on his instinctual and emotional thought. According to Kant, the riddance of this conscience is what enables Hyde to commit such atrocities, as he cannot comprehend the fundamental wrongness of his actions. This idea is explored further when Stevenson writes: “These two base passions raged within him like a tempest”. The “two base passions” Jekyll refers to in this quote are that of fear and anger, the primary motives of Hyde in his heinous doings. These emotions can be classified under what Kant would call our irrational impulses; existing as the lowest form of thinking and having no grounds to act morally. Stevenson uses the simile of a “tempest” to further illustrate the hysterical state of mind Hyde experiences due to his lack of reason. The “two base passions” could also be read as an allusion to Plato’s metaphor of the chariot, comparing Hyde to the black horse who has been freed from the reigns of the charioteer. Plato had a large influence on Kant’s theories, especially those of reason, which are embedded into Stevenson’s novella.
Symbolism and allusion have been manipulated in Stevenson’s novella in order to explore ideas of Darwinian evolution and Christianity. In 1873, 13 years before the publication of the novella, it was made public that Stevenson had lost the Christian faith that he was brought up in. This was not an uncommon occurrence, as secularization in Britain was an increasing trend that has continued to this day. Such a process was set off by the increase in publications of scientific papers that contradicted the ideas of the church, including those of Charles Darwin, who’s theory of evolution was greatly influential throughout the Victorian era. His theories are alluded to in the text through the construction of Hyde as a symbol of our lingering evolutionary past, seen in the quote: “with ape-like fury he was trampling his victim under foot” Here Hyde is characterized as an animalistic being, not only in appearance, but in mind as well, as his motivations for the murder were no more complex than a burst of “ape-like fury”. Through this sub-human description of Hyde, he becomes a symbol for the remnants of our evolutionary ancestry, hidden deep within every human being, as he is within Dr Jekyll. In doing this Stevenson also participates in the gothic trope of dissolving conceptual boundaries with the corrosion of the preconceived human-animal dichotomy. This is further explored in the quote: “the animal within me licking the chops of memory”, here, in Jekyll’s full statement of the case, he refers to Hyde as an animal that hides within him, representing his primitive and irrational thoughts. Through this presentation of the mind of Jekyll, Stevenson confronts the audience with the idea that they too may have an animal within them, further blurring their distinction between human and animal, and alluding to the theory of evolution. Further atheist sentiments can be read in the text including in the expression “empty as a church”, casually uttered by Mr Enfield at the start of the story but can be seen as a play-on-words in order to allude to the idea of the increasing secularization in Victorian London. It could also symbolise Stevenson’s personal distaste for the church stating that it is “empty” of moral value or truth.
In The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, symbolism, imagery, and allusion have been employed in order to explore Darwinian and Kantian ideas regarding human nature. The dual nature of the mind is an idea explored in a Darwinian context and is also utilised to allude to Kantian morality. The author also expresses atheist ideas through an endorsement of the theory of evolution and a subsequent critique of Christianity. Stevenson leaves readers in a state of chilling introspection, causing them to question their most basic assumptions about themselves and the people around them.
