Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has been a fast and relatively easy read so far. The descriptions of characters continues to become more rich as we read books that are more recent in age. In addition, speakers have separate paragraphs, which was not seen in Northanger Abbey or Romance of the Forest. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde reminds me of a traditional Gothic novel, with a spooky setting and supernatural elements. Robert Louis Stevenson sets London as a very dark, creepy, and dangerous place. It seems that the characters are in the upper-crust of society, as Dr. Jekyll has two houses and very nice paintings in his house. Mr. Utterson also seems to be quite wealthy and very curious about Dr. Jekyll and his behavior. Mr. Hyde is described similarly by all characters as, "dwarfish and an impression of deformity without nameable malformation" and has an "unknown disgust and loathing" (Stevenson 73). Throughout the novel, Stevenson plays on this duality of nature, the good and the evil, the beautiful and the horrific, and the calm and salvage, by showing the two sides of Dr. Jekyll and his counter self Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde is brutal, ugly, horrific and has no sense of right and wrong, as he trampled over a child and beat a man to death in the street.
It is interesting to note that there have been no mention of women, which is a common theme in Stevenson novels. Also, there seems to be no hero, more of just a man who is torn between two people, that up to this point he can't control when and where it happens. One motif that has been recurring is violence against the innocent, as the child is trampled and the man is cruelly beat to death. Mr. Lanyon dies from something that has happened to him regarding Mr. Hyde. I am excited to finish the novel and see what happens, and I am hoping for a happy ending.
A clip from the 1912 movie of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde:
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