Jekyll and Hyding HUM 2212: British and American Literature I Fall 2012 Dr. Perdigao October 31, 2012

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble “The Fall of the House of Usher” “William Wilson. A Tale” W. E. B. Du Bois’ “double consciousness” Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” Alienation, estrangement Oneness with nature—Romantics to Transcendentalists Codes, social mores imposed on individuals (Victorianisms) Split in persona—shadow self

Velvet Jacket Frame tale Heart of Darkness Frankenstein Epistolary novel

Velvet Jacket Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson ( ) Scotland’s oppressive society Edinburgh University Engineering: literature

Splits, Tensions Study law Two personas Andrew Lang’s statement he “wore a wide blue cloak, with a grace that hovered between that of an Italian poet and an early pirate” (1676). Socialist and agnostic Love with Fanny Osbourne: American woman, older, not divorced Treasure Island —serial 1881, 1883 A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885)—poems The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1885 written, 1886 published) Bestseller in Britain and America Fin de siècle anxieties

Frame Story House of Usher—account of house, mystery Hyde introduced, description (1680) Dr. Jekyll’s will Hyde to step into Jekyll’s shoes Dr. Lanyon—old friend from school and college Utterson’s imaginations—engaged, enslaved Sees story played out in imagination (1682) No face Question of who is the “real” Mr. Hyde (1683) Mr. Hyde vs. Mr. Seek

Strange and Uncanny Savage laugh “hardly human” (1685) Decayed houses Poole, servant “Mr. Hyde has a key” (1685) “strange case of the will” (1686) “strange” position (1687) Carew Murder Case Hyde as “mad man,” ape-like fury (1688) She faints Letter addressed to Utterson

Assembling the Pieces Sir Danvers Carew Jekyll’s cane “some city in a nightmare” (1689) Inspector Newcomen of Scotland Yard Never been photographed (1690) Laboratory dissecting rooms (Frankenstein?) Jekyll—house from surgeon, theatre for lessons, demosntrations Hyde’s plan to murder Jekyll suspected Mr. Guest—advice “The fog” (1692): city as funereal Two hands identitcal (1693)

Return of/to the Gothic Past “unearthed” New life for Dr. Jekyll Dr. Lanyon’s decline Opens Lanyon’s documents—destroyed if not in possession by Utterson Another not to be opened until death or disappearance of Jekylll Professional honor and faith prevents him from opening it “It was impossible to do the one without the other” (1696)—see Hyde, experience repulsion Back way to Jekyll’s Face—abject terror and despair (1696) Poole appears, mentions foul play (1697)

Revelations “It seems much changed” (voice) (1698) Now “thing” in his place Poole’s story—as tale, all ghost stories Again identifies handwriting “thing in the mask” (1700) was never Jekyll Break through door—nightmarish site (1701) Too late to save or punish (pharmakon?) (1702) Idea Jekyll is buried there See our own faces reflected back (1703) Mirror that has “seen strange things” (1703) Utterson named in will: Gabriel John Utterson (1703)

Inception Directs him to Lanyon’s letter, back to Jekyll’s confession Life, honor, reason at Lanyon’s mercy (1704) Single word “double” repeated in notebook (1706) Metamorphoses of mixture (1708) Offers his knowledge or sustains Lanyon’s ignorance Fame and power offered (1708) Had denied transcendental medicine (1708) Jekyll’s full statement at end the story Good and ill—man’s dual nature (1709) Science—mystic and transcendental

Madness and Monstrosity Study of consciousness, here on body Wearing a different kind of mask Man not one, but two Housed in two different identities—reconciles this tension Rid of disgrace, shame No mirror after first change Less robust Hyde (1711), explanation of physical form Evil—deformity and decay but “natural and human,” no repugnance for it Good and evil existing in all humans Turns monstrous in actions “conscience slumbered” (1713)

New Adam Went to bed Jekyll, woke up as Hyde Fear of permanently becoming Hyde—or hybrid of two “losing hold of my original and better self” (1714) Had to choose Memory in common, different qualities Locks door to other self, as well as apartment Jekyll as “city of refuge” (1716) Account of “the fall” Transforms without potion Still could write, enlists Lanyon’s help Gnashing teeth (Frankenstein’s creature?)

Weird Science Not fear of gallow but of becoming Hyde (1718) One vibrant, one sick Hate dividing them Hyde’s hatred stems from dependency on Jekyll to be saved (1719) Pity Unknown impurity in first batch—elusive elixir (“Rappaccini’s Daughter”?) As cautionary tale