English Extension Viewing and Representing Task - Xander Jackman

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In a similar way, the inescapable dominance of one’s desires allows Stevenson to conclude with the third main value of the novella: that once man has given in to his “second and worse” half, there is no way to regain control of that half, and therefore one’s primitive desires reign supremely. Jekyll emphasises the distinct happiness he finds in freedom, in being able to satisfy his innate pleasures while not being restricted by the stringent prudishness of Victorian society and the necessity to maintain a good reputation. By finding “a solution of the bonds of obligation” and subsequently relieving life of “all that was unbearable”, Jekyll could enjoy the benefits of being able to satisfy his strongest passions while at the same time wearing “a more than commonly grave countenance before the public.”

“I was the first that could thus plod in the public eye with a load of genial respectability, and in a moment, like a schoolboy, strip off these lendings and spring headlong into the sea of liberty.”

The imagery and onomatopoeia of ‘plod’ are used to convey a sense of laziness, a lack of purpose and a lack of obligation. Such liberation is shown through the use of a simile, likening Jekyll to a ‘schoolboy’ without responsibilities and therefore an ability to do whatever he pleases, finally reinforced by the metaphor in ‘sea of liberty’. This freedom is also evoked in Image Five, for if one breaks the image into two (top and bottom), it becomes evident that, while Jekyll is constrained by the clutter of beakers, papers and towering book shelves, Hyde is in the open air, free from any restraints and thus free to do as he pleases.

It is this satisfaction of Jekyll’s that ultimately leads to his inability to regain control of his dark-side, for, having experienced the rewards, the temptation becomes too great to suppress. Jekyll tried conscientiously to discard his immoral desires, but after two months “began to be tortured with throes and longings, as of Hyde struggling after freedom; and at last, in an hour of moral weakness, [he] once again compounded and swallowed the transforming draught.” The metaphor in being ‘tortured’ further highlights the vast difficulties Jekyll had in trying to contain his desires after having experienced them, and gives evidence for his ultimate resubmission to them. This loss of control is visually symbolised through the picturing of Hyde as a cloud in Image Five, for in the open air a cloud is impossible to capture or control, subsequently highlighting that once man has succumbed to his baser desires, there is no way of containing them again, and therefore the only way to truly escape them is through death. This notion also lends evidence to the timeless belief in the dangers of playing God, emphasising that scientific manipulation of God’s “design” is destined to failure. Even science, that which brought “a new province of knowledge and new avenues to fame and power”, could not find a cure for one’s dark-side, therefore reinforcing that any attempt to purify oneself from their baser desires is futile.

Stevenson’s novella, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, is fundamentally based around three basic realities. The predominant concept of the novella is that one’s darker, more sinister side of the brain is dominant over their rational self, and therefore it is inevitable that all will succumb to their baser desires at some time in their lives. This then gives reasoning to the second and third notions of the text, that any attempt to suppress such desires before they emerge is as is futile as any attempt to cure oneself from their grasp after they have been experienced. Both images Four and Five reinforce these key values, further highlighting Stevenson’s depressing view on human existence and the belief that man is fated to a life corrupted from within. In this way, one is only led to agree with his own remark in early March, 1886, that Jekyll and Hyde is indeed “a dreadful thing.”