译文有感（二〇三）：JekyllandHyde
2018-09-26 18:58阅读：
Jekyll and Hyde
《世无定事》第14章。佩姬开始自己的专科业务了：心血管外科，而且还被分配到了世界著名的心血管专家劳伦斯·巴克大夫的团队里。佩姬甭提有多高兴了。但第一次查房，就让她大为失望，甚至满腔愤怒。巴克大夫对待病人和对待手下的住院医生判若两人：对病人和蔼可亲、关怀备至；而对她却凶神恶煞、蛮不讲理。
原文：
My God! Paige thought. Talk about Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!
《译林》版译文：
我的上帝！佩姬心想。真是个双重性格的人啊！
我的译文：
我的上帝！佩姬心想，就像传说中的杰克尔和海德一样，真是个双重性格的人啊！
说明：
Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde：杰克尔与海德（又可说成 Dr.
Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde）出自英国作家斯蒂文森（Stevenson）的著名小说《化身博士》(The
Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hy
de
，1886)。《化身博士》是罗伯特·路易斯·史蒂文森所写的一部小说，故事描述在维多利亚时代，杰克尔博士为了探索人性的善恶，研究发明了一种特殊的新药，吃下去便会变成另一个自我，即海德先生，博士把自己所有的恶念全部赋予了野蛮残暴的海德。杰克尔虽然已有贤惠的未婚妻，但是被放荡的风尘女子勾起了他变成海德的欲望。杰克尔博士行医多年，多行善事，名声极好，海德则无恶不作，杀人害命，一场悲剧终于一发不可收拾。杰克尔博士无法摆脱海德，最后选择了自杀，以自己的自尽，来停止海德的作恶。
Jekyll and
Hyde这部著作曾经被拍成电影、编成音乐剧，流传十分广泛，使得Jekyll and
Hyde成为「双重人格」的代称。
斯蒂文森 (Stevenson, Robert Louis
(Balfour)1850-1894)英国作家。生於苏格兰爱丁堡，毕业於爱丁堡大学。1875年当过律师，后转向为期刊写作并记见闻、散文和短篇小说。
传奇式冒险小说《金银岛》(Treasure
Island,1883)使他一举成名，从此走上浪漫小说的写作道路。他的作品还有《绑架》(Kidnapped，1886)、《化身博士》(The
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde，1886
)、《巴伦特雷的少爷》(The Master of
Ballantral，1889)
和未完成的《赫米斯顿的韦尔》(Weir of
Hermiston，1896)。后者被认为是他的杰作。1888年因健康原因定居萨摩亚的瓦伊利马，直至去世。
维基百科中的杰克尔与海德
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Dr. Henry Jekyll and his alternative personality, Mr. Edward
Hyde, is a fictional character in Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886
novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He is the title
character, but the main protagonist is Gabriel John
Utterson.
Fictional character biography
Dr. Henry Jekyll feels he is battling between the good and
bad within himself, thus leading to the struggle with his alter
ego, Edward Hyde. He spends his life trying to repress evil urges
that are not fitting for a man of his stature. He develops a serum
in an attempt to mask this hidden evil. However, in doing so,
Jekyll transforms into Hyde, a hideous creature without compassion
or remorse. Jekyll has a friendly personality, but as Hyde, he
becomes mysterious and violent. As time goes by, Hyde grows in
power and eventually manifests whenever Jekyll shows signs of
physical or moral weakness, no longer needing the serum to be
released.
Stevenson never says exactly what Hyde does on his nightly
forays, generally saying that it is something of an evil and
lustful nature. Thus, in the context of the times, it is abhorrent
to Victorian religious morality. Hyde may have been reveling in
activities such as engaging with prostitutes or burglary. However,
it is Hyde's violent activities that seem to give him the most
thrills, driving him to attack and murder Sir Danvers Carew without
apparent reason, making him a hunted outlaw throughout
England.
A lawyer named Gabriel Utterson and Jekyll's butler, Mr.
Poole, end up breaking into Jekyll's lab. Inside, they find the
body of Hyde wearing Jekyll's clothes and apparently dead from
suicide. They find also a letter from Jekyll to Utterson promising
to explain the entire mystery. Utterson takes the document home
where he first reads Lanyon’s letter and then Jekyll's. The first
reveals that Lanyon’s deterioration and eventual death resulted
from the shock of seeing Hyde drinking a serum or potion and as a
result of doing so, turning into Jekyll. The second letter explains
that Jekyll, having previously indulged unstated vices (and with it
the fear that discovery would lead to his losing his social
position) found a way to transform himself and thereby indulge his
vices without fear of detection. But Jekyll's transformed
personality, Hyde, was effectively a sociopath — evil,
self-indulgent, and utterly uncaring to anyone but himself.
Initially, Jekyll was able to control the transformations, but
eventually he would become Hyde involuntarily in his
sleep.
At this point, Jekyll resolved to cease becoming Hyde. One
night, however, the urge gripped him too strongly, and after the
transformation he immediately rushed out and violently killed
Carew. Horrified, Jekyll tried more adamantly to stop the
transformations, and for a time he proved successful by engaging in
philanthropic work. One day, at a park, he considered how good a
person that he had become as a result of his deeds (in comparison
to others), believing himself redeemed. However, before he
completed his line of thought, he looked down at his hands and
realized that he had suddenly transformed once again into Hyde.
This was the first time that an involuntary metamorphosis had
happened in waking hours. Far from his laboratory and hunted by the
police as a murderer, Hyde needed help to avoid being caught. He
wrote to Lanyon (in Jekyll's hand), asking his friend to retrieve
the contents of a cabinet in his laboratory and to meet him at
midnight at Lanyon's home in Cavendish Square. In Lanyon's
presence, Hyde mixed the potion and transformed back to Jekyll. The
shock of the sight instigated Lanyon's deterioration and death.
Meanwhile, Jekyll returned to his home only to find himself ever
more helpless and trapped as the transformations increased in
frequency and necessitated even larger doses of potion in order to
reverse them. It was the onset of one of these spontaneous
metamorphoses that caused Jekyll to slam his laboratory window shut
in the middle of his conversation with Enfield and
Utterson.
Eventually, the stock of ingredients from which Jekyll had
been preparing the potion ran low, and subsequent batches prepared
by Dr. Jekyll from renewed stocks failed to produce the
transformation. Jekyll speculated that the one essential ingredient
that made the original potion work (a salt) must have itself been
contaminated. After sending Poole to one chemist after another to
purchase the salt that was running low only to find it wouldn't
work, he assumed that subsequent supplies all lacked the essential
ingredient that made the potion successful for his experiments. His
ability to change back from Hyde into Jekyll had slowly vanished in
consequence. Jekyll wrote that even as he composed his letter, he
knew that he would soon become Hyde permanently, having used the
last of this salt and he wondered if Hyde would face execution for
his crimes or choose to kill himself. Jekyll noted that, in either
case, the end of his letter marked the end of his life. He ended
the letter saying, 'I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll
to an end'. With these words, both the document and the novella
come to a close.
The original pronunciation of Jekyll was 'Jeekul', which was
the pronunciation used in Stevenson's native Scotland. This is also
the pronunciation of Gertrude Jekyll.
Adaptations
Television
Dr. Jekyll appeared in some of Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and
Merrie Melodies animated shorts.
In Hyde and Hare, Dr. Jekyll (voiced by Mel Blanc) brings
Bugs Bunny to his apartment. When Dr. Jekyll drinks his formula, he
becomes Mr. Hyde who is depicted with green skin and red eyes.
Around the end of the cartoon, Bugs Bunny drinks the formula and
starts to turn into a Hyde-like rabbit.
In Hyde and Go Tweet, Dr. Jekyll drinks a formula that turns
himself into Mr. Hyde with the commotion waking Sylvester up until
he sees Dr. Jekyll back to his normal self. Tweety later exposes
himself to Dr. Jekyll's formula where he becomes a Hyde-like
canary.
The episode Dr. Jerkyl's Hide features Sylvester turning into
a Hyde-like cat upon ingesting the formula which he mistook for
soda pop where he attacks Spike the Bulldog and Chester the
Terrier.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in Climax! episode 'The
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. Hosted by Bill Lundigan,
this episode was originally aired on 28 July 1955 (Season 1 Episode
34). The story was adapted for television by Gore
Vidal.
The Scooby-Doo, Where are You! episode 'Nowhere to Hyde'
features the Ghost of Mr. Hyde, who is committing jewelry store
robberies and one of the suspects is a descendant of Dr. Jekyll.
The Ghost of Mr. Hyde later made a cameo in Scooby-Doo! and the
Goblin King as a patron in a monster bar.
In the Dynomutt, Dog Wonder episode 'Everyone Hyde!', the
criminal Willie the Weasel (voiced by Henry Corden) creates a
similar formula (which is related to Dr. Jekyll's formula) that
turns him into Mr. Hyde.
In the Gravedale High episode 'Fear of Flying', there is a
medical version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (voiced by Frank Welker)
that works as a doctor for the monsters. Mr. Hyde serves as Dr.
Jekyll's 'partner' where Dr. Jekyll would turn into him for any
second opinions of anyone's medical problems.
In the All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series episode 'Dr. Beagle
and Mangy Hyde', Charlie turns into a Mr. Hyde-like monster (voiced
by Brad Garrett) when eating dog food tainted with a dangerous
substance Carface had.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in the Animaniacs episode
'Brain Meets Brawn', voiced by Jeff Bennett. Dr. Jekyll was seen
taking a serum that turns him into Mr. Hyde where is then attacked
by the police. They take a break in the conflict when tea time
occurs. Afterwards, the police subdue Mr. Hyde and take him away to
the police station. Dr. Jekyll's serum inspires Brain to take it so
that he can break Big Ben in this monster form whenever Brain gets
angered.
The 2007 TV serial Jekyll starred James Nesbitt as Tom
Jackman, a modern Jekyll whose Hyde persona wreaks havoc in modern
London. In the course of the series, it is revealed that the
original Jekyll's transformation into Hyde was a 'natural' process,
triggered by Jekyll's love for his maid rather than any kind of
potion, and Jackman is the descendant of one of Hyde's bastard
sons, while his wife is a clone of Jekyll's maid created by a
corporation to try and duplicate the Hyde process. As with most
modern adaptations, Hyde is depicted as possessing superhuman
strength, able to tear a lion apart with his bare hands, and is
depicted as being impulsive and childish rather than explicitly
evil, although the physical changes are fairly subtle, such as Hyde
having darker eyes and a different hairstyle. At the series'
conclusion, Hyde apparently sacrifices himself to save Jackman,
'dying' when he is shot but somehow able to stop Jackman 'sharing
the damage', with the result that the bullets remain in Jackman but
he has no injuries to demonstrate where they entered his
body.
NBC's Do No Harm is a modern retelling of the Jekyll and Hyde
story featuring a renamed Jekyll-like character named Dr. Jason
Cole (played by Steven Pasquale) trying to stop his drug-addicted,
sociopathic, Hyde-like counterpart named Ian Price from ruining his
professional and private life. Unlike the original story, the main
character is a highly respected neurosurgeon who is able to keep
his alter-ego in check through the use of an experimental sedative.
Also, Jason suffers from dissociative identity disorder instead of
developing a serum that separates the good and evil in a
person.
The Phineas and Ferb episode 'The Monster of
Phineas-n-Ferbenstein' features the villain Dr. Jekyll
Doofenshmirtz drinking a potion to turn himself into a
monster.
The Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero episode 'Rip-Penn' features
Penn as Dr. Barzelby (inspired by Dr. Jekyll), who accidentally
drinks a potion that turns him into a monster version of Penn's
nemesis Rippen.
SBS's Hyde, Jekyll, Me portrays a man, Goo Seo Jin, who is in
line as a successor of the conglomerate group his family owns but
has dissociative identity disorder. His other personality, Robin,
is the opposite of his usual cold, cynical self; Robin is kind,
gentle and has a savior complex.
Shazad Latif portrays an Anglo-Indian Dr. Henry Jekyll on the
third season of Penny Dreadful. In the show, Jekyll is the
illegitimate child of an English nobleman and an Indian woman. His
father abandoned Jekyll and his mother in India, and after Jekyll's
mother dies from leprosy, he goes to the University of Cambridge,
where he befriends Victor Frankenstein but is ultimately expelled
from Cambridge after getting into a fight with a professor due to
the professor's racist comments. He then works at Bedlam Hospital,
developing a serum to pacify patients and bring out a calm, tame
nature. In the last episode of the show, Jekyll's father dies and
he inherits his title: Lord Hyde.
The 2015 TV series Jekyll & Hyde focuses on the
illegitimate grandson of Henry Jekyll, Doctor Robert Jekyll, who
has inherited his grandfather's Hyde personality. While Robert is
initially able to control his transformation with pills, as the
series unfolds, he learns about various demonic threats to the
world, and is forced to harness the superhuman strength he
possesses as Hyde to oppose these forces. In the course of the
series, Robert Jekyll works with Henry Jekyll's old assistant and
even meets Henry Jekyll's lover (and hence his grandmother),
although his Hyde persona never gains a first name.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in Once Upon a Time, with Dr.
Jekyll portrayed by Hank Harris and Mr. Hyde portrayed by Samuel
Witwer. They first appear in the season five finale 'Only You' and
'An Untold Story'. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are shown as inhabitants
of the Land of Untold Stories, who follow the heroes to
Storybrooke. In season six, it's revealed that Jekyll's serum
failed to remove his capacity for evil and he is killed by Captain
Hook which causes Hyde to die as well as a side effect of the
serum.
Film
John Barrymore played Jekyll and Hyde in the 1920 silent
movie adaptation of the novel.
Fredric March played Jekyll and Hyde in the 1931 film
adaptation of the novel, for which he won the Academy Award for
Best Actor.
Spencer Tracy played Jekyll and Hyde in the 1941 film
adaptation of the novel.
Jack Palance played the two characters in the 1968 TV
movie.
David Hemmings played the characters in the 1980 version, but
instead of transforming into a hideous being, he becomes younger
and very physically attractive. And even though he still does evil
things, he seems to be more of a gentlemen at times and less
remorseless than other versions of this character. The movie was
only made for TV.
John Hannah played Jekyll and Hyde in the 2003 television
film adaptation of the novel.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in Abbott and Costello Meet
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, played by Boris Karloff.
In the Hammer Horror film Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Dr.
Jekyll (Ralph Bates), rather than transforming into an ugly,
deformed monster, transforms into a beautiful yet malicious femme
fatale (Martin Beswick).
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in Mad Monster Party?, voiced
by Allen Swift. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear as guests at a party
thrown by Baron Boris von Frankenstein at his castle on the Isle of
Evil. Dr. Jekyll keeps his elixir in his cane whenever he wants to
turn into Mr. Hyde. Also, Dr. Jekyll's cane doubles as an umbrella
as seen when Mr. Hyde uses it to keep the sleeping Creature from
spewing water onto him at night.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters (a
'prequel of sorts' to Mad Monster Party?), voiced again by Allen
Swift. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are among the monsters invited by
Baron Henry von Frankenstein to attend the wedding of
Frankenstein's Monster and its mate at the Transylvania Astoria
Hotel.
Mr. Hyde appears in The Nightmare Before Christmas, voiced by
Randy Crenshaw. He appears as one of the citizens of Halloween
Town. Only seen in his 'Hyde' form, he keeps two smaller versions
of himself underneath his hat.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in the 1994 film The
Pagemaster, voiced by Leonard Nimoy.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in the 1996 film Mary Reilly,
portrayed by John Malkovich.
The film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (adapted from
the comic book series) features Jason Flemyng as both Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde (the latter using prosthetic makeup). Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde are employed by The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to
combat the ruthless criminal known as the Fantom, who is revealed
in the course of the film to be 'M', the man who recruited them,
and also Professor Moriarty, who intends to acquire the power of
the League for use in his plans to trigger a world war and sell his
weapons for profit. His mole in the League, Dorian Gray, manages to
acquire a sample of the Hyde serum, which he is able to duplicate,
one of Moriarty's men drinking a massive overdose of the Hyde serum
to become an even larger version of Hyde. Despite the other Hyde's
size and raw power, he is defeated when he burns through the
formula at an accelerated rate, resulting in Moriarty's fortress
collapsing on top of him.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appear in Van Helsing, with Dr.
Jekyll portrayed by Stephen Fisher while Robbie Coltrane provides
the voice of the CGI animated Mr. Hyde. Like the version that was
seen in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Mr. Hyde is also
portrayed as a large, hulking brute. Van Helsing has pursued Hyde
to Paris, France after having failed to capture him in an earlier
confrontation in London, England. He is superhumanly strong and
displays agility comparable to that of a great ape. While not
invulnerable, he's extremely tough and sustains severe injuries
that ultimately do little to impede or slow him down to any
appreciable degree. Upon exchanging banter, they begin fighting in
the bell tower of Notre Dame Cathedral with Van Helsing initially
gaining the advantage by severing Hyde's left arm at the biceps,
which regresses to a normal form after landing on the floor. Hyde
rallies and assaults Van Helsing, using his right arm to hurl him
through the roof of the cathedral. He then gloats before tossing
Van Helsing off the roof only for Van Helsing to fire a grappling
gun that sends the hook & line through the center of Hyde's
body, which Van Helsing uses to stop his fall. He attempts to pull
Hyde off the roof, only for Hyde to begin pulling him upward,
seemingly unfazed by the large hole in his body. Hyde trips over
the edge of the roof, his falling weight pulling Van Helsing up to
the roof before the line breaks. As it breaks, the momentum swings
Hyde through the Rose Window of the cathedral and, while he falls,
Hyde transforms back into the form of Henry Jekyll and dies from
the fall. A police officer spots Van Helsing on top of the
cathedral and holds him accountable for Dr. Jekyll's death. The
novelization of the film portrays Hyde as not only a murderer, but
a cannibal as well. The novel says the body of the murdered woman
Van Helsing discovers on the streets of Paris as partially devoured
while the same scene in the film shows the woman's body intact.
However, the film does suggest that Hyde is cannibalistic when he
encounters Van Helsing in Notre Dame and tells him 'You're a big
one. You'll be hard to digest.'
A creature that might be Mr. Hyde appears in Hotel
Transylvania. He is seen around the end of the movie, when everyone
is singing 'The Zing'.
The Dynomutt version of Mr. Hyde appeared in Scooby-Doo! Mask
of the Blue Falcon, voiced by John DiMaggio.
Russell Crowe played Dr. Jekyll in The Mummy, which is the
first installment in Universal's Dark Universe and is a role which
will be elaborated on in further films within the series. It is
suggested that Jekyll's transformation into Hyde was a 'natural'
condition, as he reflects on how someone- implied to be him-
realized that he was succumbing to evil but was able to find a cure
as a physician, requiring regular injections of an unspecified
compound to prevent himself becoming Hyde, an aggressive and
sadistic persona. Despite the personality transformation, Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have the same appearance, with the exception of
their skins and eyes, although they also have a different palmprint
with the result that palm scanners that will allow Jekyll access
but will prohibit Hyde from using the door. As Hyde, he exhibits
greater levels of physical strength, endurance and aggression as
well as improved combat abilities.
Comics
In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One and
Volume Two by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, Henry Jekyll is a
scientist who is the lesser half of Edward Hyde and member of the
Victorian League. This incarnation of Jekyll and Hyde reveals that
eventually Jekyll found that he would transform into Hyde under
stress, not unlike Hulk. Likewise, Hyde has become progressively
taller and bulkier than Jekyll, while Jekyll has become shorter and
withered. During a dinner scene, Hyde explains that this is because
splitting himself and Jekyll into separate identities resulted in
him losing his restraints and growing beyond his original limits,
while Jekyll withered away without anything to drive him. During
the Martian invasion, he developed a strong respect for Mina Murray
and sacrificed himself to stop Martian tripods from crossing London
Bridge. His self-sacrifice was honored in having Serpentine Park
named into Hyde Park and a statue of Mr. Hyde is seen in the park
in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier and
throughout The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III:
Century.
The Marvel Comics superhero Hulk is loosely based on Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein's Monster. The supervillain
Mister Hyde is more directly inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde.
The DC Comics supervillain Two-Face was inspired by Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde due to their split personality.
Music
The Who recorded the song 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' on their
album Magic Bus: The Who on Tour.
Renaissance (band) recorded the song 'Jekyll and Hyde' on
their album Azure d'Or.
The Damned recorded a song titled 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'
on their 1980 release The Black Album.
The split personality theme - I am to myself what Jekyll must
have been to Hyde - is featured in ABBA song Me and I
(1980).
South Korean boy band VIXX released their first mini-album,
Hyde, and first repackaged mini album, Jekyll, based on the
novel.
Heavy metal band Judas Priest released a song entitled
'Jekyll and Hyde' on their 2001 album 'Demolition.'
Another heavy metal band, Iced Earth, released a song
entitled 'Jekyll & Hyde' on their 2001 album, 'Horror
Show.'
American Christian Rock band Petra recorded a song Jekyll
& Hyde for their 2003 album with the same name.
American rock band Halestorm released an album in 2012 called
The Strange Case Of..., with a track called 'Mz. Hyde'. The title
of the album and song is referencing singer Lzzy Hale's on stage
and off stage sides to her life.
In 2015, Five Finger Death Punch released a single named
'Jekyll & Hyde'.
Ice Nine Kills released the single 'Me, Myself & Hyde' in
February 2015.
Zac Brown Band released the album Jekyll + Hyde in
2015.
Miscellaneous
The Lego Minifigures theme has a character in Series 9 named
Mr. Good and Evil, who is based on Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde.
In Monster High, there are characters named Jackson Jekyll
and Holt Hyde who are the descendants of Dr. Jekyll. They are
voiced by Cindy Robinson in the webisodes and TV
specials.
In Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Blue & Silver, a light
novel series based on the original drafts of Fate/stay night, Dr.
Jekyll appears as the Servant of the Berserker class, portrayed as
a gentle and good looking young man. His Noble Phantasm allows him
to transform into Mr. Hyde.
In 'Servamp', a manga written and illustrated by Strike
Tanaka, there are two characters known as Licht Jekylland Todoroki
and Lawless of Greed (later given the name of Hyde by the former).
They have no direct correlation with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in
personality traits from the original novel, but their names, as
well as their roles as opposites to each other (Licht as an Angel
and Hyde as a Demon) nod to the original story. Their combined
special attack is titled 'Jekyll and Hyde'.
In 'Fate/Grand Order', a mobile video game based on the
'Fate/stay night' visual novel and franchise from Type-Moon, a
Servant under the classes Assassin and Berserker appears, named
'Henry Jekyll & Hyde.' In most of his appearance during battle
sequences, he is the Assassin-class Servant Henry Jekyll, however
when using his Noble Phantasm, or special ability, he becomes the
Berserker-class Servant Hyde.
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Title page of the first London edition (1886)
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a gothic novella by
Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1886.
The work is also known as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or simply Jekyll & Hyde. It is
about a London lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates
strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and
the evil Edward Hyde. The novella's impact is such that it has
become a part of the language, with the very phrase 'Jekyll and
Hyde' entering the vernacular to refer to people with an
unpredictably dual nature: usually very good, but sometimes
shockingly evil instead.
Inspiration and writing
Robert Louis Stevenson
Stevenson had long been intrigued by the idea of how human
personalities can affect how to incorporate the interplay of good
and evil into a story. While still a teenager, he developed a
script for a play about Deacon Brodie, which he later reworked with
the help of W. E. Henley and which was produced for the first time
in 1882. In early 1884, he wrote the short story 'Markheim', which
he revised in 1884 for publication in a Christmas annual. According
to his essay, 'A Chapter on Dreams' (Scribner's, Jan. 1888), he
racked his brains for an idea for a story and had a dream, and upon
wakening had the intuition for two or three scenes that would
appear in the story Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Biographer Graham Balfour quoted Stevenson's wife Fanny
Stevenson:
In the small hours of one morning,[...]I was awakened by
cries of horror from Louis. Thinking he had a nightmare, I awakened
him. He said angrily: 'Why did you wake me? I was dreaming a fine
bogey tale.' I had awakened him at the first transformation
scene.
Lloyd Osbourne, Stevenson's stepson, wrote: 'I don't believe
that there was ever such a literary feat before as the writing of
Dr Jekyll. I remember the first reading as though it were
yesterday. Louis came downstairs in a fever; read nearly half the
book aloud; and then, while we were still gasping, he was away
again, and busy writing. I doubt if the first draft took so long as
three days.'
Inspiration may also have come from the writer's friendship
with Edinburgh-based French teacher Eugene Chantrelle, who was
convicted and executed for the murder of his wife in May 1878.
Chantrelle, who had appeared to lead a normal life in the city,
poisoned his wife with opium. According to author Jeremy Hodges,
Stevenson was present throughout the trial and as 'the evidence
unfolded he found himself, like Dr Jekyll, 'aghast before the acts
of Edward Hyde'.' Moreover, it was believed that the doctor had
committed other murders both in France and Britain by poisoning his
victims at supper parties with a 'favourite dish of toasted cheese
and opium'.
Louis Vivet, a mental patient who was suffering from
dissociative identity disorder, caught Frederic W. H. Myers's
attention and he wrote to Stevenson after the story was published.
Stevenson was polite in his response but rejected that reading. As
was customary, Mrs Stevenson would read the draft and offer her
criticisms in the margins. Robert Stevenson was confined to bed at
the time from a haemorrhage. Therefore, she left her comments with
the manuscript and Robert in the toilet. She said that in effect
the story was really an allegory, but Robert was writing it as a
story. After a while, Robert called her back into the bedroom and
pointed to a pile of ashes: he had burnt the manuscript in fear
that he would try to salvage it, and in the process forced himself
to start again from nothing, writing an allegorical story as she
had suggested. Scholars debate whether he really burnt his
manuscript; there is no direct factual evidence for the burning,
but it remains an integral part of the history of the
novella.
Stevenson re-wrote the story in three to six days. A number
of later biographers have alleged that Stevenson was on drugs
during the frantic re-write; for example, William Gray's
revisionist history A Literary Life (2004) said he used cocaine
while other biographers said he used ergot. However, the standard
history, according to the accounts of his wife and son (and
himself), says he was bed-ridden and sick while writing it.
According to Osbourne, 'The mere physical feat was tremendous and,
instead of harming him, it roused and cheered him inexpres-sibly'.
He continued to refine the work for four to six weeks after the
initial re-write. The novella was written in the southern English
seaside town of Bournemouth, where Stevenson had moved due to ill
health, to benefit from its sea air and warmer southern
climate.
The name Jekyll was borrowed from Reverend Walter Jekyll, a
friend of Stevenson and younger brother of horticulturalist and
landscape designer Gertrude Jekyll.
Plot
Gabriel John Utterson and his cousin Richard Enfield reach
the door of a large house on their weekly walk. Enfield tells
Utterson that months ago he saw a sinister-looking man named Edward
Hyde trample a young girl after accidentally bumping into her.
Enfield forced Hyde to pay £100 to avoid a scandal. Hyde brought
them to this door and provided a cheque signed by a reputable
gentleman (later revealed to be Doctor Henry Jekyll, a friend and
client of Utterson). Utterson is disturbed because Jekyll recently
changed his will to make Hyde the sole beneficiary. Utterson fears
that Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll. When Utterson tries to discuss
Hyde with Jekyll, Jekyll turns pale and asks that Hyde be left
alone.
One night in October, a servant sees Hyde beat to death Sir
Danvers Carew, another of Utterson's clients. The police contact
Utterson, who leads officers to Hyde's apartment. Hyde has
vanished, but they find half of a broken cane. Utterson recognizes
the cane as one he had given to Jekyll. Utterson visits Jekyll, who
shows Utterson a note, allegedly written to Jekyll by Hyde,
apologising for the trouble that he has caused. However, Hyde's
handwriting is similar to Jekyll's own, leading Utterson to
conclude that Jekyll forged the note to protect Hyde.
For two months, Jekyll reverts to his former sociable manner,
but in early January, he starts refusing visitors. Dr Hastie
Lanyon, a mutual acquaintance of Jekyll and Utterson, dies of shock
after receiving information relating to Jekyll. Before his death,
Lanyon gives Utterson a letter to be opened after Jekyll's death or
disappearance. In late February, during another walk with Enfield,
Utterson starts a conversation with Jekyll at a window of his
laboratory. Jekyll suddenly slams the window and
disappears.
In early March, Jekyll's butler, Mr. Poole, visits Utterson
and says Jekyll has secluded himself in his laboratory for weeks.
Utterson and Poole break into the laboratory, where they find Hyde
wearing Jekyll's clothes and apparently dead from suicide. They
find a letter from Jekyll to Utterson. Utterson reads Lanyon's
letter, then Jekyll's. Lanyon's letter reveals his deterioration
resulted from the shock of seeing Hyde drink a serum that turned
him into Jekyll. Jekyll's letter explains that he had indulged in
unstated vices and feared discovery. He found a way to transform
himself and thereby indulge his vices without fear of detection.
Jekyll's transformed personality, Hyde, was evil, self-indulgent,
and uncaring to anyone but himself. Initially, Jekyll controlled
the transformations with the serum, but one night in August, he
became Hyde involuntarily in his sleep.
Jekyll resolved to cease becoming Hyde. One night, he had a
moment of weakness and drank the serum. Hyde, furious at having
been caged for so long, killed Carew. Horrified, Jekyll tried more
adamantly to stop the transformations. Then, in early January, he
transformed involuntarily while awake. Far from his laboratory and
hunted by the police as a murderer, Hyde needed help to avoid
capture. He wrote to Lanyon (in Jekyll's hand), asking his friend
to bring chemicals from his laboratory. In Lanyon's presence, Hyde
mixed the chemicals, drank the serum, and transformed into Jekyll.
The shock of the sight instigated Lanyon's deterioration and death.
Meanwhile, Jekyll's involuntary transformations increased in
frequency and required ever larger doses of serum to reverse. It
was one of these transformations that caused Jekyll to slam his
window shut on Enfield and Utterson.
Eventually, one of the chemicals used in the serum ran low,
and subsequent batches prepared from new stocks failed to work.
Jekyll speculated that one of the original ingredients must have
some unknown impurity that made it work. Realizing that he would
stay transformed as Hyde, Jekyll decided to write his 'confession'.
He ended the letter by writing, 'I bring the life of that unhappy
Henry Jekyll to an end.'
Characters
Gabriel John Utterson
Gabriel John Utterson, a lawyer and loyal friend of Jekyll
and Lanyon, is the main protagonist of the story. Utterson is a
measured and at all times emotionless, bachelor – who nonetheless
seems believable, trustworthy, tolerant of the faults of others,
and indeed genuinely likable. Utterson has been close friends with
Lanyon and Jekyll. However, Utterson is not immune to guilt, as,
while he is quick to investigate and judge the faults of others
even for the benefit of his friends, Stevenson states that 'he was
humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done'. Whatever
these 'ill things' may be, he does not partake in gossip or other
views of the upper class out of respect for his fellow man. Often
the last remaining friend of the down-falling, he finds an interest
in others' downfalls, which creates a spark of interest not only in
Jekyll but also regarding Hyde. He comes to the conclusion that
human downfall results from indulging oneself in topics of
interest. As a result of this line of reasoning, he lives life as a
recluse and 'dampens his taste for the finer items of life'.
Utterson concludes that Jekyll lives life as he wishes by enjoying
his occupation. Utterson is a good, kind, loyal and honest friend
to Henry Jekyll.
Dr Henry Jekyll/Mr Edward Hyde
Dr Jekyll is a 'large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty
with something of a slyish cast', who occasionally feels he is
battling between the good and evil within himself, upon leading to
the struggle between his dual personalities of Henry Jekyll and
Edward Hyde. He has spent a great part of his life trying to
repress evil urges that were not fitting for a man of his stature.
He creates a serum, or potion, in an attempt to mask this hidden
evil within his personality. However, in doing so, Jekyll
transpired into the smaller, younger, cruel, remorseless, evil
Hyde. Jekyll has many friends and an amiable personality, but as
Hyde, he becomes mysterious and violent. As time goes by, Hyde
grows in power. After taking the potion repeatedly, he no longer
relies upon it to unleash his inner demon, i.e., his alter ego.
Eventually, Hyde grows so strong that Jekyll becomes reliant on the
potion to remain conscious.
Richard Enfield
Richard Enfield is Utterson's cousin and is a well known 'man
about town.' He first sees Hyde at about three in the morning in an
episode that is well documented as Hyde is running over a little
girl. He is the person who mentions to Utterson the actual
personality of Jekyll's friend, Hyde. Enfield witnessed Hyde
running over a little girl in the street recklessly, and the group
of witnesses, with the girl's parents and other residents, force
Hyde into writing a cheque for the girl's family. Enfield discovers
that Jekyll signed the cheque, which is genuine. He says that Hyde
is disgusting looking but finds himself stumped when asked to
describe the man.
Dr Hastie Lanyon
A longtime friend of Jekyll's, Hastie Lanyon disagrees with
Jekyll's 'scientific' concepts, which Lanyon describes as '...too
fanciful'. He is the first person to discover Hyde's true identity
(Hyde transforms himself back into Jekyll in Lanyon's presence).
Lanyon helps Utterson solve the case when he describes the letter
given to him by Jekyll and his thoughts and reactions to the
transformation. When Lanyon witnesses the transformation process
(and subsequently hears Jekyll's private confession, made to him
alone), Lanyon becomes critically ill and later dies of
shock.
Mr. Poole
Poole is Jekyll's butler who has lived with him for many
years. Upon noticing the reclusiveness and changes of his master,
Poole goes to Utterson with the fear that his master has been
murdered and his murderer, Mr Hyde, is residing in the chambers.
Poole serves Jekyll faithfully and attempts to do a good job and be
loyal to his master. Yet events finally drive him into joining
forces with Utterson to find the truth.
Inspector Newcomen
Utterson joins this Scotland Yard inspector after the murder
of Sir Danvers Carew. They explore Hyde's loft in Soho and discover
evidence of his depraved life.
Sir Danvers Carew, MP
A kind, white-haired old man and a Member of Parliament. The
maid claims that Hyde, in a murderous rage, killed Carew in the
streets of London on the night of 18 October (sometime between 11
pm and 2 am by the testimony of the maid). At the time of his
death, Carew is 70 years old and is carrying on his person a letter
addressed to Utterson, and they find one half of one of Jekyll's
walking sticks on his body. As a result, they later go and
investigate in Jekyll's house, but cannot find him; they later
enter a house where Hyde has been living and find the other half of
the stick in one of Hyde's rooms.
Maid
A maid, whose employer Hyde had once visited, is the only
person who claims to have witnessed the murder of Sir Danvers
Carew. She states that she saw that Mr Hyde murdered Carew with
Jekyll's cane and his feet. Having fainted after seeing what
happened, she then wakes up and rushes to the police, thus
initiating the murder case of Sir Danvers Carew.
Analysis of themes
Literary genres which critics have applied as a framework for
interpreting the novel include religious allegory, fable, detective
story, sensation fiction, Doppelgänger literature, Scottish devil
tales, and gothic novel.
Dualities
The novella is frequently interpreted as an examination of
the duality of human nature, usually expres-sed as an inner
struggle between good and evil, with variations such as human
versus animal, civilization versus barbarism sometimes substituted,
the main thrust being that of an essential inner struggle between
the one and other, and that the failure to accept this tension
results in evil, or barbarity, or animal violence, being projected
onto others. In Freudian theory, the thoughts and desires banished
to the unconscious mind motivate the behaviour of the conscious
mind. If someone banishes all evil to the unconscious mind in an
attempt to be wholly and completely good, it can result in the
development of a Mr Hyde-type aspect to that person's character.
This failure to accept the tension of duality is related to
Christian theology, where Satan's fall from Heaven is due to his
refusal to accept that he is a created being (that he has a dual
nature) and is not God. This idea is suggested when Hyde says to
Lanyon, shortly before drinking the famous potion – '...and your
sight shall be blasted by a prodigy to stagger the unbelief of
Satan.' This is because in Christianity, pride (to consider oneself
as without sin or without evil) is the greatest sin, as it is the
precursor to evil itself.
In his discussion of the novel, Vladimir Nabokov argues that
the 'good versus evil' view of the novel is misleading, as Jekyll
himself is not, by Victorian standards, a morally good person in
some cases.
Public vs private
The work is commonly associated today with the Victorian
concern over the public and private division, the individual's
sense of playing a part and the class division of London. In this
respect, the novella has also been noted as 'one of the best
guidebooks of the Victorian era' because of its piercing
description of the fundamental dichotomy of the 19th century
'outward respectability and inward lust,' as this period had a
tendency for social hypocrisy.
Scottish nationalism vs union with
Britain
Another common interpretation sees the novella's duality as
representative of Scotland and the Scottish character. In this
reading, the duality represents the national and linguistic
dualities inherent in Scotland's relationship with the wider
Britain and the English language, respectively, and also the
repressive effects of the Church of Scotland on the Scottish
character. A further parallel is also drawn with the city of
Edinburgh itself, Stevenson's birthplace, which consists of two
distinct parts: the old medieval section historically inhabited by
the city's poor, where the dark crowded slums were rife with all
types of crime, and the modern Georgian area of wide spacious
streets representing respectability.
Reception
Publication
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was initially sold as a
paperback for one shilling in the UK, as noted above, and for one
dollar in the U.S. These books were called 'shilling shockers' or
penny dreadfuls. The American publisher issued the book on 5
January 1886, four days before the first appearance of the UK
edition issued by Longmans; Scribner's published 3000 copies, only
1250 of them bound in cloth. Initially, stores would not stock it
until a review appeared in The Times, on 25 January 1886, giving it
a favourable reception. Within the next six months, close to forty
thousand copies were sold. As Stevenson's biographer, Graham
Balfour, wrote in 1901, the book's success was probably due rather
to the 'moral instincts of the public' than to any conscious
perception of the merits of its art. It was read by those who never
read fiction and quoted in pulpit sermons and in religious papers.
By 1901, it was estimated to have sold over 250,000 copies in the
United States.
The Stage Version Of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, though it had
initially been published as a 'shilling shocker,' was an immediate
success and is one of Stevenson's best-selling works. Stage
adaptations began in Boston and London and soon moved all across
England and then towards his home country of Scotland.
The first stage adaptation followed the story's initial
publication in 1886. Richard Mansfield bought the rights from
Stevenson, and worked with Boston author Thomas Russell Sullivan to
write a script. The resulting play added to the cast of characters,
and adds some elements of romance to the plot. Addition of female
characters to the originally male-centered plot has continued in
later adaptations of the story. The first performance of the play
took place in the Boston Museum in May 1887. The lighting effects
and makeup for Jekyll's transformation into Hyde created horrified
reactions from the audience, and the play was so successful that
production followed in London. After a successful ten weeks in
London in 1888, Mansfield was forced to close down production. The
hysteria surrounding the Jack the Ripper serial murders led even
those who only played murderers on stage to be considered suspects.
When Mansfield was mentioned in London newspapers as a possible
suspect for the crimes, he shut down production.
Adaptations
Poster from the 1880s
There have been numerous adaptations of the novella including
over 120 stage and film versions alone.
There have also been many audio recordings of the novella,
with some of the more famous readers including Tom Baker, Roger
Rees, Christopher Lee, Anthony Quayle, Martin Jarvis, Tim
Pigott-Smith, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Gene Lockhart and Richard
Armitage.
A Musical was created by Frank Wildhorn, Steve Cuden, and
Leslie Bricusse: 'Jekyll & Hyde: The Gothic Musical Thriller -
The Complete Work' (1994).
Illustrated versions
S. G. Hulme Beaman illustrated a 1930s edition.
