Áine McCarthy 10M
How a Victorian audience might have reacted to Stevenson’s
‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’?

In this essay I will be looking at how might a Victorian audience have reacted to Stevenson’s ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In general this novella was well received and popular as it sold 40’000 copies in just six months. This shows how the Victorian audience reacted well and found the book an interesting and intriguing read. As well as looking at the reactions on the whole, I will be looking at different aspects of the book; themes, narrative method, setting, genre and the readers’ reactions.

Themes
Many themes are explored in this novella such as; you can never trust appearances; hypocrisy – if we repress our darker side it will become stronger and exploring human nature – perhaps ‘evil’ is part of us all (the divided self). The idea of evil in us all was very shocking for the Victorian audience as the stereotypical class system showed that the rich, upper class citizens were respectable and good hearted whereas the poor, lower class were thought to be dirty and up to no good. Although the class system was good and gave everyone his or her place in society, it was not perfect as Mr Hyde, in ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, appeared upper class but had the evil desires of a lower class man. At the time it was thought that only the lower class were capable of having evil in them and definitely not the upper class. These theory’s startled upper and middle class alike and although they were rather shocking they were found interesting and intriguing, and the book was extremely popular – selling forty thousand copies in six months, with both the Prime Minister and Queen Victoria reading it.
The ideas of evil in us all which Stevenson explores are particularly strong in Jekyll. This is shown when Jekyll is walking through Regent’s Park and he experiences Hyde taking over - “And at the very moment of that vainglorious thought, a qualm came over me, a horrid nausea and the most deadly shuddering. These passed away, and left me faint, and then as in its turn the faintness subsided, I began to be aware of a change in the temper of my thoughts, a greater boldness. A contempt of danger, a solution of the bonds of obligation I looked down; my clothes hung formlessly on my shrunken limbs; the hand that lay on my knee was corded and hairy. I was once more Edward Hyde”. Not only does this extract explore human nature but it also shows how, as Jekyll repress’ Hyde he becomes stronger and takes over Jekyll’s body without having to use the drugs. This fascinated the naïve Victorian audience, who at the time had a very primitive understanding of how the human brain functions.


Narrative Method
In ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ many narrative methods are used and it is told from several perspectives, one being from the position of Mr Utterson – Jekyll’s lawyer and dear friend – this is the story being told by an anonymous narrator but only letting us know what Utterson knows, so although it is not Utterson telling the story we are put in the same situation as him. This works really well as it keeps all the secrets unknown by the Victorian audience right up until the last few chapters, and makes the story slowly and mysteriously unravel. Chapter 9 is told from the perspective of Dr Lanyon (chapter titled ‘Dr Lanyon’s Narrative’) this is the letter from Lanyon to Utterson explaining to him what he knows about Jekyll’s secrets and an enclosed letter from Jekyll to Lanyon asking him to get his drugs for him from his cabinet. The narrative method used in this chapter and chapter 10 is that they are presented as revelatory chapters – presented as ‘real’ documents. This had an astonishing effect on the Victorian audience as everything they had believed about the characters up until this point was all being prove

[PREPPY]
[x] You spend half an hour doing your hair.
[x] You go tanning/lay out
[x] You watch The OC and/or Laguna Beach.
[x] You own something designer.
[x] You love going shopping.
[] You like Paris Hilton (you could say that )
[x] You take your cellphone everywhere.
[x] You own an iPod and/or an MP3 player.
[x] You love Starbucks.
[x] You love flip flops.
Total x's=9


[GOTH]
[] Red or black is your favorite color.
[]You have thought about death.
[] You wear chains.
[] You like heavy metal.
[] You love Hot Topic.
[] You have worn black lipstick.
[] Your hair is dark.
[] You dislike preps.
[] You're an atheist.
[] You have/want piercings in unusual places? (Eyebrow, nose, lip, tongue, bellybutton, etc.)
Total x's=0

[PUNK/SKATERBOARDER]
[] You Skateboard.
[]You wear plaid.
[x] You like Converse.
[x] You think you're different.
[] You hate MTV.
[] You like to mosh.
[] You have had/want blue, purple, or green hair.
[x] You love skater boys/girls.
[]You hate pink.
[] You hate rich kids.
Total x's=3

[NERD/LOSER]
[x] You like computers.
[] You like Star Trek.
[] You wear glasses.
[] You get straight A's.
[] You love reading.
[] You have a curfew.
[]You always do your homework.
[]You never cut school
Total x's=1

[EMO]
[] You're depressed.
[] You have black-rimmed glasses.
[] You like Thursday.
[] You comb your hair in front of your face.
[]You cry easily.
[] You hate being called emo.
[] You keep a journal/diary.
[] You have written a sad poem.
Total x's=0

[Chav]
[] Wear baggy jeans.
[] Wear lots of gold and stuff like that.
[] Hair in a side style.
[] Say's "wat ever,anit it"
[] Like R'n'b
[] Loves myself
[] Hopes u have friends
Total x's=0

[SCENE/HARDCORE]
[] You wear a bandana.
[] You love Pokemon, the Ninja Turtles, etc. pokemon!!!!!! yh rok on...
[] You never walk anywhere.
[] You wear slip-on Vans.
[] You love Norma Jean.
[] You wear band tees.
[] You love to "hardcore" dance.
[x] Your hair has been dyed in more than one color.
[x] You will kill if called a goth.
Total x's=2

Now It's Your Turn...

1. Full name: Aine Jane McCarthy
2. Nickname: Jack
3. Birthday: 2nd of June
4. Zodiac Sign: Gemini
5. Male or Female: Female
6. Grade: YR 10
7. School: St. Gregorys
8. Occupation: Student
9. Residence: My Amazing House!
10. Msn screen name: Aine

__Your Appearance___
11. Hair Color: Brown
12. Hair Length: Medium
13. Eye color: Blue
14. Height: Medium
15. Braces?: Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
16. Glasses?: Nope
17. Piercings: Ears
18. Tattoos: Nope
19. Righty or Lefty: Righty!

___Your 'Firsts'___
20. First Best Friend: I Think It Was Bethany...?
21. First Award: God Knows
22. First Sport You Joined: Football
23. First pet: Dog
24. First Real Vacation: Ireland (2 Weeks Old) Medira (6 Months Old)
25. First Concert: Greenday...
26. First Love:.... I'd Rather Not Say

___ Favorites___
27. Movie: White Chicks/ The Devil Wears Prada!
28. TV programme: Friends
29. Color: Scarlet
30. Rapper: None Of Them...
31. Band: Scouting For Girls
32. Song Right Now: The Whistler
33. Friends: All of them
34. Sweet: Gummy Bears!
35. Sport to Play: Hockey
36. Restuarant: Cafe Rouge
37. Brand: Jack Wills
38. Outfit: Sweats And A Hoodie!!!
39. School Subject: PE
40. Animal: Kitten
41. Book: All Of The Alex Rider Books..
42. Magazine: Grazia, Cosmo and Harpers Bazaar
43. Shoes: New Uggs!

___Currently__
44. Feeling: Tired
44. Single or Taken?: Single
46. Have a crush: Yeah
47. Eating: Special K Bar
48. Drinking: Inocent Smoothie
49. Typing: On Bebo!
50. Online?: Yep
51. Listening To: Heater
52. Thinking About: English Coursework! ...Fun!
53. Waiting for: The Weekend - I'm Going To London To See Hairspray!
54. Watching: F.R.I.E.N.D.S
55. Wearing: Jack Wills Sweatpants, Abercrombie Vest And Jack Wills Hoodie!

__Your Future___
56. Want Kids?: Yes, 5
57. Want to be Married?: Yes
58. Careers in Mind: Property Development/Excecutive
59. Where do you want to live: Here, In Bath
60. Car: Mercedes CLK


__Which is Better With The Opposite Sex___
61. Hair color: Brown
62. Hair length: Short
63. Eye color: Dont mind
64. Measurments: Taller than me
65. Cute or Sexy: Can I Say Both?
66: Eyes or Lips: Eyes
67. Hugs or Kisses: Hugs
68. Short or Tall: Tall
69. Easygoing or Serious: Easy going
70. Romantic or Spontaneous: Spontaneous
71. Fatty or Skinny: Skinny
72. Sensitive or Loud: A Bit Of Both
73. Hook-up or Relationship: Relationship
74. Sweet or Caring: Both
75. Trouble Maker or Hesitant One: Trouble maker

__Have you ever______
76. Kissed a Stranger: No
77. Had Alcohol: Once or Twice maybe Three times... I dunno...
78. Smoked: Ewww No
79. Ran Away From Home: No
80. Broken a bone: Yea My Wrist When I Was Snowboarding!
81. Got an X-ray: Yea
82. Been with someone: If You Mean Been In A Relationship Then Yeah
83. Broken Someones Heart: Possibly..
84. Broke Up With Someone: Yea
85. Cried When Someone Died: Nobody close to me has died... so no
86. Cried At School: Yea

___Do You Believe In___
87. God: Well I Go To A Catholic School So I Guess I Should...
88. Miracles: No
89. Love At First sight: Yeh
90. Ghosts: No
91. Aliens: No
92. Soul Mates: Yeh
93. Heaven: Yea
94. Hell: No
95. Angels: Yea
96. Kissing on The First Date: It Depends How Hot They Are! lol
97. Horoscopes: No

___Answer Truthfully___
98. Is There Someone You Want But You Know You Can't Have? There Was...