Happy Halloween Readers,
Today is the final day of classical monsters’ week and we
are looking at the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis
Stevenson. Also, today is my second day at Alton Towers Scarefest check out my
Instagram for Vlogs.
This is such a short book (88 pages) but don’t let that
pull the wool over your eyes. The novella crams a complete, fully-fleshed story
by using a magnificent dual of points of view changes, dialogue and flashback.
I love Victorian horror it's so weird and wild and all about challenging social
norms. In lesser hands, the amount of information and story contained in this
tale would have required a lot more paper.
There’s a reason
this novella has stood the test of time - it is creepy and interesting as hell.
In addition to being a model of bluntness and for me it adds to the enjoyment
of the story. There's a lot of discussion and symbolism in the book about dual
natures: the city itself, and even Jekyll's home which shows how good and bad
can co-existing side by side. Dr Henry Jekyll is a brilliant man who in the
course of trying to understand the human psyche has turned himself into a
guinea pig for his experiments. He has unleashed a power from within that is
turning out to be too formidable to be properly contained.
I think there’s something terrifying about the idea of
losing humanity and sanity, at first due to your own choices but later because
of forces, you cannot control. It is still a chilling thought to acknowledge
that we all have “polar twins" that are "continuously
struggling" in order to both satisfy self and present well in society.
Jekyll begins to revert to Hyde without taking any of his
potion. He continually wakes up as Hyde until, one day, there is no Dr Jekyll.
It is as though he has never existed, and Mr Hyde is all that is left of him.
Overall, this is one of those classics that lives up to
its name and rightfully belongs among the highlights of gothic fiction.
L x
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