Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886) 110 p.
The problem with reading Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the modern day is that we all know the twist. The novel is structured as a mystery, with a London lawyer investigating his client Dr Jekyll’s decision to leave his fortune, in the case of his disappearance, to the notoriously brutal and unpleasant Mr Hyde. I can imagine that a 19th century reader going into it blind would be drawn into a what is, objectively, a well-written and engaging mystery with a supernatural slant. Modern readers don’t have that luxury, because of course we know that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person: a monstrous transformation putting Jekyll’s baser instincts into physical form, indulging in all manner of crimes across London while Jekyll’s reputation remains unimpeachable.
Of course there’s all kinds of interpretation and analysis you can make of it, about the duality of man and the repression of darker instincts and the nature of good versus evil, et cetera. For the most part, though, it struck me as more of a potboiler. Stevenson was, after all, mostly a writer of adventures like Treasure Island and Kidnapped. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde would have been a pretty decent supernatural mystery novel back in the day – for us, unfortunately, popular culture has spoiled it.
3 comments
Comments feed for this article
August 3, 2015 at 9:46 am
Anthony
My favourite Victorian novella but I say your point. Have you read The Master of Ballantrae? Interested in your thoughts. Enjoying your strongly opinionated reviews, Mitch! Don’t always agree entirely but there is always something I identify with. Hope all’s well too.
August 3, 2015 at 12:31 pm
Anthony
Meant ‘see your point’. Your reviews always give me something to think about.
August 4, 2015 at 3:13 pm
Mitch
Thanks Anthony! I’m on holiday so I just powered through a bunch of classics on my ereader, and have a semi-OCD determination (for years now) to jot down my thoughts on everything I read regardless of whether it inspired any strong feelings in me or not…
I will have to check out Master of Ballantrae; I did quite like Kidnapped, although apparently the sequel was widely panned. War of the Worlds would have to take my vote for best Victorian novel, though.