The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)
Laura’s Rating: 4/5 Stars
I’ve been on a kick reading some classic novels lately and trying to really appreciate the layers of meaning and commentary within them.
The Analysis:
Legal solicitor John Utterson decides to investigate some upsetting stories he’s heard about interactions involving his friend and client Dr. Henry Jekyll, and a loathsome criminal known as Edward Hyde.
This book contains possibly one of the best plot twists of all time, if it wasn’t almost universally known and therefore spoiled for most people before they read the book. Despite this, you have to remember that readers of the time had no idea about the dual nature of the characters, making the twist quite shocking. I do find it impressive that the story has so permeated society and popular culture that many people know and reference the story without having read the text.
In the story, Mr. Hyde is the true personification of evil. As the book says, people have a visceral reaction to Hyde, likely because “all human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.”
I do love some duality of man themes in literature and that is the focus of this story. Stevenson examines the concept that man contains both good and evil, “that man is not truly one, but truly two.” It’s up to the reader to decide whether good or evil is the true nature of man, or if we all contain some mix of the two.
Along the same lines, there is interesting commentary on British society of the time. The story highlights how reputation is of the utmost importance in society, yet sinister deeds occur in London just below the surface. You’d expect this story to be written with more descriptive and mysterious language, reflecting the strange and otherworldly events of the novel, yet it’s written in a very matter of fact style. This orderly appearance juxtaposes the rational thought and logic common in Victorian England with the true darker reality.
I really enjoyed this book and I’d recommend it for fans of scifi, thrillers, and Sherlock Holmes style books.
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