Few stories that are over a hundred years old retain as much importance in popular imagination as Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Aside from the title characters becoming a shorthand description for a person who manifests a frightening bipolarity, the novel’s gothic depiction of London remains the popular conception of the city during the late Victorian era. Though the story is commonly interpreted as a depiction of good and evil and the duality of man, I submit that Jekyll and Hyde is in large part a gothic allegory about repressed homosexuality and covert substance abuse.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to the analysis of Jekyll and Hyde
2. The confluence of identity and the Victorian urban landscape
3. The criminalization of sexuality and the Labouchere Amendment
4. Medical discourse and the psychology of addiction
5. Internal medicine and the laboratory setting
Research Objectives and Key Topics
The primary objective of this work is to re-examine Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel through the lenses of repressed sexuality and substance abuse, arguing that the narrative functions as a gothic allegory for Victorian societal anxieties rather than merely a binary study of good and evil.
- The intersection of Victorian sexual repression and the narrative structure of the novel.
- The influence of contemporary medical journals and case studies on Stevenson's writing.
- The portrayal of addiction as a mechanism for unleashing the "homosexual id."
- The role of the physical environment, specifically the laboratory, in representing the evolution of internal medicine.
Excerpt from the Book
Homosexuality and medical discourse
Homosexuality was also a common topic of English and French medical journals of the period, which Stevenson subscribed to and read with avid interest. Jekyll and Hyde, “resembled contemporary medical case studies in its form and structure, but its core idea may also have originated from medical literature” (Stiles 879). Though Stevenson denied it to reporters during his lifetime, the testimony of his widow and, “striking correspondences between Stevenson's work and case studies in French and British popular and medical journals during the 1870s and 1880s” suggests he was also influenced by this source (Stiles 881). Early considerations of drug addiction were also published in these venues, and that Jekyll is a substance abuser should be readily apparent to the modern reader versed in the general popular conception of addiction.
To change into Hyde, Jekyll is dependent on an unnamed psychoactive substance. Across the narrative he builds a tolerance to this substance, needing higher doses to maintain the same effects. He engages in behavior he wouldn’t dream of while not under the influence of the substance, and repeatedly and vociferously denies the extent of his dependence to himself and his friends. When he runs low on the substance, he goes to desperate lengths to acquire more, including impressing his estranged friend Dr. Lanyon into his service. “Jekyll's appeal to Lanyon is characteristic of the victim of addiction who, in turn, victimizes others by manipulating their loyalty, affection, or sense of obligation and duty to personal advantage” (Wright 260). Further, “the victim's preoccupation with his addiction leads the addict to create a ritual world by which the psychological strength of his addiction is magnified, (such as when) Jekyll's egomaniacal pride of accomplishment in his miracle of chemistry is indulged before his horrified colleague Lanyon” (Wright 256). Jekyll is clearly dependant on this substance.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction to the analysis of Jekyll and Hyde: This chapter provides a foundational overview of the novel's historical significance and introduces the central thesis regarding repressed sexuality and substance abuse.
2. The confluence of identity and the Victorian urban landscape: This section explores how the characters and setting of the novel reflect contemporary late-Victorian anxieties, particularly regarding the "double" nature of urban identity.
3. The criminalization of sexuality and the Labouchere Amendment: This chapter contextualizes the novel within the legal climate of the 1880s, discussing how Victorian laws against "gross indecency" influenced the depiction of hidden, illicit desires.
4. Medical discourse and the psychology of addiction: This analysis examines how Stevenson utilized contemporary medical case studies to construct the psychological profile of an addict within the narrative.
5. Internal medicine and the laboratory setting: This final chapter discusses the shift toward internal medicine as represented by the physical laboratory space and the symbolic legacy of the medical practitioner in gothic literature.
Keywords
Robert Louis Stevenson, Jekyll and Hyde, Victorian era, homosexuality, addiction, psychoactive substance, medical literature, gothic allegory, Labouchere Amendment, identity, internal medicine, London, repression, illicit behavior, psychological dependency.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core argument of this work?
The work argues that the novel is a gothic allegory for repressed homosexuality and substance abuse, rather than a simple exploration of the duality of good and evil.
What are the central themes discussed in the publication?
The central themes include Victorian sexual repression, the criminalization of homosexuality, the psychological nature of addiction, and the representation of medical science in 19th-century literature.
What is the primary objective of this study?
The objective is to re-read Stevenson’s classic through a cultural and historical lens that highlights contemporary anxieties regarding illicit behavior and medical ethics.
Which academic methods are utilized?
The author employs literary analysis combined with historical context—specifically by examining 19th-century medical journals and legislative milestones like the Labouchere Amendment.
What topics does the main body cover?
The main body covers the analysis of character behavior, the influence of Victorian scandal press, the medical conceptualization of addiction, and the symbolism of the laboratory.
Which keywords define this publication?
The key concepts include Victorian repression, Jekyll and Hyde, addiction, medical literature, and gothic allegory.
How does the author characterize Hyde's dependence?
The author views Hyde not just as a separate persona, but as a manifestation of Jekyll’s "homosexual id," fueled by a reliance on an unnamed addictive substance.
Why is the laboratory significant in the analysis?
The laboratory is analyzed as a representation of the ascendance of internal medicine, functioning as the stage where Jekyll’s transformation and his addiction are facilitated.
- Citar trabajo
- Mark Schauer (Autor), 2012, Repressed sexuality and drug abuse in Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/230260
