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In this essay, I plan to write about the interesting theme of duality and the function of binary
oppositions in Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde
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This essay intends to argue using the examples of Good and Evil, Fiction and Reality,
and the Rich versus the Poor, in order to show how the various intrinsic and extrinsic readings of
the novella add detail to the storyline and the reader’s understanding of the plot line
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I will support this argument with close readings
from the text as well as the use of academic critical sources
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The first binary opposition that this essay will explore is that of Good and Evil
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This is touched
upon by the characters of Utterson and Enfield as they take a walk at the beginning of the novella,
when Utterson asks Enfield to describe Edward Hyde, and Enfield replies:
He’s an extraordinary-looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way
(Stevenson 1886, p
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One of the
terrifying aspects of the man, particularly for Utterson and Enfield, is that they are not even sure
why they are uncomfortable at the thought of him, and it is this unknown that truly makes Edward
Hyde the evil of the book
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Following the
revelation that Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are linked, Utterson reads a letter left by Dr Jekyll, as
denouement to the story
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62)
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Jekyll is
a well respected character, a doctor who appears sociable with many friends
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14)
on discovering that Jekyll does have some association with Hyde
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For example,
Hyde is said to have ‘black secrets’ (Stevenson 1886, p
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Stevenson’s use of light and dark
symbolises the good and evil of Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde, using the stereotypical connotation that
light equals good and dark equals evil, he ensures these two characters perform within their
respective areas, for example Mr Hyde is often seen at night, or in darkened alleyways and door
frames
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Another theme of binary oppositions present in the text that can be discussed is the integration of
fiction and reality
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Stevenson utilises the character
Jekyll’s potion to separate out the different sides that each human being, either fictional or real, can
have
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59)
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59)
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In Anne Stiles’ article, Robert Louis
Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde and the double brain, she comments that;
[Jekyll
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(Stiles 2006, p
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Dr Jekyll’s ability to completely transform
himself into another person is the perfect analogy for the different personalities that can exist within
a person, and Jekyll’s creation of his evil persona, Mr Hyde, takes this concept of the double and
makes it reality
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These binary oppositions are something that can be examined through a historical, extrinsic reading
of the text
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Following the publication of The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and
Mr Hyde in 1886, Victorian London was traumatised by the realisation of Jack the Ripper, a serial
killer that drew many parallels to Stevenson’s book
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This culture was
both shocked and scandalised by this thought
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This allows
calm to be restored to the readers of The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde as the novella
may be read like crime fiction
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” (Sandison
1996, p
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The
duality of man, the realisation that there are not clearly defined good men or bad men in society,
leaves the reader asking questions such as ‘what is evil?’ and ‘what does it mean to be evil?’ This is
portrayed by Utterson and Enfield’s inability to place why Edward Hyde makes them
uncomfortable, they just are
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Using a more extrinsic reading of the text it would be possible to suggest that Robert Louis
Stevenson adds other binary oppositions to the storyline of The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and
Mr Hyde, for example the differences in class, and the opposition of Rich and Poor
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Jekyll is a doctor, and as
stated in his final confession, born into a ‘large fortune’ (Stevenson 1886, p
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This character is
the representation of the rich and privileged side to Victorian society
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This is shown through his possession
of an apartment in Soho, an area of London with a bad reputation for prostitutes
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46)
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But to close
read this scenario with an extrinsic view, it could be suggested that Hyde’s clothes did not fit him
because he himself could not fit into the society that Dr Jekyll was a part of, even if he dressed
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himself up to be
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This difference of class between Jekyll and Hyde supports the binary opposition of Fiction and
Reality in the novella
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This society ensured that the people in it did not express emotion of any
kind, and could not find pleasure in their day-to-day actions
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It is also said that
although he enjoyed the theatre, had not crossed the doors of one for twenty years
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1)
It is Victorian culture to display this level of self-control
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This way of living is the character Jekyll’s reality, but it is something that he
wishes to break away from
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Dr Jekyll remarks
himself that;
I found it hard to … wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the public
(Stevenson 1886, p
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In conclusion, this essay has discussed the themes of duality and the function of binary oppositions
in Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
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Having examined the states of Good and Evil, Fiction and Reality, and Rich and Poor, it is possible
to show how this duality adds significant detail to the reader’s understanding of the plot
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It can be said that The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
questions boundaries, especially in the Victorian era, by questioning taboo subjects such as pleasure
and the unearthing of a subconscious in its characters
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It can
finally be concluded that Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde can be read
from a number of different points of view
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London: Penguin Books
Stiles, A 2006
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Studies in English
Literature 1500-1900 46(4), p
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Sandison, A 1996 Robert Louis Stevenson and the Appearance of Modernism ed

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