Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

”My two natures had memory in common, but all other faculties were most unequally shared between them.

Edward Hyde.įurthermore, his creation has no loyalty. He relishes the adventures of his other persona even as he feels the mounting horror of losing control of this other self he calls Mr. This walk on the wild side also allowed them the privilege of feeling completely superior to all those beings providing their means of entertainment. The thunder of the church and the faces of their sweet families made them feel guilty for their need to drink gin in decrepit pubs, smoke opiates in dens of inequity, consort with underage whores, and run the very real risk of being robbed by cutthroats.

They were struggling with the dual natures of their existences. They could be as naughty as they wanted and safely leave their depravity on that side of town before they return to the respectable bosom of their family and careers. Many men of means living in London now found themselves hearing the siren song of pleasures available on the East End. The Victorian society was struggling with the morality that had been imposed upon them by the previous generation. The timing was perfect for releasing such a tale. The American first edition is the true first edition because it preceded the London edition by three days This book was released in 1886 and at first none of the bookshop wanted to carry the book because of the subject matter, but a positive review had people flocking to the stores to read this sinister tale of hubris overcoming reason. He has unleashed a power from within that is turning out to be too formidable to be properly contained. Henry Jekyll is a brilliant man who in the course of trying to understand the human psyche has turned himself, with tragic results, into a guinea pig for his experiments. The stage adaptation opened in London in 1887, a year after the publication of the novella. Richard Mansfield was mostly known for his dual role depicted in this double exposure. And yet when I looked upon that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no repugnance rather of a leap of welcome. Evil besides (which I must still believe to be the lethal side of man) had left on that body an imprint of deformity and decay. Even as good shone upon the countenance of the one, evil was written broadly and plainly on the face of the other. ”It came about that Edward Hyde was so much smaller, slighter, and younger than Henry Jekyll.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson