How does your understanding of the historical context in Dr Jekyll and
Mr Hyde help you understand the representation of Victorian society in
the novel?
The Victorian period, named because Queen Victoria ruled England, was a time of scientific,
economic and social change from 1837 to 1901. During this time, the values that emerged
throughout all classes in England were also spread around the world due to the heavy
influence of the British Empire that dominated the globe. There were also breakthroughs in
science that are relevant still today. In order to conform to these values society was
constrained and people would unleash their socially undesirable behaviours. Amid all this
turmoil, in 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson published The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr
Hyde, a short novel that conveys three crucial aspects of the Victorian period: the
awakening of socially repressed and controlled feelings and behaviours, Victorian society's
mad chase for reputation and social perfection, and lastly the advancement in science which
constantly clashed with the Christian religious beliefs during that time.
The Victorian era, famed for its outstanding morals and social customs, was often seen as a
period of peace and perfection for England. The capital, London, was said to be the pinnacle
of excellence and a place of prosperity, where people were expected to behave within the
boundaries of the highest moral standards. As portrayed in the Jekyll and Hyde, the
attempts to conceal socially questionable behaviours led members of the upper class to
display a double identity during the Victorian period and suppress their inner desires. It is
found that both Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde symbolise the repressed individuals of
Victorian social norms as Jekyll suppresses his inner-self and separates his dual personality
apart in the form of Edward Hyde. Dr Jekyll is described as a wealthy and righteous man
"...who had always been known for charities, [and] was no less distinguished for
religion...He was busy, he was much in the open air, he did good". Despite his
reputation and morality, Dr Jekyll successfully created a potion under which he became a
different person. Whenever he used the potion, Dr Jekyll would turn into Mr Hyde, who was
described in the text as "something displeasing" and "down-right detestable". He has
socially repressed prohibited behaviours all his life but decided to change and obtain
freedom by becoming somebody else. In Jekyll's letter, he states, "... I concealed my
pleasures..." revealing a strange truth: he was already living a life of duplicity long before
his personality split into two. Living in the Victorian era, Jekyll was compelled to satisfy his
appetites in secret and further repress them to preserve his reputation as an upright citizen.
As the representation of Jekyll's alter-ego's evil side, Hyde performs violent and criminal acts
that oppose the idea of social morality and perfect conduct. This is shown when Enfield
blackmails Hyde for trampling the girl, which in his account of Hyde's response is ironic due
to his reply of "If you choose to make capital out of this accident... No gentleman but
wishes to avoid a scene,' says he. `Name your figure." stating that if Enfield is
threatening to expose him and ruin his reputation, he will gladly pay Enfield off. This
reflected the hypocrisy that was prevalent during Victorian times. Even though Hyde
represents a rampant, impulse-driven side of Jekyll's personality, Hyde's cold calculation
shows a level of repression. Hyde tries to uphold his appearance as a "gentleman" by
conforming to Victorian custom. Mr Hyde is a by-product of society, but, in this case, he is
also a by-product of the suppression of self, frequently based on moral and societal beliefs.
It can be concluded that Jekyll-Hyde's characterisation articulates the social criticism against
the firm gentlemen's image in the Victorian era. Through the construction of the characters
of Dr Jekyll and Hyde Stevenson shows that Victorian people are imperfect and have
dualities that Victorian values deny, ultimately leading to the destruction of the repressed
person or even society.
Despite perceived shortcomings in one's family, personality, and wealth, the Victorians
always put up a front to maintain a good appearance and uphold their reputation. This
is reflected in Stevenson's novel for the characters in Jekyll and Hyde, for who preserving
one's reputation is all-important. Dr Jekyll creates Mr Hyde to do evil things and follow his
desires without harming his excellent reputation, as he is a wealthy scientist. Reputation
comes into play numerous times in the novel and is shown in Jekyll's letter in which he says,
"I had been safe of all men's respect, wealthy, beloved", implying that he tries to
maintain his outstanding reputation as an exemplary citizen while being Hyde and destroying
Hyde’s reputation. The prevalence of this value system is evident in how honourable men
such as Utterson and Enfield avoid gossip at all costs for they see it as a great destroyer of
reputation. In the first chapter, Enfield is wary of sharing his story of the mysterious door,
saying, "The more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask". In other words, should
something look like a troubled situation, Enfield stays as far away from it as possible to avoid
association with it. He prides himself on his excellent reputation, and he will not do anything
that could damage it. This reflects Victorian society - people were aware that others were
secretly transgressing, therefore they avoided asking too many questions that reflected
poorly on their lives. Similarly, when Utterson suspects Jekyll first of being blackmailed and
then of sheltering Hyde from the police, saying, "if it came to a trial, your name might
appear", he does not make his suspicions known; part of being Jekyll's good friend is a
willingness to keep his secrets and not ruin his respectability. In many instances in the
novella, Utterson being the representation of Victorian respectability, adamantly wishes to
preserve Jekyll's reputation and the public appearance of order and decorum, even as he
senses a vile truth lurking underneath.
During the Victorian era, the norm for people was to follow Christianity as a religious belief
as it was crucial to communities and individuals. Many people believed that God created the
universe and he was the sole creator; therefore, the principles taught, and the word of the
Bible should be followed. There were many branches of Christianity, but one particularly
relevant to Stevenson's novel was The Evangelicals, who believed humanity was naturally
sinful and needed to move from the darkness to light through God's forgiveness.This meant
strictly heeding society's view of morality. Religion pervaded social and political life to an
extent almost unimaginable today. Therefore, it can be argued that it was the cause of many
societal taboos - science being one of them. Due to society’s dogmatic religious beliefs,
people feared scientific developments and feared what this would do to humanity, thus
causing a constant battle between religious beliefs and the scientific ideologies evolving at
that time. This is prevalent throughout the novel and integral to Dr Jekyll's experiments
which are seen as "...unscientific balderdash" to Dr Lanyon, who deals with the science of
the material world, who is unable to cope with Jekyll’s scientific knowledge to experiment
and go against religion. Both Dr Jekyll and Dr Lanyon are scientists who live in a Christian
society with their profession solely relying on rational methods and hard evidence. It is seen
that Lanyon and Jekyll have very different approaches to science and religion: Lanyon keeps
science and religion separate, and Jekyll combines science and religion. Stevenson uses Dr
Lanyon to embody the Victorians who thought that evolving scientific progress and discovery
is something that should be kept separate from religion. In his statement, Jekyll uses science
to challenge the religious belief that people should try to lead a life free from sin. It is
Jekyll's 'temptation of a discovery so singular and profound' that motivates him to
create Hyde, consequently changing human nature, which Christians see as God's creation
and something that is pure. His ideology depicts his mind as unlike lawyers and other
doctors, who restrict themselves to logical reasoning. He confesses that he uses both
chemical and mystical methods to explore the duality of man at the end of the novel. Jekyll
uses science to deal with 'that hard law of life, which lies at the root of religion', as an
avenue to access the supernatural as we read that his scientific work leads "wholly
towards the mystic and transcendental". The 'hard law' is the idea that all humans are
sinful. Throughout his book, Stevenson conveys that the tension between science and
religion was a source of conflict in Victorian society. At the start of the 19th century, most
people believed the explanation from the Bible that God created the earth. However,
throughout the nineteenth century, scientists began to disprove this theory, as they believed
that plants and animals developed by evolution; leading many Victorians to think that this
view was dangerous because it suggested that science had the power to create life,
challenging their religious beliefs view of the world. Evolution theory dispelled religious
values, leading to many conflicts, both between man and society and between man himself.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson portrays
its sociological background of Victorian society through the main characters of the novel:
Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, and Mr. Utterson and the side characters: Mr Enfield and Dr Lanyon
through the use of characterisation and language features to convey how different
characters respond to life and fit in the Victorian repressive society as they envisage
different reactions toward the norms, values, and beliefs in the society they live in.
Stevenson critiques the Victorian practice of selecting only those qualities in people and
places that are deemed respectable and repressing all others, because it divides one person
into two separate personalities. This duality, wherein a person contains good and bad
qualities, was frowned upon in Victorian England. Stevenson urged society to debunk their
beliefs and embrace the notion that “Man is not truly one, but truly two”