Robert Louis Stevenson had first read a paper in a French scientific journal about sub-consciousness, and this is believed to be the first source of where he got his inspiration to write Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He then co-wrote a play about a town councilor who became a secret criminal at nighttime. This led to his famous novella. What is interesting is that Robert Louis Stevenson claims he had actually never heard of a case of a person with multiple personalities before writing his book. This information seems untruthful. There have been several case studies about people with multiple personalities, including a soldier who established two different personalities after his left cerebral hemisphere was impaired by a gunshot wound. The theory of the double brain is the concept that is portrayed throughout Jekyll and Hyde and is most likely the main scientific component for Stevenson’s inspiration. Multiple personalities were only a concept of discussion in the time that Robertson wrote his novella, not a clinical problem yet.

TWO BRAINS?

The dual brain theory was discussed throughout the nineteenth century postulated that there are actually two independent brains that function in different ways. The left hemisphere was associated with masculinity, reason and linguistic ability while the right brain was considered the feminine aspect of emotions, instincts, and the unconscious. Hyde resembles the right part of the brain: madness, emotion, femininity, and animalistic. Victorian scientists often argue that dual or multiple personality disorders, or other forms of insanity, resulted from an over-enlarged right brain overpowering the rational activities of the left-brain. The right hemisphere only dominated the brains of women, savages, children, criminals and the insane. Jekyll and Hyde creates the idea that the brain sometimes doesn’t only have one dominant side. In this case, Jekyll uses much of his left hemisphere and then changes to the right hemisphere dramatically, which creates asymmetry that indicates corruption and mental illness.

Since the dual-brain theory suggests that two brains work individually for balance, this questions whether people were not simply whole beings, but balancing pieces between two opposing natures in a being.

“…even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both;”

But if the mind during this era was understood at the time to be a balance between both rational and irrational, what was Stevenson’s view on Dr. Jekyll? It’s possibly a very severe imbalance with the “two brains”. There is a clear distinction of appearance and actions between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The link between the explanation of mental disorder in the Victorian Era and the dissimilarity between Jekyll and Hyde’s identities is apparent.

Stiles talks about two patients in specific that have dual or multiple personality disorder, Félida X. and Segeant F. Félida X. is compared to Jekyll in her “young, light and happy” personality. A similarity between Jekyll and the two patients is the way their personalities transform. Félida X. experiences sharp pains and becomes unconscious before she turns to another state. Sergeant F. experiences uneasiness and a dull pain in the head. As Jekyll takes the powder and transforms into Hyde, his symptoms are as said in the novella:

“a qualm…a horrid nausea and the most deadly shuddering. These passed away, and left me faint”.

Sergeant F.’s second personality resembles Hyde because he has animalistic, abnormal qualities. Stevenson decides not to use a woman as the protagonist because it makes the story more edgy. Hyde is a violent, sexual predator, rather than a weak, fallen woman.

There are fascinating connections between the fictional Jekyll and Hyde and Proctor’s scientific case studies. Stevenson also purposely makes a male protagonist to create an irony, because apparently in the middle of the nineteenth century, a majority of psychiatric patients in asylums were women. This was a century where the “madness” or “crazy” side of the brain was feminine, and the side of the brain that had reason and understanding was considered masculine. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde can be read as a critique of some of the nineteenth century’s most respected assumptions about the diagnosis and grouping of medical subjects.

STRANGE CASES

When reading the title The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the words “strange case” gives the audience an impression that what they are reading is a scientific case study. Jekyll and Hyde is considered a Gothic case study. An analyst suggests that Gothic “horror fiction has a generic obligation to evoke fear or suggest mystery,” whereas “science… attempts to contain fear and offer a rational explanation for all phenomena.” Stiles briefly compares Jekyll and Hyde to a few other gothic writes, including Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I have found that there are actually a few similarities between Frankenstein and Jekyll and Hyde. As an addition to their gothic themes, the stories are essentially quite similar in themselves when you think about it. Both main characters are scientists who have a thirst for knowledge and are willing to exceed human limitations. While both Frankenstein and Jekyll had strong curiosity, their initial reactions to their discoveries were different. Frankenstein’s reaction was the abandonment and disgust of the creature he produced, and Jekyll was so intrigued with his potion that he had to see how far he could take this experiment. Both stories ended in many deaths and the inevitable destruction of the protagonists.

“WHICH BRAIN ARE YOU?’

Reading this article shows me a better understanding of the scientific theories back then. I can see how sexism did play a big role. Women were known to be empathetic while men were known to be analytical. Today, there are still theories out there that the two sides of the brain work differently, although gender isn’t really involved. Now, people would just wonder what type of person they are according to which side of the brain they use dominantly. Have you ever heard that left-brained people are more logical and analytical while right-brained people are creative and artistic? Even I am guilty of taking an online quiz on Buzzfeed or some other social media website to discover if I am “right-brained” or “left-brained”. While the two sides of the brain do work differently in some ways, research now would say that someone’s personality doesn’t depend on the functions of the two sides of the brain. All humans use their entire brain equally.

 

Discussion Questions:

Do you think the novella suffers without any female characters? What would be different about a female protagonist?

What are your thoughts on the dual-brain theory in the Victorian Era, compared to theories about the brain today?

After learning about the dual-brain theory, do you see a different meaning in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Why or why not?

 

Sources

“Why the Left-Brain Right-Brain Myth Will Probably Never Die.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-myths/201206/why-the-left-brain-right-brain-myth-will-probably-never-die.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Wanjek, Christopher. “Left Brain vs. Right: It’s a Myth, Research Finds.” LiveScience, Purch, 3 Sept. 2013, www.livescience.com/39373-left-brain-right-brain-myth.html.

 

A PHENOMENON OF STYLE

In the essay “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Vladimir Nabokov critiques and analyzes the novel “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” written by Robert Louis Stevenson. The essay begins with Nabokov’s demand for people to abandon any preconceived, superficial understanding of Jekyll and Hyde they may have in order to appreciate the artistry that is illustrated in the novel. Nabokov argues that Jekyll and Hyde is more than the “bogey story” Stevenson exclaimed it be and it fails as the detective novel that some consider it. He emphasized instead that Stevenson’s writing of Jekyll and Hyde was “its own special enchantment if we regard it as a phenomenon of style.” Nabokov reinforces his claim by explaining the writing style of Jekyll and Hyde as closer to poetry than to fiction which is rare for a horror story written in the Victorian Era. He insists that the artistry of Stevenson’s writing distinguished Jekyll and Hyde from other Victorian literature without necessarily meaning to. To support this, he includes a quote expressing that Stevenson’s artistic purpose of Jekyll and Hyde was (to make) “a fantastic drama pass in the presence of plain and sensible men.” This quote refers to the plain and sensible people of the Victorian period. Nabokov asserts that Stevenson had to rely heavily on style to overcome the problems that may have been encountered when writing the story.

The Victorian Era attributed to the difficulties Nabokov claims Stevenson had to master to make the story realistic. These problems included making a magic potion plausible and making Jekyll’s evil a believable evil before and after his transformation. Nabokov notes that Stevenson efficiently attempted to conquer these difficulties by having two, ordinary but intelligent individuals such as Utterson and Enfield narrate the story before revealing Dr. Jekyll’s point of view. Establishing two logical observations of “Hyde” solidified the reality of a human monster. Nabokov also discussed how Stevenson setting the story in London and regularly referencing common characteristics of the city constructed a plausible environment for the fictional story to take place. Nabokov claims that the stable narration and relatable setting influenced how the story was to be interpreted as realistically frightening rather than mythical.

Nabokov states:

            “The question that must be asked of the work is whether Utterson and the fog and the cabs and the     pale butler are more ‘real’ than the weird experiments and unmentionable adventures of Jekyll and Hyde.”

Nabokov confidently obliterated three popular inclinations of Jekyll and Hyde. First, Nabokov believed that Dr. Jekyll as himself was not entirely good-but actually a mixture of both good and evil. Next, he states that when Jekyll consumes the potion, he does not transform into Hyde but instead Hyde emerges from Jekyll like a parasite that lives within him. Nabokov explains that this reference manifests in the physical size of Hyde being smaller than Jekyll, showing that the evil that makes up Hyde is smaller than the greater good of Jekyll. Nabokov concludes that there is a three-personality theory of Jekyll and Hyde which demonstrates how Stevenson made Jekyll’s evil apparent before and after his transformation. The three personalities of Jekyll included Jekyll, Hyde and the residue of Jekyll that exists when Hyde is active.

VICTORIAN ERA INFLUENCE

Nabokov discussed the effect that the Victorian Era had on the foundation of the story. He contemplates Stevenson refraining from describing Jekyll’s hidden desires in the first part of the book and referring to Jekyll’s home as “Black Mail House.” He questions what Stevenson’s writing would’ve included if he went further than the era allowed. Nabokov agreed with other critics such as Stephen Gwynn who also considered the Victorian Era responsible for several reasons why the story was written the way it was.

Nabokov quotes Gwynn:

               “Working as he did under Victorian restrictions,’ and not wishing to bring colours into the story alien to its monkish pattern, consciously refrained from placing a painted feminine mask upon the secret pleasures in which Jekyll indulged.”

It is beneficial to understand the climate that the story of Jekyll and Hyde was written in as the story emerges in 1885, almost directly in the middle of the Victorian Era of the United Kingdom. The Victorian Era lasted around 65 years and the society was known for having strict morals regarding family, education and work ethic. The Victorian Era had a Code of Conduct which guided principles and expectations. This code reflected in the literature resulting to include traces of romanticism combined with themes of realism and hard work. This suggests that a code of conduct existing in the time and place of Dr. Jekyll may not have been a coincidence but actually inspiration. For instance, Stevenson chose for Jekyll to specifically live in SoHo, London which was known as one of the worst parts of London in the Victorian Era. A doctor living in such a grim environment generated the foundation of good verse evil that is the essence of the story.

It can’t be said for sure if a code of conduct is what inspired Stevenson but it cannot be ignored as corrupt morals seem to encourage Jekyll to create Hyde. Dr. Jekyll feels the pressure of Victorian society to behave appropriately which weighs him down. From this pressure, emerges Hyde, who allows Jekyll to blow of stem. Hyde encompasses taboo ideations of someone living in Victorian society. The story of an honorable man exerting evil impulses was captivating in a period where society was expected to behave graciously.

CREATING A MONSTER WITH STYLE

In questioning where Stevenson’s writing would have gone if it weren’t for the Victorian Era, Nabokov compares him to other Victorians such as Tolstoy, who he also believes did not go far in pushing the limits of their work. What Nabokov does not do, is compare Stevenson’s style of writing to similar literature from other eras. One obviously similar piece being “Frankenstein” which was written 70 years prior in the Regency Era by Mary Shelley. Two similar and extremely famous storylines written in two different eras is intriguing, but what is more intriguing is the stark difference in the portrayal of the two stories which Nabokov was reluctant to emphasize when analyzing the reason for Stevenson’s style of narration.

The style of narration could be considered one of the biggest differences in the two stories. Jekyll and Hyde was narrated by unbiased sources for a large portion of the book while Frankenstein was narrated by Victor, the creature’s creator for a large part. Although the narration differs, the most trusted narrator in each story is portrayed almost the same. In Jekyll and Hyde, Stevenson takes the time to describe Utterson as “tolerant” and “inclined to help rather than to prove.” This establishes a liking for Utterson and a sense of trust in his opinion. In Frankenstein, Shelley had Robert Walton’s letters narrate the beginning and end of the story. Walton contrasted the un-stability present in Victor, giving the audience a more trustworthy character to depict the events. Both, Shelley and Stevenson took their respective audience into account when choosing how to present their stories. Nabokov brought up that Stevenson was concerned about what leaves a lasting impression on an audience, and I wonder if he took note from the impact of Frankenstein. Two prominent stories written in different eras establishes the notion that as much as humans and art progress over time, the themes that stimulate society remain consistent.

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde shows that transformation of literature may have more to do with the evolution of the audience than the art. This is where Nabokov failed to give Stevenson enough credit for creating a conflicting story in the Victorian period. Such a storyline was risky and could have been ridiculed and deemed outlandish or too racy. However, the wide acceptance of Stevenson’s chosen portrayal of Jekyll and Hyde proved that even pretentious Victorians entertained the frightening idea that they too have the power to become pure evil.

Questions:

1. Is Dr. Jekyll a good man?
2. If Jekyll and Hyde were written today, would it be as famous as it was in 1885?
3. Does the style of narration effect how the story is interpreted?

Works Cited-

-Stevenson, Robert Louis, and Katherine Linehan. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: an

                 Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Performance Adaptations,   Criticism. Norton, 2003.

– Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Aerie Books Ltd.

-“Victorian Era Code of Conduct.” Victorian Era Life in England. Victorians Society & Daily Life 

                www.victorian-era.org/victorian-era-code-of-conduct.html.