Abstract
Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde or the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of Robert Louis Stevenson?s novels. Henry Jekyll is a respectable and kind doctor in London. He keeps on researching a way to release the other side of him. He invents a kind of potion. After drinking it, all the elements of evil in his body concentrate, and make him transfer to another person: Hyde, as he is called.
Dr. Jekyll is analyzed by many experts and scholars at home and abroad. Most of the studies of Dr. Jekyll are from the perspective of ethics and dual personality. There are a few people who mention that Hyde equals with the id. Based on Vladimir Nabokov?s analysis of Dr. Jekyll, this thesis uses the structure of personality theory to interpret the psychological mechanism of Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Nabokov thinks that Dr. Jekyll is a composite being; Mr. Hyde does not form of pure evil; and there is a third, which is made up of the elements of good. According to the structure of personality theory, Dr. Jekyll equals with the ego that represents reason, obeys the external world rules and the reality-principle; Mr. Hyde follows no rules, obtains satisfaction with the pleasure-principle; the third is the superego who holds up certain norms of behavior.
The id and the superego are often in conflicts and contradictions, which are always mediated by the ego. If the three are out of balance, the person would have psychological problem, or mental disease. Mr. Hyde is the impulsion desires of Dr. Jekyll, which is restrained by the ego. By drinking the potion, Dr. Jekyll releases his id. Hyde is so happy to do whatever he wants, but Jekyll is regretful and painful towards what Hyde has done, which is the punishment from the superego, or the third. The drug lost its effect, which worsens the conflicts inside Dr. Jekyll. He finishes his own life to end those sufferings. The purpose of this thesis is to alarm modern people to care about their psychological health, and choose a proper way to restrain and release their impulsive desires.
Key words: Stevenson; Dr. Jekyll; Mr. Hyde; Nabokov; structure of personality theory
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Introduction
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), a Scottish writer, is known as the representative of Neo-Romanticism. He writes a lot in his short life, including poetry, essays, travel writings, drama, letters, short stories and novels. His main achievement is in the field of novel. The themes of his novels focus on the romantic legends and the mysterious adventures. Treasure Island is his most popular one. It is also the one that Chinese people most familiar with. People may have no knowledge about R. L. Stevenson, but they do know or hear about it. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were published in 1886. It is another masterpiece of R. L. Stevenson.
Since this novel has been published, the term of Jekyll and Hyde becomes the synonym of dual personality. It is remarked that both Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are fairy tales, the former for children, and the latter for adults. These two books together with his other works have brought Stevenson great success and reputation. For introducing the author, the novel, and the merit of the novel, the background of R. L. Stevenson?s living time, his own living experiences are mentioned in this thesis.
Moreover, his main works, creating principles, writing style, and preparation for finishing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are introduced, as well as the studies and researches of Dr. Jekyll, which have been done by readers, critics and scholars. The emphasis of this thesis is the character analysis of Dr. Jekyll from the perspective of psychoanalytical criticism. The viewpoint of this thesis is expatiated based on the analysis by Vladimir Nabokov.
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Chapter One Literature Review
1.1 Historical Background
Some scholars think that the Victorian Age started from the year of 1832, for the Reform Act was passed in that year. The Reform Act of 1832 is viewed as a new beginning. Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria, 1819--1901) came to the throne in 1837. So, some scholars claim that the Victorian Age began from 1837 to 1901, according to her reign, which is also called Victorian era. The term, Victorian Age, mentioned in this thesis is from 1832 to 1901, which is adopted from A New Anthology of English Literature, edited and annotated by Luo Jingguo. The reign of Queen Victoria was the longest in British history. It was the climax of the British Industrial Revolution and a great expansion of the British Empire. The Englishmen are still so proud when this Age is spoken of today. The Victorian Age was the heyday of British Empire?s economy, politics, and culture. It was a period, which experiences dramatically changes.
The changes and existed problems in political and economic fields sharpened the ideological struggle. In this period, there firstly emerged an open ideological struggle between socialism and the apology for capitalism and imperialism. Those different philosophical thoughts reflected in literary works, leading to different literary schools. The third group, those escapists and pessimists, who disappointed with the dreadful reality, had no interest in bettering or changing it. They either confined themselves in the ivory tower of art or sought spiritual refuge in far-far-away or long-long-ago romances. Robert Louis Stevenson belonged to the latter.
1.2 Literature Background
Literary works in Victorian Age were multifarious. From all angles, it reflected the variety of the social situation and changes in people's lives and the society. Its main forms in that Age were poetry, novel, prose, and essays. It included romanticism, realism, critical realism, naturalism, new romanticism, aestheticism and many other schools. Novel, chiefly the realistic novel, gradually replaced poetry, becoming the dominant form
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in Victorian literature. Many prose-writers appeared in the mid and late period in this age. Drama did not prosper in this period. There was almost no playwright worthy to be mentioned, except Oscar Wilde, who produced great drama at the end of the century. His comic plays satirized upper-class manners and morals.
There were certain social conditions that contributed to the prosperity of novel in Victorian Age. First of all, the increased amount of readers. During the industrial revolution, urban population added quickly. Take London as example, its population was 2 million at the year when Queen Victoria ascended the throne. Then to the year of her death, the population grew to 6.5 million. The increase of the population means the increase of the readers. Second, the price of books got down. The skills of printing and papermaking were more advanced. The cost of production was lower than before. Moreover, a lot of libraries were constructed. People could read books without buying them. Furthermore, the writer has become a kind of profession. Men of letters were able to make a living by writing. Many people chose writing as their occupation. Last but not least, reading the novels was a favorable way of entertainment, which was especially loved by the wealthy middle-class.
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Chapter Two The Character Analysis
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is quite different from his other masterpieces. R. L. Stevenson often tries new ways of writing. “Once he said that the true artist will vary his method and change the point of attack. That which was in one case an excellence, will become a defect in another; what was the making of one book, will in the next be impertinent or dull.” Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a great success, even greater than Treasure Island. There are many elements that contribute its success: R. L. Stevenson?s talent of story-telling, the excellent skills of narration, and the interest plot of the story, the outstanding description of the contradictions and the conflicts, and so on. The most merit in the novel is that there is no influence from God or devil towards the leading character. Before and in Mr. Stevenson?s time, there are many novels about a person lured by devil and rescued by God. This kind of theme can also be found in Mr. Stevenson?s work.
2.1 Angle Dr. Jekyll and Demon Mr. Hyde
Angle or demon is in the field of Ethics, certain system of moral principles, is a branch of philosophy, which deals with values relating to human actions. It is a kind of standard to judge people?s motives or actions. It includes numerous elements. Angle and demon is just the basic ones of them. The traditional opinion is that Dr. Jekyll represents the good, whereas Mr. Hyde is on the behalf of evil. Henry Jekyll was born in a wealthy family, had a good education, and was respected by the people who knew him. He was a prominent, popular scientist in London. He was a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty. He was a M.D. (Doctor of Medicine), D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Law), F.R.S. (Fellow of the Royal Society), and so on. Therefore, people took him as good man for granted. Instead of doing evil things, he contributed much to charities. Compared with him, Mr. Hyde was totally a demon. Hyde, the last name of Edward Hyde, means “hide”. The metaphor is that Henry Jekyll hid in Edward Hyde. Utterson, the
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