THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE USE OF MULTIPLE
PERSPECTIVES IN CRITICIZING THE VICTORIAN HYPOCRISY
AS SEEN IN STEVENSON’S
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
RIA INDAH KUSUMANINGRUM
Student Number: 024214050
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
For
My beloved mother
in the most beautiful place
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would thank Allah for every single bless given to me so that I finish writing my thesis. I would also like to show my gratefulness to all my lecturers in English Letters Department of Sanata Dharma University for sharing their knowledge with me during my study. I really do thank Dra. Theresia Enny Anggraini, M.A., for giving me advices during the completion of my thesis. I appreciate her patience in waiting for each draft submission. I would like to thank my co-advisor, Tatang Iskarna, S. S., M. Hum., for the suggestion to improve my thesis.
I would like to thank my father and my little sister for always supporting and praying for me, my Okman Budiardi for being my spirit. I want to say thank to my friends in English Letters 2002; Minthul, Ajenk, Evi, Nina, Dyah, Sheilla, Memey, Danang, Cepta , ko Dapit, Dimas, Parjo, Stefa, mas Leo, Sigit. I thank them for showing me what best friends are meant to be. I also want to say thank to Dharvit for his support. I want to thank mbak Nik for willing to give my draft to Miss Enny when I cannot do it by myself.
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone whom I forgot to name who has helped me finish this thesis.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. The Depiction of the Victorian Hypocrisy in the Third Person Limited Point of View………... 26
B. The Depiction of the Victorian Hypocrisy in the First Person Limited Point of View………... 29
C. The Use of Multiple Perspective in Criticizing Victorian Society.... 36
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ……….. 45
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……….. 53
ABSTRACT
RIA INDAH KUSUMANINGRUM (2007). The Significance of the Use of the Multiple Perspectives in Criticizing Victorian Hypocrisy as Seen in Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novel which explored the inner struggle between the two contradictory impulses within a human mind, good and the evil side. The novel itself has its own eccentricities, one of which is the use of multiple perspectives in narrating the story. This multiple perspectives makes the story become layerred so that readers are likely presented with several different narratives. However, the multiple perspectives are not further seen merely as the author’s creativity in presenting the story but also as his criticism toward the society at that time. The novel was written at Victorian era, an era characterized with high morality standard, and its subject matter was said to be a criticism toward Victorian middle-class society. Instead of discussing its subject matter, this study then is more focused to analyze the multiple perspectives and its significance in revealing the hypocrisy, the subject matter of the story.
There are three objectives in this study. The first is to analyze the depiction of the Victorian hypocrisy in the third person limited point of view. The second objective is to analyze the depiction of the Victorian hypocrisy in the first person limited point of view. The third objective is to find out what Stevenson actually criticize from Victorian society and how the multiple perspectives become significant in revealing his criticism.
In analyzing the novel the socio historical approach is applied. It is used to analyze Stevenson’s criticism toward Victorian hypocrisy and how the multiple perspective signifies his criticism.
ABSTRAK
RIA INDAH KUSUMANINGRUM (2007). The Significance of the Use of the Multiple Perspectives in Criticizing Victorian Hypocrisy as Seen in Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma..
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde karya Stevenson adalah sebuah novel yang mengeksplorasi pergulatan batin antara dua sisi dalam jiwa manusia, sisi baik dan jahat. Novel ini sendiri mempunyai beberapa kekhasan, salah satunya adalah penggunaan multiple persperktif dalam mengungkapkan cerita. Penggunaan multiple perspektif ini membuat ceritanya menjadi berlapis dan pembaca seolah disuguhi beberapa cerita yang berbeda. Tetapi lebih lanjut multiple perspektif tidak semata-mata dipandang sebagai kreatifitas pengarang dalam menyajikan cerita tapi juga kritikannya terhadap masyarakat pada saat itu. Seperti diketahui novel ini ditulis pada era Victorian yang dikenal dengan standar moralitasnya yang tinggi, dan inti cerita dari novel ini disebut sebagai sebuah kritikan terhadap masyarakat kelas menengah Victorian. Studi ini lebih difokuskan untuk menganalisa multiple perspektif dan signifikansinya dalam mengungkapkan hipokrisi yang merupakan inti cerita novel ini daripada membahas inti cerita itu sendiri.
Ada tiga objektif dalam studi ini. Yang pertama adalah untuk menganalisa pengungkapan Victorian hypocrisy dalam cerita yang menggunakan sudut pandang orang ketiga. Objektif yang kedua adalah untuk menganalisa pengungkapan Victorian hypocrisy dalam cerita yang menggunakan sudut pandang orang pertama. Objektif yang ketiga adalah untuk menemukan apa yang sebenarnya di kritik oleh Stevenson dari masyarakat Victorian dan bagaimana multiple perspektif menjadi signifikan dalam mengungkapkan kritikannya tersebut.
Pendekatan sosio-historikal diterapkan dalam menganalisa novel ini. Pendekatan ini digunakan untuk menganalisa kritikan Stevenson terhadap hipokrisi zaman Victorian dan bagaimana signifikansi multiple perspektif terhadap kritikannya.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
In many literary works, society often plays an important role. It provides inspirations to be written and aspects of life to be criticized for an author in his/her work. Society usually affects the content of literary works which will be produced. The relationship between literary works and society become an object of many studies of literature.
One example of literary works which will not be easy to be separated from the influence of society is a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It was written in 1885 in the reign of Queen Victoria in England. Lunt in his History of England said that Victorian era was the era of growing capitalization and industrial
Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde describes also the society of this Victorian era in its story. Readers can look at the life of middle-class gentlemen in London through the characters of Jekyll, Utterson, Lanyon, and Enfield. Readers are also brought to recognize the hypocrisy of the Victorian society through Jekyll’s perspective. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is based on Stevenson’s own experiences with middle-age gentlemen in
London and Edinburgh. He sees his surrounding as a world of appearance and not substance. Someone is judged based on their social status and not their attitudes. Clearly Stevenson believes that his novel explores the hypocrisy of this time as well as the innate
evilness that occurrs in the society (http://www..gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/jekyll/about.html).
The original idea of the story occurred from a nightmare. After reading the initial manuscript to his wife and being suggested that much can be done to the story so that it did not become a straight forward horror story, Stevenson burnt the draft. The rewriting of the draft took a scant three days. Stevenson had completed the story with allegorical
undertones as his wife had suggested (http:/www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheStrangeCaseofDr.JekyllandMr.Hyde).
darker-self anymore he decides to put his life to an end (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9894).
However, what makes the researcher interested is not the basic issue presented in the story but the way the author presents it. In his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Stevenson uses multiple perspectives to narrate the story. There is a part of the story which is narrated through the third person’s perspective and the other parts which are narrated through the first person’s perspective. By using this kind of perspective the author has made a difference in showing this duality of human in the story. Related to the Victorian hypocrisy of that time, it is interesting to discuss this multiple perspectives used by Stevenson in showing this duality of human. Therefore, this study will further discuss about the multiple perspectives and try to find out its significance in criticizing Victorian hypocrisy.
B. Problem Formulation
In order to limit the points of discussion and make the writing clear, three questions are provided. The questions are formulated as follows:
1. How is the hypocrisy depicted in the third person limited point of view 2. How is the hypocrisy depicted in the first person limited point of view?
C. Objectives of the Study
The analysis of this study is to answer the questions in the problem formulation. The researcher will discuss about the multiple perspectives used in the story to present the duality of human. In discussing the perspectives used in the story, the researcher uses several theories of point of view. As it is known, point of view is the author’s tool to reveal the story. It is carefully chosen to fulfill the intended effect of the story. Using point of view, the author can direct the perspective which brought the readers into the story.
One interesting example of manipulating perspective to create certain effect intended by the author is Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In discussing the work, the researcher will relate it to the historical background especially Victorian era in which the work was written. Considering the situation within the society at that time, the researcher will try to find out the significance of the perspectives used in the story in criticizing Victorian hypocrisy. This study is a discussion of the author’s creativity shown by the use of perspective in revealing his idea of certain issues within his involvement in his society. Hopefully, this paper will give a better understanding in studying the work.
D. Definition of Terms
1.Victorian hypocrisy
The Victorian hypocrisy meant by the researcher here refers to the hypocrisy happenned in Victorian era. Thus, the word “Victorian” refers to the era, Victorian era in England, and not to a particular hypocrisy. The term hypocrisy in this study is not merely seen as a psychological matter but more considered as a sociological matter. It can be concluded from an article in the internet page that the hypocrisy as what is happenned in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is not the kind one suffers from multiple personality disorder as what is known in psychology though it also comes from the existence of the duality, the good and the evil sides, in man’s psyche. The need to be two-faced in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is seen as a response toward social convention prevailed in the society. For Henry Jekyll, the two-faces are performed because the situation that he deals with requires it. He needs to accommodate his darker side but there is a strict rule in the society which forbides any behavior that disregard moral values. Therefore, the two-faces, represented by Jekyll and Hyde, are performed. Here the hypocrisy is not merely a nicety but life-saving tactic. It is a reaction toward the conflict between an individual and his society (http;//www.zetatalk.com/beinghum/b63.html).
Another argument still from the internet also discuss about the social hypocrisy in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It says that “the novel has been noted as ‘one of the best guide
books of the Victorian times because of its piercing depiction of the fundamental dichotomy of the 19th century outward respectability and inward lust’ as it had a tendency
for social
2. Multiple Perspectives
Kennedy and Gioia define perspective in their book, An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, as a special angle of vision. It is a special angle of vision from which
a story will be perceived by the readers. In order to define the perspective of the story we shall know who is the narrator, and to identify the narrator of the story and describing any part he or she plays in the story and also the limitation he or she has upon his or her knowledge is to identify the story’s point of view. Thus, perspective is closely related to point of view. The point of view will determine the perspective of the story. If we are told a story from the third person point of view then we will perceive the events of the story from the third person’s perspective. Similarly when the story is employing the first person point of view then we will have the narration to be revealed from the first person’s perspective (Kennedy and Gioia, 1999: 20-21).
The term multiple perspectives is used by Hutchins in mentioning the internal eccentricities of Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The story in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is revealed through the perspectives of few different characters. In the beginning of
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
One interesting part in Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the changing narrator. In the end of the story the narrator is shifted from the lawyer to the fellow doctor of Jekyll, Dr. Lanyon and also Henry Jekyll himself. These narrators, Lanyon and Jekyll, give their voices as their letters of will are read. The perspective will also shift from the third person perspective to the first person perspective. Discussing this changing narrator, there is a criticism in the internet which says that Stevenson feels the need to clarify certain part in the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. From the very beginning readers are brought into the story through the third person perspective, that is the perspective of the lawyer. The narration is based on what this character experiences, feels, thinks, or sees. Therefore the story about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde itself seems to lay underneath this narration by the lawyer. It is as if there is a story within a story throughout the novel, and until the end of the lawyer’s narration the readers are given an access only to one. Jekyll’s full statement and Dr. Lanyon’s narrative reveals this hidden story and unravel all the mysteries about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. All events that seem puzzling or
inexplicable before are suddenly explained (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/jekyll/section7.rhtml).
of the external circumstances that have brought about the final product we have before us. Further he says that its composition is the result of a number of factors, including what he calls dream work, cocaine, Stevenson’s conscious effort to compile his narrative, Stevenson’s knowledge of Edinburgh’s criminal- by-night, and the feedback of his family (http://caxton.stockton.edu/victoriannovels/stories/storyReader$11).
The first and second factors, dream work and cocaine, still by Hutchin, refer to the process of getting the original idea for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It is said that the original idea comes from a nightmare. Stevenson took cocaine to help quell the effect of tuberculosis. The effect caused by cocaine and its ensuing dreams were possibly combine to produce at least two chapters of the story (http://caxton.stockton.edu/victoriannovels/stories/storyReader$11).
Discussing the third factor, Hutchins says further that Stevenson grappled with the duality theme for some time and tried to find the vehicle for that strong sense of a man’s double being which must at times came in upon and over helm the mind of every thinking creature. In his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde it is clear that Stevenson success in finding that vehicle (http://caxton.stockton.edu/victoriannovels/stories/storyReader$11).
defined as the fifth factor of the story (http://caxton.stockton.edu/victoriannovels/stories/storyReader$11).
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is criticized also for its subject matter. Guest in an
internet page writes that Stevenson put across the duality of human through Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. However, according to Guest Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde do not really represent good and evil. Jekyll is not of pure good nature, he represents the control one has over primitive spontaneous passions and desires. Dr. Jekyll thus symbolizes the idea of repression in a respectable individual. Hyde is not purely evil either, after having trampled calmly a little girl, Hyde himself speaks in a sincere manner and offers compensation for his act. In that way, both sides of Jekyll are both good and evil. One can say that the duality in Stevenson’s novel is not about good and evil but more about a curiosity to discover one’s primitive impulsive side (http://www/online-literature.com/forums/showtread.php?t=9894).
Stevenson said later that its plot was revealed to him in a dream. The story has been considered an criticism of Victorian double morality, but it can be read as a comment on Charles Darwin's book The Origin of Species - Dr. Jekyll turns in his experiment the evolution backwards and reveals the primitive background of a cultured human being. Modern readers have set the story against Freudian sexual theories and the split in man's psyche between ego and instinct, although the "split" takes the form of a physical change, rather than inner dissociation. The conflict between Jekyll and Hyde reveals also era's class phobias (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/jekyll/context.html.).
not heterosexual or homosexual sin. The novella is noted as one of the best guide books of the Victorian times because of its piercing description of the fundamental dichotomy of the 19th century outward respectability and inward lust as it has tendency for social hypocrisy. Stevenson never says exactly what Hyde takes pleasure in on his nightly forays, saying generally that it is something of an evil and lustful nature, and thus in the context of the times, abhorrent to Victorian religious morality
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheStrangeCaseofDr.JekyllandMr.Hyde).
Positioning the discussion in this study among those criticisms, the researcher will like to agree with the criticism about the theme of the novella, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It is said that the novella is about the duality of human and not about homosexual or heterosexual sins. However, this study will emphasize more on the multiple perspectives used in the story and its significance in criticizing Victorian hypocrisy instead of discussing its theme. The theme, human duality, will be seen as the part of the hypocrisy of the Victorian society. This study will be related also to the socio-historical background of the society in which the work is produced.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Point of View
Point of view is a term used in the analysis and criticism of fiction to describe the way in which the reader is presented with the materials of the story or, regarded from another angle, the vantage point from which the author presents the action of the story (Holman, 1906: 386). To find the point of view used in a story we should identify the narrator of the story and describing any part he or she plays in the story and also the limitation he or she has upon his or her knowledge. Abrams in his book, A Glossary of Literary Terms, gives a clear classification of point of view into two kinds, the
third-person narrative and first-third-person narrative. The third-third-person narrative is further divided into two, the omniscient point of view and limited point of view (Abrams, 1981: 143-144).
In third-person omniscient point of view the narrator acts like God. He knows everything that needs to be known about the agents and events, he is also free to move as he will in time and place, and to shift from character to character. He has privileged access to a character's thoughts and feeling. However, if a narrator limits the perspective of the story through one single character or at most by a very limited numbers of characters and narrated the story according to what is experienced, thought, and felt by this character then the narrator is employing third-person limited point of view (Abrams, 1981: 143-144).
To complete the theory on point of view, the researcher also put one kind of point of view according to Kennedy and Gioia, that is objective point of view. In their book, An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, the objective point of view is the point of
view in which the narrator does not enter the mind of any character but describes events from the outside. The narrator just tells us what the characters says and how their faces look, and leaves the reader to infer the characters' thoughts and feelings (Kennedy and Gioia, 1999: 23).
Besides analyzing the types of point of view used in the novel, the researcher needs also to analyze the advantages and disadvantages each point of view to help the researcher finds out the significance of the multiple perspectives toward the story. According to Guerin in his book A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, the third person omniscient point of view can be used to avoid the story to go in several directions. By using the third person omniscient point of view the center of the story can be held so that it has integrity (Guerin, 1999: 88). However, Kennedy and Gioia also write in their book An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, that the third-person omniscient point of view requires high skill to manage; without the storyteller’s losing his way in a multitude of perspectives. Further they say that having a narrator who does not know everything, an author can artfully withhold information to create suspense (Kennedy and Gioia, 1999: 25).
perceiving a story through the first-person limited point of view readers may find it difficult to think about the character himself; the readers, the character, and the author may simply fuse together. Another disadvantage of this type of point of view is that the author cannot comment upon this character directly (Stanton, 1965: 28-29).
The third-person limited in the other hand, enables the author to comment upon this directly. By using this third-person limited point of view the author has also the freedom to tell the readers what several characters are thinking simultaneously (Stanton, 1965: 29).
2. Theory of Society in the Novel
In discussing the second point, the socio-historical background of the story, first the researcher needs to understand about the society in the novel and the real society which refers to the society outside the work itself. Langland writes in her book that society in the novel does not merely refer to people and their classes but their customs, conventions, beliefs and values, their institutions – legal, religious and cultural – and their physical environment. This society sometimes reveals through human relationships, through characters’ patterned interactions and their common expectations of one another (Langland, 1984: 6).
Society plays an essential formal role within a novel: antagonist to individual protagonists, a context, if not an obstacle, to the characters’ growth and self-realization. Langland says in her book that the function or the formal roles of society in the novel is determined by the relationship between character, society, and narrator or implied author. These relationships are further classified into four basic arrangements:
a. Characters enmeshed in a social milieu are presented as being in a conflict with the society. Individual potential meets social possibility, and the result is some personal limitation or sacrifice. Writers who use this kind of arrangement are interested in exploring what meant to be an individual with special needs and particular talents in a milieu that is usually conservative, established, and generally unresponsive to particular needs. In this formal pattern the individual may succeed or fail in establishing the validity of his values vision.
b. The narrator may choose to become engaged in the world of his novel and by his presence affect the narrative outcome.
Langland explains in her book that the way society is structured – how it is depicted, how its elements were organized – defines its formal role. So, when we speaks of the formal role of society, we are speaking of the ways in which structural elements of a particular depiction are combined and evaluated to make society itself an integral part of a novel’s form, a significant element in the principles generating a particular work (Langland, 1984: 9).
Society in a work of fiction is a part of its setting. Therefore, in doing this study the researcher also need to understand about theories of setting.
3. Theory of Setting
Stanton in his book, An Introduction to Fiction, says that the setting of a story is the environment of its events, the immediate world in which they occur (Stanton, 1965: 18). The definition of setting can also be found in Holman’s A Hand Book to Literature. He writes that setting is the physical, and sometimes spiritual, background against which the action of a narrative (novel, drama, or short story, poem) takes place (Holman, 1906: 465).
Further he says that there are four elements which make up a setting. Those elements are:
a. the actual geographical location, its topography, scenery, and such physical arrangements as the location of the windows and doors in a room;
b. the occupations and daily manner of living of the characters;
d. the general environment of the character, for example religious, mental, moral, social, and emotional conditions through which the people in the narrative move.
C. Review of Victorian Era
Since this study is related to the socio-historical background of the story, therefore it is important to have a clearer description about the society in which the work is produced.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written in 1885. In that era England was under the
reign of Queen Victoria so that the late nineteenth century in England was known also as Victorian Era.
W. E. Lunt writes in his book, History of England, that the improvement in means of transportation during the nineteenth century caused extensive changes in British commercial and industrial organization and affected profoundly the lives of all classes. Early in the nineteenth century the invention of steamship and railway resulted in the speedier means of transportation. This stimulated the rapid development of civilization and culture. The improved transportation was a factor of primary importance in producing the enormous expansion of British industry and commerce which took place after 1850 and made Great Britain for the next quarter of a century “the workshop of the world” (Lunt, 1945: 743-744).
Similar to Lunt, David Thomson also describes mid-Victorian society in his book, England in the Nineteenth Century, by writing that the background of mid-Victorian was
set England far ahead of all other countries. The situation induced in large sections of the upper and middle class a mood of comfortable complacency (Thomson, 1951: 100-101).
This two writers also write about another aspect of Victorian society instead of its industrial growth. Thomson writes in his book that there were two other forces effected Victorian’s thoughts instead of materialism. One was religion, which played a very large part in mid-Victorian life and thought: the other was the generous humanitarian impulses which derived partly from evangelical religion, partly from liberalism. The most generaly accepted and practised form of Christianity at that time was that which may be broadly called evangelicalism, with its emphasis upon moral conduct as the test of the good Christian (Thomson, 1951: 106-107).
pruderies which it was easy enough to hold up to ridicule. No doubt the outward acceptance of the code by some who dared not reject it led to hypocrisies. Yet a commonly accepted religious belief which inspired men to find pleasure in doing their duty was a force which affected profoundly the thoughts and actions of Victorian men and women (Lunt, 1945: 751-752).
good fortune. The spirit not only found expression in fiction and in poetry, but it also actuated several writers who criticized the complacency and apathy of the middle-class. They told us much concerning contemporary ideals both by the aspects of society which they criticized and by the profound influence which they exerted upon the thought of the time (Lunt, 1945: 752-755).
Victorian society forbade the discussion of many issues, sexuality stood at the top of the blacklist. Late Victorian literature contained many subtle allusions to covert acts of socially unacceptable sexual behavior, often referring to or symbolizing homosexual activities (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/jekyll/section7.rhtml).
D. Theoretical Framework
In doing this research, the information about Victorian society is absolutely needed to give a clear description of the situation in the society at that time: the social life; the economic condition; and also the policy of the government. Through this information, the researcher finds that the hypocrisy is indeed exist in the Victorian society. This information also give a clear reflection on how an individual may live and survive within that kind of society. Thus, considering that the work, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, was written in that era, it is not something fancy to suspect that Stevenson may be
The theories of point of view will help the researcher to discuss the perspective used within the narration. This theories explain also the advantages and disadvantages of each point of view. By analyzing the perspective used in the story and its advantages or disadvantages the researcher will try to find the significance of the multiple perspectives toward the story. The result of this analysis will further help the researcher to find the author’s intention in using the multiple perspectives in his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and how this will help him to achieve his purpose in criticizing Victorian hypocrisy.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is chosen to be analyzed in this study. The novel was written at Bournemouth in 1885 and first published in January of 1886. It had originally belonged to a genre known as the shilling shocker. The manuscript was initially sold as a paperback for one shilling in the UK and one dollar in the USA. Within the next six months close to forty-thousand copies were sold. By 1901 it was estimated had sold over 250,000 copies. It met tremendous success and ensured Stevenson’s fame as a writer.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has become an icon of popular culture and adapted among
others into screen over 20 times. The story of double personality and metamorphosis appealed strongly to Victorian readers. The novel is partly based on Stevenson's and W.E. Henley's play Deacon Brodia (1880), where an Edinburgh councilor was publicly respectable person but privately a thief and rakehell. The basic theme of true identity have attracted such writers as Mary Shelley (Frankenstein, 1818), Hans Christian Andersen ('The Ugly Duckling', 1845), Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Crime and Punishment, 1866), Bram Stoker (Dracula, 1897), Franz Kafka ('Metamorphosis', 1915).
the other characters’ thoughts and opinions about him. Only after continuing to the next part narrated through Henry Jekyll’s perspective readers are exposed to the character of Hyde and the story of his existence.
B. Approach of the Study
In order to help the researcher in analyzing the novel, an appropriate approach is needed. The aim of this study is to find out the significance of the multiple perspectives used in the novel in criticizing Victorian hypocrisy. Thus, the focus of the discussion is the perspective and how it is used in the story. However, the analysis will be related to the socio-historical background of the novel, especially the hypocrisy of Victorian society at that time, and the multiple perspectives are seen as Stevenson’s creativity particularly to deal with the circumstances around him at that time.
The socio-historical approach does not look at the work of literature as its object but also at the civilization that produced it. It also investigates the social milieu in which a work is created. The socio-historical approach explores the relationships between the work, the artist, and society (Kennedy and Gioia, 1955: 1942-1943). Therefore, in relation to the topic, the socio-historical approach is considered as the most appropriate approach to be applied in this study.
C. Method of the Study
secondary data. The primary data is the novel itself, and the secondary data are other writings related to the novel and the study including theories on literature and some criticism. In collecting the criticism related to the novel and the topic of the study the researcher also uses other media i.e. from the internet.
The theories used in this study are theories on point of view, setting, and society in the novel. The theory on point of view is taken from Abrams’ book, A Glossary of Literary Terms (1981), Holman’s A Handbook to Literature (1906), and Kennedy’s and
Gioia’s An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama (1999). The theory of setting is taken from Holman’s A Handbook to Literature (1906) and Stanton’s An Introduction to Fiction (1965). The theory of society in the novel is summed up from Langland’s book
Society in the Novel (1984).
Besides the theories mentioned above the researcher also uses the information of the Victorian society which is taken from W. E. Lunt’s book History of England (1945), David Thomson’s England in the Nineteenth Century (1951), and from the internet page (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/jekyll/section7.rhtml).
This research is conducted in several steps. The first step is reading and understanding the novel. In this step the researcher tries to focus on the use of the multiple perspectives in the story especially in presenting the duality of human.
The third step is collecting the information needed to answer all the questions. In doing this the researcher reread the story carefully. To answer question number one the researcher analyzes the depiction of the Victorian hypocrisy in the part told in the third-person perspective. The researcher uses the theory of point of view and focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of the third person limited point of view to find out its significance in depicting the Victorian hypocrisy. Having answered the first question, the researcher moves to the second question. To answer this question the researcher also analyzes the depiction of the Victorian hypocrisy in the first person limited point of view. The researcher uses the theory of point of view and focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of the first person limited point of view to find out its significance in depicting the Victorian hypocrisy. The last question to be answered is the significance of the multiple perspectives in criticizing Victorian hypocrisy. In order to find the answer for this question, the researcher analyzes the answers for the questions number one and relates it to the way the hypocrisy is depicted in the story like what is discussed as the answers for question number one and two.
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
A. The Depiction of the Victorian Hypocrisy in the Third Person Limited Point of
view
Stevenson uses multiple perspectives in his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He does not only switch the perspective from which the story is revealed but he also changes the point of view in this novel. Based on the point of view used to narrate the story, the narration can be divided into two parts. The first part is the story which uses the third person limited point of view. The second part is the story revealed through the perspectives of Henry Jekyll and Hastie Lanyon which use the first person limited point of view.
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the lawyer, Gabriel Utterson, is chosen to be the perspective in narrating the story. The perspective of the lawyer, Gabriel Utterson, is used to narrate almost three quarter of the novel. Stevenson reveals the events and actions through Utterson – what he sees, hears, feels and thinks – by using the third person limited point of view.
Mr. Hyde appeared to hesitate; and then, as if upon some sudden reflection, fronted about with an air of defiance; and the pair stared at each other pretty fixedly for a few second (page: 29).
Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish; he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering, and somewhat broken voice – all these were points against him; but not all these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust, loathing, and fear with which Mr. Utterson regarded him (page: 30).
Analyzing the quotation above, it can be seen clearly the difference in characterizing the two characters, Mr. Hyde and Mr. Utterson, the lawyer. Stevenson uses the words which suggested feeling such as fear, and disgust, when depicting the lawyer’s impression toward Hyde. This shows the narrator’s omniscience toward the character of the lawyer. The narrator is given an access into the lawyer’s mind to describe his feeling. Comparing it to the way Mr. Hyde is characterized it seems that the narrator is looking at Mr. Hyde through the perspective of the lawyer. Mr. Hyde is characterized based on the lawyer’s impression toward him. Thus, it can be concluded that Stevenson chooses the lawyer to be the perspective in narrating the story in this part.
happened, how Carew is murdered and who is the murderer, because the character from whose eyes the story is perceived is absent from the incident. Only after we have Henry Jekyll, the one who is eventually known as the murderer, narrating the same event readers are brought into the replay of the incident to get all the mysteries revealed.
Analyzing this arrangement in presenting the facts and events in the first part of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde it can be assumed that Stevenson intends to conceal certain parts
of the story. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it is the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which are hidden from the narrative in Utterson’s perspective. Readers only know Jekyll and Hyde as well as Utterson know them. Stevenson limits readers’ knowledge toward the story and gives them the same account of information as what Utterson has. Therefore readers will shared with him many questions and mysteries about the existence of Hyde and the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde.
B. The Depiction of the Victorian Hypocrisy in the First Person Limited Point of
View
In the second part of the novel Stevenson switches the perspective to other characters in the novel, Henry Jekyll and his fellow doctor, Hastie Lanyon. In this parts Stevenson is employing the first person limited point of view. Reading this second part of the novel all the mysteries in the narration through the lawyer’s perspective will be revealed. Readers will be given an access to another account of the same events through different perspectives. It is as if there have been two parallel narratives throughout the novel, and readers have been given an access only to one until the end of the part through the third person perspective. Reading the part narrated through first person perspective readers will encounter a second account of the same events that have been unfolding throughout the novel. The whole story will be completed piece by piece. First it is Lanyon who gives his statements in Dr. Lanyon’s Narratives. Through his perspective readers are brought to discover Jekyll’s duality. Lanyon had witnessed Jekyll’s transformation into Hyde wiyh his own eyes.
After Lanyon’s narratives are finished to be read, readers will have Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case. Stevenson employs the first person limited point of view in this part, therefore readers will have Henry Jekyll to narrate his own story. Through Jekyll’s perspective the hypocrisy is finally revealed. In this part readers are not only exposed to the hypocrisy but also invited to infer why the hypocrisy occurs.
man who sees his position in the society with dignity. He places himself as public example of strict virtue. He is a kind of man who takes his public responsibility seriously. These are what bring him into duality of personality and determine the handedness of his darker side.
And indeed, the worst of my faults was a certain impatient gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happiness of many, but such as I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the public. Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection, and began to look round me, and take stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life (page: 61).
Since public man must be seen to be blameless, Jekyll feels that he must hide his private nature, even to the extent of denying it to be any part of himself. Therefore, when he awakens the darker side of him even succeeds to transform it into another being, Jekyll determines to conceal the fact that Edward Hyde, the darker self, is a part of him. He creates a new identity for his darker self to separate himself from this darker part of him. However, Jekyll admits that Edward Hyde is a part of his being. This Edward Hyde is the shape of his repressed nature, the spontaneous passions and desires.
Analyzing Jekyl’s duality, especially his darker side, it is interesting to note that Stevenson has emphasized that the duality is not chemically produced. It can be implied from Jekyll’s confession that he had learned to recognize the duality of men as well as that of himself. He finds out the two sides of his personality, the good side and the evil side. Through his life he learns to develop only the good side and in other hand represses the evil side. However, this evil side is still a part of his being, and Jekyll is tempted in the imagination of separating these two elements.
dwell with pleasure, as a beloved day-dream, on the thought of the separation of these elements. If each, I told myself, could but be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was unbearable; the unjust might go his way, delivered from the aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin; and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path, doing the good things in which he found his pleasure, and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil (page: 62).
Jekyll then works in his laboratory to discover the way to separate these two elements. He eventually succeeds to formulate a potion which can transform him into Edward Hyde. Thus, this Edward Hyde is what is chemically produced, not the characteristics he represented, because these characteristics, in fact, already exists in Jekyll’s being. Jekyll recognizes his own evilness, his passions and desires, in the being of Hyde. He realizes that in the disguise of Hyde he can liberate himself to fulfill his spontaneous dark impulses. Henry Jekyll had discovered the way to liberate his repressed side without risking his reputation as a respectable gentleman. Since then Henry Jekyll lives his double lives, as Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. He is known as Henry Jekyll, a respectable doctor of middle-class Londoners but at night he can also transform himself into Hyde to lurk around Soho and fulfill his passions and desires.
The people who had turned out were the girl’s own family; and pretty soon the doctor, for whom she had been sent, put in his appearance…, and about as emotional as a bagpipe. Well sir, he was like the rest of us; every time he looked at my prisoner, I saw that Sawbones turned sick and white with the desire to kill him…, we were keeping the women off him as best as we could, for they were as wild as harpies. I never saw a circle of such hateful faces; …(page: 23).
From the quotation above readers can have a view of the people gathered about when Hyde had just trampled a little girl in the street. It can be imagined then what will happen to Jekyll if his duality is uncovered. It will not only destroy his reputation but also endanger his life.
Therefore, Jekyll determines to conceal his duality and keep his reputation immaculate. Even though Edward Hyde has become a criminal and is chased by people in town for the murder he had done, but Henry Jekyll is still sheltered under his reputation as a respectable gentleman.
After the murder of Sir Danvers Carrew, one of the well-known men in London, Jekyll realizes that Hyde shall vanish for good. Hyde had done a crime so that he becomes a fugitive. If Hyde is captured by police it will involve Jekyll and soon Jekyll’s duality will be discovered. Therefore, Jekyll decides that Hyde shall disappear. He stops drinking the poison which can transform him into Hyde so that there will be no one who can find Edward Hyde. As Edward Hyde disappears Henry Jekyll can still get back to his ordinary life as Henry Jekyll. No matter what Hyde had done it will never effected Jekyll because the secret of his duality had been put under his hat. He is still Henry Jekyll, a respectable gentleman, and even he can work harder to increase his reputation.
begins to be more often tempts Jekyll. Even though Hyde had became a murderer but Jekyll cannot help to transform and liberate himself in the disguise of Hyde. Eventually, Jekyll has ran out the ingredients for the poison. However, it is not the worst for Henry Jekyll. He can no longer control his transformation into Hyde. He will still be transformed into Hyde even though without drinking the poison first. Jekyll realizes that soon the relationship between Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde will be discovered. People will curse him and his reputation will be destroyed. Therefore, he shall end his double lives. Henry Jekyll shall choose between Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. Finally he chooses Henry Jekyll.
When he is no longer capable to control his transformation, Henry Jekyll determines to save his reputation. He uses his lastest effort to gain consciousness and write his letter of will. This letter is intended to be read only by the lawyer, Mr. Utterson. It will explain about his transformation into Hyde. Henry Jekyll also determines to put Hyde’s life into an end. He commits suicide as Henry Jekyll to avoid full disclosure of his duality.
Jekyll’s double lives as Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde, and also his gymnastic efforts to conceal his darker side can be seen as hypocrisy. In the disguise of Hyde he liberates himself to fullfil his spontaneous primitive desires but as Henry Jekyll he can still live his life as a respectable gentleman. Thus, Jekyll’s deeds can be said as hypocrite.
into Hyde. He never think that in the hands of Edward Hyde his darker side can be turned into the worst. When he realizes this it is already too late. Jekyll can only reedem the evil done by Hyde. Analyzing the hypocrisy deeper it can be found out that the duality is not the main cause of the hypocrisy. It can be seen in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that this duality is possesed also by the other characters, including the lawyer.
Stevenson depicts the duality of human issue in his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He presents to us the inner struggle of one’s impulses, the conflict between the good side and evil side in the mind of a human being. Within the part narrated through the lawyer’s perspective readers are presented with this inner struggle. Stevenson employs the third-person limited point of view in this part so that he is given an access to the minds of several characters to report what these characters feel or think.
...Utterson locked the door of his business room, ..., drew out and set before him an envelop addresed by the hand and sealed with the seal of his death friend. “PRIVATE: for the hands of J.G. Utterson ALONE, and in case of his predecease to be destroyed unread,” so it was emphatically superscibed; and the Lawyer dreaded to behold the contents... And then he condemned the fear as a disloyalty, and broke the seal... A great curriosity came to the trustee, to disregard the prohibition, and dive at once to the bottom of these mysteries; but professional honour and faith to his death friend were strigent obligations; and the packet slept in the inmost corner of his private safe (page: 43).
The quotation above shows the inner struggle between the good side and evil side in the lawyer’s mind. Utterson is obsessed to know more about Hyde, the mysterious dark character. His obsession makes him went as far as being tempted to disregard the prohibition of reading Dr. Lanyon’s narrative, which is only meant to be read if Dr. Jekyll dies or disappears. This illustrates the existence of duality in every individual.
C. The Use of Multiple Perspectives in Criticizing Victorian Hypocrisy
In order to find the significance of the multiple perspectives in criticizing Victorian hypocrisy each type of the point of view used in the story is analyzed. The third person limited point of view used in the first part is first to be analyzed.
The third person limited point of view is used to narrate almost three quarter of the story in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this type of point of view the narrator refers to all characters in the third person. He will reveal the story through the perspective of a single character, describes what this character experienced. This third person limited point of view places the narrator as the observer for the narrative events. By using this point of view, the narrator is positioned as someone outside the story. Since he refers to all characters in third person therefore it seems that there is a distance between him, the narrator, and the characters and also the narrative events within the narration. Having a narrator with such a kind of position toward the story readers are likely brought to look at the medium of the narrative events. The medium here refers to the characters, the people within the narration. In other words, readers are brought to observe the people lived the story since the narrator himself is not one of the characters because he does not participate in the narrative events. It is different to the first person limited point of view. In the first person limited point of view readers are likely being exposed to the narrative events immediately because the narrator is also the character who participates in the story.
observe the characters, the people lived the narration. Readers merge with the narrator and place themselves outside the story. The readers will look into the story through the eyes or the perspective of one of the characters. Thus, what readers are immediately exposed to is the characters of the story, and not the narrative events. It seems that Stevenson intends to depict the characters lived the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Since Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is known also to be set in Victorian era therefore it can be assumed that Stevenson intends to expose the readers to the Victorian society, which is represented by the characters.
In order to have the narrator does not participate in the narrative event so that the story will likely being observed from the outside, Stevenson can use another type of third person point of view, that is the third person omniscient point of view. Similar to the third person limited point of view, in this type of point of view the narrator will also refer to all characters in third person and describes what they are experiencing within the narration. Using the third person omniscient point of view Stevenson can also present the Victorian society. However, the difference between the two types of third person point of view in narrating the story lay in the narrator’s knowledge toward the narrative event. In third person omniscient point of view the narrator acts like God who knows everything about the story. This point of view enables him to move as he will in time and place and to shift from character to character so that nothing will be missed by his eyes of God. In other words, he knows everything that need to be known about the agents and events of the narration.
most a very limited number of the characters to be his perspective in narrating the story. All the events and actions within the story will be perceived from the eyes of the character. Thus, it can be said that the narrator does not know everything about the story. He will share the same amount of information about the narration with his perspective. Kennedy and Gioia state in their book, An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, that having the narrator who does not know everything about the story, an author can artfully withhold certain information about the story. Referring back to the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde it can be found out that it is the information about Jekyll’s duality
and eventualy about the hypocrisy which is likely being concealed in the narration using the third person limited point of view. From the very beginning of the story it is because the lawyer, from whose perspective the story is revealed, is not informed about Jekyll’s duality so that the idea of hypocrisy itself is likely being hidden in this part.
However, the hiddeness of the hypocrisy in the first part is not resulted merely by the lawyer’s not being informed about Jekyll’s duality. It can be seen in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that more than once does this Mr. Hyde relate himself and his deeds to the
respectable doctor, Henry Jekyll. After trampling a little girl in the street, Hyde offers a sum of money as compensation for his deed and he hands a cheque signed with the name of Henry Jekyll. When Hyde even commits a murder there is a piece of broken stick which is recognized by Utterson as the stick he had ever gave to Henry Jekyll as a present which is used by Hyde to kill his victim.
Even though many incidents lead to Jekyll’s involvement in many actions done by Hyde but Utterson thinks that Henry Jekyll is only poor for being friend to a man like Edward Hyde. Therefore, Utterson will like to speak nothing about the possibility of Jekyll being involved in Hyde’s deeds if there is no sufficient proof to support it. At this point, his attitude is something natural according to his characteristics. He is a tolerant man. He is reluctant to judge so that he will rather helping people than condemning them.
Mr. Utterson the lawyer…. had an approval tolerance for others; sometimes wondering, almost with envy, at the high pressure of spirit involved in their misdeeds; and in any extremity inclined to help rather than to reprove…., it was frequently his fortune to be the last reputable acquintance and the last good influence in the lives of down-going men. And to such as these, so long as they came about his chambers, he never marked a shade of change in his demeanour (page: 21).
Based on the lawyer’s characteristics in the quotation above it is just his nature to save the faces of his relations and never to open his mouth for something that can possibly destroy their reputation. In the beginning of the story Utterson warns his cousin, Enfield, for speaking to much to unfold Jekyll’s involvement with Hyde.
“Yes, I know,” said Utterson; “I know it must seem strange. The fact is, if I do not ask you the name of the other party, it is because I know it already. You see, Richard, your tale has gone home. If you have been inexact in any point, you had better correct it’.
“I think you might have warned me,” returned the other, with a touch of sullenness. “But I have been pedantically exact, as you call it. The fellow had a key; and, what’s more, he has still I saw him use it not a week ago”.
Mr. Utterson sighed deeply, but said never a word, and the young man presently resumed. “Here is another lesson to say nothing,” said he. “I am ashemed of my tongue. Let us make a bargain never to refer to this again” (page: 25).
writings are in many points identical. The lawyer then asks this matter never to be spoken to anybody else.
In the beginning it is because the lawyer is not informed about Jekyll’s duality that made the idea of hypocrisy is likely being hidden. Then when many incidents leads to Jekyll’s involvement with Edward Hyde, the lawyer chooses to be silent. His silence makes the hypocrisy is kept aside along this narration in the first part. However, the lawyer’s attitude to be silent, later on, can be assumed as an indicator for something more than his nature. A remarkable incident to prove this is the incident of the window. It is told in the story that the lawyer and his cousin, Enfield, are having their usual walk together. Incidentaly they see Henry Jekyll as they pass under the windows of Jekyll’s house. In that incident the two gentlemen see such an terrifying thing, so terrified are the two gentlemen so that their blood runs cold.
… But the words were hardly uttered, before the smile was struct out of his face and succeded by an expression of such abject terror and despair, as froze the very blood of the two gentlemen below. They saw it but for a glimpse, for the window was instantly thrust down, but that glimpse had been sufficient, and they turned and left the court without a word. In silence, too, they traversed the by-street;…. (page: 45).
The gentlemen have seen the other ‘face’ of Henry Jekyll which has the expression of terror and despair. This face is the face they have never seen before, and seing this face is extremely shocking for them. It can be suspected also that the gentlemen have seen the transformation of Jekyll to become Edward Hyde because the expression they have seen will likely similar to Jekyll’s expression when he is in the proses of transforming into Hyde after drinks the potion.
these agonies began swiftly to subside, and I came to myself as if out of a great sickness (page: 63).
Jekyll is describing his feeling during the transformation to become Hyde in the quotation above. According to that description the expression that the two gentlemen saw in the window seems to fit that situation. Thus, it can be assumed that it is Jekyll’s transformation to become Hyde that the gentlemen have seen even though it is not stated clearly in the novel. Utterson and his cousin, Enfield, have discovered Jekyll’s duality.
Regarding to this fact, it is interesting to discuss their silences. After that shocking incident the two gentlemen can only say nothing about the thing they have just seen. Their silences not only express their frights. It does not merely refer to the failure in uttering the words but it also indicates their refusal to use the words. The silences of the two gentlemen show their refusal, their denial toward the darker elements of humanity. One can also argue that these gentlemen’s silences is something natural if it is related to the way these gentlemen are characterized in the story, especially the character of the lawyer. Stevenson characterizes the lawyer as a man with good qualities in him. He is intellectual, objective and tolerant. However, it shall be remembered also that this character, the lawyer, is the perspective for the narration in this first part of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Stevenson employs the third person limited point of view in this part. By using
cannot be revealed within the first part of the narration because the character from whose perspective readers perceived the story denies and even refuses this idea of hypocrisy. The gentlemen’s silences have prevented the hypocrisy to be stated. Therefore, within the first part of the narration the hypocrisy is kept being hidden.
Relating the use of the third person limited point of view to narrate the story in this first part, especially its significance in presenting the hypocrisy, to the Victorian society it can be assumed that this hiddeness of the hypocrisy is the effect that Stevenson wants to create in this first part of his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This hiddeness of the hypocrisy is likely what Stevenson would like to criticize from Victorian society. By employing the third person limited point of view in the first part, Stevenson likely intends to depict the medium of the hypocrisy. Since London had been chosen to be the background setting for his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, therefore it can be assumed also that Stevenson does not merely depict the characters as the medium for the hypocrisy in the story but he has intentionally depicted Victorian society. However in depicting the Victorian society using the third person limited point of view he also creates certain circumstances for the hiddeness of the hypocrisy.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
Having all the questions in the problem formulation answered, it can be concluded that Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a criticism toward Victorian society not only because of its subject matter but also the way the author presented it in the story. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an exploration of human duality which eventually leads to hypocrisy. Stevenson reveals the inner struggle of a human being, represented by Henry Jekyll, to control the darker element of personality. It shows the worst that can possibly happen when the darker side is let to take over our souls. Henry Jekyll does not only commit hypocrisy to conceal his darker side that he had just set free and even transformed into a being, Hyde, but eventually he also commits suicide to avoid full disclosure of his duality.
The hypocrisy which is depicted in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is considered as Stevenson’s criticism toward his society, the Victorian society. It cannot be denied indeed that a work of literature is often effected by the civilization in which it is produced. Often society becomes an object for an artist to be criticized in his work or merely becomes the inspiration to be reflected as a setting. Reading the novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it will be found that London has been mentioned for many times in the
narration.
It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a by-street in a busy quarter of London (page: 22).
In the bottle the acids were long ago resolved, the imperial dye had softened with time, as the colour grows richer in stained windows; and the glow of hot autumn afternoons on hillside vineyards was ready to be set free and to disperse the fogs of London (page: 40).
Stevenson has set the events and actions within the story to happen in London. London is chosen to be the setting for the story in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Through the characters of his novel, Stevenson presents to the readers the society of London and its social lives. However, Stevenson does not merely present London and its society in general but he chooses a particular era of England. In his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Stevenson tries to picture Victorian society and uses it as the setting for his novel. Victorian era referred to the era in England in the late eighteenth century when England was under the reign of Queen Victoria. This era, according to Lunt in his History of England, was the era of remarkable development in many aspects of life, such as science,
technology, and economic. The inventions in science and technology have supported the industrial growth and set England far ahead of all other countries. This situation brought England material prosperity and comfortable life for its people. The upper-class and middle-class of England society were familiar with entertainment and pleasure (Lunt, 1945: 743-744).
middle-class gentlemen. They are regular attendances of friendly meeting and dinners in town.
A fortnight later, by excellent good fortune, the doctor gave one of his pleasant dinners to some five or six old cronies, all intelligent reputable men, and all judges of good wine: ...(page: 32).
Instead of the improvement in many aspects of life, Victorian era was also characterized by hypocrisy. This hypocrisy, still according to Lunt, was caused by their religious conviction. The common belief of the people in this era was at bottom evangelical with its emphasis upon social duty and moral conduct. There was high moral standard in the Victorian society. This strict rules of behavior finally led to hypocrisy for some who dared not reject it (Lunt, 1945: 751-752).
Stevenson presents to us also this hypocrisy in his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Readers are brought to discover the hypocrisy of a respectable doctor of London middle-class gentlemen, Henry Jekyll. In presenting the hypocrisy, Stevenson focuses on this character only, indeed, because Henry Jekyll is the one who commits hypocrisy in this story. However, through the perspective of the doctor Stevenson goes deeper in depicting this hypocrisy. He does not merely present it but also shows us why the hypocrisy occurred. He likely shows the readers the circumstances that leads to the hypocrisy by using Jekyll’s characteristics. Analyzing Jekyll’s characteristic, readers are expected to conclude the basic cause of the hypocrisy.
However, it is found out latelly in the story that Henry Jekyll is also responsible for crime of child abuse and even a murder. Here, Stevenson likely shows that someone’s goodness sometimes is only a mask to cover his real face, the darker side of his personality.
Beside using the hypocrisy Stevenson also criticizes Victorian society by the way he presents the hypocrisy in his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this novel Stevenson employs multiple perspectives in narrating the story. The facts and events in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are revealed through different point of view and different perspective of
the characters also. However, this arrangement also causes the story to be layerred. From the very beginning of the story until the parts which are told through the first person perspective, Henry Jekyll’s and Hastie Lanyon’s perspectives, readers are only exposed to one single narrative. Then when having these first persons to narrate their stories readers are presented other stories which are actually parts of the initial story. The story we perceived first from the very beginning is the frame for the stories we perceived later on within the narrative of the first story. These two stories attached to the frame are known as the embedded stories or the meta narratives.
Barry in his book, Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory had writes that the meta narrative is a narrative within the narrative (Barry,2002:
235-236). The frame has the function as background for the meta narrative. It provides certain circumstances for the meta narrative to exist. Take for an example Chauser’s Canterbury Tales. In this story, the narrative of several people travelled in a pilgrim who
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the narrative through Utterson’s perspective is the frame for the meta narratives through the perspectives of Jekyll and Lanyon. It is narrated in the frame that finally Utterson read the letters of will wrote by the lates Jekyll and Lanyon. The reading of the letters is the circumstance created to cause the existence of the parts through the first person perspective. As soon as these letters of will are read, as the perspective switches from Utterson to Jekyll and to Lanyon, readers will be brought into other accounts of story – the meta narrative.
It is important to note here that the frame and the meta narrative are caused by the changing perspective and point of view. When the perspective shifts from the lawyer to the doctors, Jekyll and Lanyon, and the point of view also changes from third person to first person, the parts narrated in first person will likely stand as two separated narrations. It will likely become other stories by other narrators. In the part narrated in the third person there is a narrator who is not one of the characters in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde because he does not participate in the narrative events. This narrator reveals the story through the perspective of one of the characters, the lawyer.
The steps drew swiftly nearer, and swelled out suddenly louder as they turned the end of the street. The lawyer, looking forth from the entry, could soon see what manner of man he had to deal with. He was small, and very plainly dressed; and the look of him, even at that distance, went somehow strongly against the watcher’s inclination. But he made straight for the door, crossing the roadway to save time; and as he came, he drew a key from his pocket, like one approaching home (page: 29).
On the ninth of January, now four days ago, I received by the evening delivery a registered envelope, addressed in the hand of my colleague and old-school companion, Henry Jekyll (page: 55).
It can be seen clearly in the quotation that the narrator in this part is different with the narrator in the first part which used the lawyer’s perspective. In Dr. Lanyon’s Narrative the narrator is Dr. Lanyon himself, and he is narrating his own story, his own experiences. Similarly, in Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case it will be Henry Jekyll himself as the narrator for his own story.
Since the stories are narrated by three different narrators therefore in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde there are likely three different narrations existed. However, these three
narrations are actually composing one single narration. The story through the first person perspective completes the initial story in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which is narrated through the third person perspective. At this point the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde can be said to be layered.
