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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”
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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 (1850-1894) • 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