His Friend's Strange Preference

“'He must be deformed somewhere'” (5).
Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)

Points for Reflection

Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), 1-26

1. does this book interrogate, or reinforce, physiognomic notions that assume appearance positively correlates with moral character?
2. why does Richard Enfield prove unwilling to probe further the mystery behind the dark door into which Hyde disappeared to get a check for the family of his young victim?
3. Mr. Utterson utters some words in social situations, but inclines towards reticence.  The narrator also explains that the lawyer, though practiced at self-mortification, is non-judgmental of others.  Would it be accurate to call him apathetic about others’ well-being?  Does he actually do what he says, letting his acquaintance “‘go to the devil in his own way’” (1)?
4. is Mr. Hyde’s violent act towards the young girl enough to explain others’ loathing of him?
5. does this novel implicitly bolster or critique those traditional Christian principles to which it gives airtime?  Track each mention of religious concepts including: church, Satan, God, and sin.
6. friends repeatedly wonder whether Dr. Jekyll is “mad,” or mentally imbalanced, and Mr. Hyde receives similar labels.  Does the tale’s first half contain any evidence that supports either conclusion?
7. are there, in Dr. Jekyll’s past or present, any clues of character that would help explain the dangerous experiment he secretly attempts?
8. does Dr. Jekyll drop any hints as to what’s really going on?
9. in what ways does Dr. Jekyll alter his behavior after telling Utterson he will have no more to do with Mr. Hyde?
10. does Mr. Utterson’s active imagination help ease his concerns about Dr. Jekyll, either waking or sleeping?
11. what information does Mr. Utterson fear Mr. Hyde will learn about, and act upon?
12. after thinking upon his own sins of the distant past, does Mr. Utterson emerge confident and energized?
13. is Mr. Utterson demonstrably particular in his selection of friends?
14. why does Mr. Utterson refuse to write out Dr. Jekyll’s will himself—something he would normally do for a client?
15. why does Dr. Lanyon no longer hang out with Henry Jekyll very often?
16. as with other gothic novels, this one contains some rather unsettling environments, including that which Stevenson describes in the chapter entitled “The Last Night.”  Closely consider this passage and all that it deftly accomplishes.
17. reconsider the following question. Does this novel implicitly bolster or critique those traditional Christian principles to which it gives airtime?
18. this novella explores the path traced by a number of different, extreme emotions.  What does Stevenson’s story suggest about the nature of fear?
19. in what scenes does Stevenson test (and prove inadequate) the powers of intellect and reason on which his Victorian peers so heavily rely?
20. how does Lanyon’s description of Hyde (38-39) differ from that of the other characters?
21. what internal changes does Jekyll experience when he becomes Hyde?
22. following the murder, Jekyll swears off Hyde but it’s too late.  Explain what happens, and why (50-51).
23. why might it be so important to Dr. Jekyll to “wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the public,” concealing altogether the pleasures he takes in life (42)?  What could motivate someone to adopt such a uniformly somber and serious demeanor around others?
24. do you agree with Jekyll that humanity’s nature is split into at least two pieces (42), if not more (43)?
25. does Dr. Jekyll unnecessarily divorce qualities that naturally cohabitate, or do you recognize his various polarizations as true?  Need pleasure and propriety be as separate as he suggests (42)?  Are the “moral” and “intellectual” aspects of our intelligence truly opposite sides of that intelligence (42)?  Upon what unquestioned, a priori assumptions does Jekyll rest his separation of the “upright” from the “unjust" (43)?
26. what does Jekyll mean, in his letter, when he explains that his “profound duplicity of life” did not make him a hypocrite (42 bot)?  Can you embrace the distinction he makes?
27. what do you imagine Jekyll means by his cryptic claim that “the doom and burthen of our life is bound for ever on man’s shoulders; and when the attempt is made to cast it off, it but returns upon us with more unfamiliar and more awful pressure” (43 mid-bot).  To what “doom” and “burthen” might he refer?
28. recall the book’s opening.  Mr. Enfield noted his dislike of asking searching questions about mysterious matters for fear of bringing into light something that will hurt another’s reputation (4).  Mr. Utterson, the lawyer, agreed with this tendency in principle, but still asks a pointed question of his own (5).  Does the story as a whole seem to ratify such intentional uninvolvement, or question it?
29. what explanations does Jekyll come up with to explain the following questions surrounding Mr. Hyde?
    • why Mr. Hyde is shorter than Dr. Jekyll
    • why observers are so repelled by Mr. Hyde
    • why Mr. Hyde is evil incarnate instead of good incarnate
    • why Dr. Jekylll begins turning into Mr. Hyde without the assistance of any potion
30. reading between the lines, what can we assume are the “undignified” (45) and, later, “monstrous” pleasures (46) in which Dr. Jekyll partakes?
31. does Jekyll allow himself to vicariously revel in Hyde’s goings-on, or does he experience regret?
32. what does this novel suggest about efforts to follow our conscience and squelch sinful impulses?  Can such endeavors at self-control succeed? Why does Hyde commit such an egregious, violent act after Jekyll has successfully kept Hyde down for two months (49)?
33. does this novel suggest that one can successfully compartmentalize certain actions and thoughts so that the behavior performed in one frame of mind has no impact on the rest of the self?
34. what does Lanyon’s fate suggest about the connection behind mind and body?
    
    
    
    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1904)
    Charles Raymond Macauley
    

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu