The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde - Beginning of the novella analysis

Stevenson’s novella ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ is a dramatic demonstration of the fundamental truth that human beings are both good and bad; that the primitive is within all of us, no matter how ‘civilised’ we believe ourselves to be. Stevenson uses Jekyll’s transformation into Mr Hyde in order to give this duality a physical from. Jekyll/Hyde’s indulgence in vice and depravity results in him no longer being able to control these changes. His eventual self-destruction demonstrates that the ‘good’ aspect of Jekyll was unable to defeat his depraved id, Hyde, apart from in death.

One of the novellas central themes is the clash between Victorian rationalism and the supernatural and Stevenson uses Utterson as an embodiment of this rationality. Utterson is always trying to find a rational and logical explanation for events happening around him and even purposely dismisses any supernatural possibilities. Also Mr. Enfield who is introduced in the beginning approaches life in a very similar way to Utterson. This first chapter highlights the proper, respectable Victorian attitude via these two characters. Both very reserved, even to the point that they will enjoy a lengthy walk every Sunday without even saying a word to each other. Both of these men share a distaste for gossip and sensational stories and won’t indulge in a catty conversation about people they know, hence they steer away from discussing the matter of Hyde once they realized he is someone Utterson is familiar with. This shows the Victorian value system that privileged reputation over reality. Gossip and rumours are a weapon that in the hands of someone that is listened to, can be lethal. In a society so focused on reputation, blackmail proves a particularly potent force, since those possessing and concerned with good reputation will do anything to preserve them. This can be seen when Hyde tramples the little girl and can be blackmailed to pay the family money. ’No gentleman but wishes to avoid a scene’ When even a ‘monster’ like Hyde can be persuaded by blackmail of tarnishing his reputation, this shows just how important it was to keep a clean record in Victorian times. By starting the novella off with Utterson and Enfield both very rational, respected men, Stevenson proves better able to dramatize the opposition between the rationalism that both men represent and the supernatural aspect and nature of the story. The Victorian hypocrisy and need for respectability is also highlighted by the neighbourhood that Utterson and Enfield walk through. This area isn’t a vastly prosperous or wealthy but it still feels the need to look it and to be outwardly perfect. It is an upcoming neighbourhood but Stevenson suggest that there’s more to its ‘rows of smiling saleswomen’ than what first meets the eye. This again shows just how much effort the Victorians are willing to go through to keep up a façade of respectability. This street also ties in the other central theme of the novella; duality. Stevenson uses the friendship of the cut and dry Utterson and the know man about town Enfield to portray a unexpected liaison of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ of human nature. This is to show the duplicity of life.

Setting in the first chapter is used by Stevenson to create a mysterious atmosphere and to highlight duality in Victorian England. The neighbourhood that Utterson and Enfield walk through is described to have an ‘air of invitation’. It is an up and coming street, which is painted to be perfect and has a feel that something isn’t quite as it seems. All this grooming is veiling ‘it’s more florid charms’. The setting is to show duality straight from the beginning and to bring contrast to the importance of the door. The door that ‘features the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence’, stands out from the rest of the street as being is has a ‘sinister’ feel to it. It shows that whoever occupies the house that this door leads to puts no value on the Victorian ideas of reputation and respectability. This door also shows duality in life, amidst the perfectness there is something seedy and ‘twisted’ just behind the corner. The blank face of the door, without no windows and ‘neither bell nor knocker’, shows a certain want for privacy and suggest that there is something going on inside that they wish to keep from the prying eyes of others.

Stevenson uses characterisation in the beginning to set a base for the rest of the novella. The story begins with the description of Utterson. He is told to be an ‘austere’ person, especially with himself and a bit of a boring character, yet somehow very lovable. The lawyer is trustworthy and a man of his word, he is someone with ‘an approved tolerance for others’ and thus is often ‘the last reputable acquaintance…in the lives of down going men’’ This aspect of his personality suggest not only a sense of charity, but also hints that Utterson is intrigued, in some way, by the darker side if the world –the side that the truly respectable, carefully avoid. This is probably what leads him to investigate the strange case of Mr. Hyde in the first place. Stevenson uses the fact that Utterson is trustworthy as a way to lay down a base for the whole novella, hence it is mostly written from the point of view of Utterson and this way the reader can be sure that the story is true. Also the unlikely relationship between Utterson and Enfield is to emphasise and almost to prove that Utterson is in fact likeable and that people want to spend time with him even if he is ‘a man of rugged countenance’. In the ‘Story of the Door’ Hyde is introduced for the first time as well. Enfield has met Hyde in a horrible way and once he tries to tell Utterson about this person he cannot find the words to do so. “There is something wrong with [Hyde’s] appearance,” Enfield says. “I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point.” In other words, Hyde’s ugliness is not physical but metaphysical; it attaches to his soul more than to his body. Enfield and, later, Utterson, whose minds are not suited to the metaphysical, can sense Hyde’s uncanniness but cannot describe it. Their limited imaginations fail them as they approach the eerie and incomprehensible; as rational clashes with irrational, words aren’t enough to explain.

The beginning of ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ set a tone for the rest of the novella effectively. It brings in the themes of duality and hypocrisy of Victorians right from the start and uses many different ways to show them. It doesn’t tell you much about anything, only bits and pieces of a mystery, but it tells you enough to want to keep reading. Stevenson uses characterisation as a way to make the story deeper and to showcase the different ideals and values of the time period. It is a beginning that creates a sense of mystery and eeriness by detailed setting and atmosphere.