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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Monster vs. Conscience

Among Gothic literature, a constant thematic issue is that of forbidden knowledge. Given
that at the point in history when this type of literature was common there was much doubt
surrounding faith and the question of God, it makes sense that the authors of the time would
explore these doubts in their work. These themes are seen in novels such as Frankenstein by
Mary Shelley and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, but it
can also be seen in the much earlier play The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor
Faustus by Christopher Marlowe which was written during the Renaissance. Stevenson's novel,
however, stands apart from these other two which bare similar themes because it deals more with
the internal thoughts of man rather than that of a malevolent external entity. This paper will argue
that Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde transforms the theme of forbidden knowledge to make
it more human than earlier works of a similar theme. It will explore the theme as Stevenson
presents it and then work to compare it to the other notable works by Shelley and Marlowe.
First, it is necessary to look at the theme of forbidden knowledge as presented by
Stevenson himself. At the opening of the novel, Mr. Utterson is engaged in dialogue with Mr.
Enfield when the latter says, "You start a question, and it's like starting a stone. You sit quietly on
the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting others" (Stevenson). Mr. Enfield is a naturally
curious man, but opts to suppress his curiosity as he believes that it will lead to terrible things.
This is seen in the prior quote as he believes that asking questions leads to a domino effect which
only leads to further questions without end. This is a more classic issue with the theme of
forbidden knowledge because it begs the question of how far is too far. Stevenson moves forward
based upon this classic thematic issue by making Dr. Jekyll loathe the realization that he came to
during his experimentation. During the confession written by Dr. Jekyll, he states:

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With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I
thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to
such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two. (Stevenson)
This emphasis and belief in duality which is reached by Dr. Jekyll adds a depth to issue of
forbidden knowledge that is previously unexplored because the duality comes from within rather
than external force. Thus, Stevenson has turned the typical "good angel versus bad angel"
conflict into an internal battle that is often suppressed. Rather than succumbing to either "angel,"
we deal with our innate desires in a solution that is usually beneficial to us but does not sway
social opinion against us. Stevenson consequently introduced actual psychology in the
Promethean myth. Rather than about playing God, which were earlier themes in Marlowe's and
Shelley's works, this instead deals with the suppression of desires which is faced by all
individuals throughout the world; this has made the characters and the story seem much more
real and all the more frightening. According to an article found online, "Stevenson explores in a
heightened fashion the battles played out in every one of us" (Buzwell). This yearning for the
repressed desires which we hold is a modern forbidden knowledge, akin to the platitude: "the
grass is greener on the other side." The battles played out in us tell us that all our worries will be
sated if we but move over to the things which we have been repressing. Thus, Stevenson was
ahead of his time when he was writing this novel and he added a much more human element to
the idea and search for forbidden knowledge which would not be seen in literature until the more
modern post-modernist movement.
What separates Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from Shelley's Frankenstein and Marlowe's
Doctor Faustus, is that it is much easier to relate to Dr. Jekyll's juxtaposition of forbidden
knowledge and repressed desire than the creation of a mad man's monster or dealing with devils.

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As the University of British Columbia at Vancouver's website states on the subject, "When, in a
flash of horrified recognition, we see ourselves in the alien, the sense of our humanity can even
be called into question" (UBC). This is what makes the idea of forbidden knowledge as presented
by Stevenson even more human. The fact that Dr. Jekyll pursued the repressed knowledge is
what makes his humanity evident, but the fact that he ultimately succumbed to the monster he
created is what calls his humanity into question. Mr. Hyde is clearly a monster and only worth
being called human based on his anatomy. This loss of humanity to satisfy his desires makes Dr.
Jekyll a more realistic and scarier monster because he represents what we could become if we
took a similar path. As opposed to being tempted by demons or creating monsters, to become Mr.
Hyde, an individual must merely repressing the desires they have. In this way, Stevenson has
made Dr. Jekyll a much more realistic character that works more to deal with the issue of
forbidden knowledge on an internal rather than an external scale.
Like Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Shelley's novel also touches on the realization
that humans can be the monsters when Dr. Frankenstein begins to believe that he was wrong in
creating the Creature. According to a paper written by Christine Gamache:
Although Victors sense of guilt originates in feelings of responsibility for creating the
Creature, as he (and the reader) comes to recognize himself in the Creature - - to see the
latter as his double - - Victor starts to view himself as monstrous. (Gamache)
In Shelley's novel, Dr. Frankenstein views himself as a monster because of the monster he
created. He begins to recognize parts of himself inside the monster and relates himself to the
monster. However, the monster still remains inhuman; anatomically it is also inhuman even
though it is sewn together with human parts. Due to the very nature of its creation, the monster
will never be human. This is unlike Mr. Hyde, the monster from Stevenson's novel. Though there

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is something not quite right about his appearance, the general consensus amongst supporting
characters is that he is indeed human. When Mr. Utterson is describing Mr. Hyde's appearance,
he states, "God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say?"
(Stevenson). Though he may be described as "hardly human," he is still described as human just
a rather ugly human. On the contrary, Frankenstein's monster is described as a collection of
human parts but never truly human. Mr. Hyde represents the ugliness that can be seen amongst
men who give into their most carnal desires. He's never truly described physically, but appears
more to be a disfigured mind and a disfigured soul. Instead of being a conventional "monster," he
is the monster within humanity that can truly take over anyone. In this respect, Stevenson created
a more human and relatable conclusion to the quest for forbidden knowledge than any writer had
before him.
All in all, Stevenson did a wonderful job at portraying forbidden knowledge in a more
human light than any author before him. What makes the character of Mr. Hyde so terrifying is
that his transformation morally from Dr. Jekyll is possible for any man who gives too much into
their carnal pleasures. He is not simply a monster created by a mad man or a devil who can be
fought off with God, he is the monster inside our head that is waiting for the right trigger and
perfect time to be released. The biggest and most fearful thing about the duality of Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde is that the monster is someone human and could be buried deep within any normal
person's mind and innermost feelings. Thus, Stevenson toyed with the darker parts of the human
psyche and thus wrote a literary classic that has proven to stand the test of time.

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Works Cited
Buzwell, Greg. "Man Is Not Truly One, but Truly Two: Duality in Robert Louis Stevensons
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - See More At: Http://www.bl.uk/romantics-andvictorians/articles/duality-in-robert-louis-stevensons-strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mrhyde#sthash.eUmOC4b3.dpuf." British Library. British Library, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bl.uk%2Fromantics-and-victorians%2Farticles%2Fduality-inrobert-louis-stevensons-strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde>.
Gamache, Christine M. "An Opposing Self: Doppelgangers in Frankenstein,." Rhode Island
College, 2012. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1

<http%3A%2F%2Fdigitalcommons.ric.edu%2Fcgi
058%26context%3Detd>.

"Monster In The Mirror." ArtsONE. University of British Columbia, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. <
http://artsone.arts.ubc.ca/program/archived-themes/monster-in-the-mirror/>.
Stevenson, Robert L. "THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE."
Gutenberg.org. Gutenberg.org, 25 June 2008. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43/43-h/43-h.htm>.