The Dichotomy In Gothic Literature

Inside the house of Mr. Hyde, there are rooms that are decorated in conflicting ways. One room was “furnished with luxury and good taste”, additionally it was decorated sophisticatedly and elegantly Stevenson 27). Even though the room was decorated elegantly, it looked as though the room was hurriedly ransacked. The dual theme of the room symbolizes the struggle between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the lower class overthrowing the upper class. Dr. Jekyll’s lab and house are connected but the two buildings have two very different appearances. Dr. Jekyll’s lab has “the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence”, which symbolizes the neglect of the lower class (Stevenson 6). However the house of Dr. Jekyll symbolizes the upper class and is the opposite of the lab.

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one long social commentary. One of its main themes is breaking down the façade of perfection created by the upper class, and examining what lies underneath. In fact, the whole story is about a man in high society, whose private life is rather an opposite of his public one. In Dr. Jekyll’s letter, Stevenson writes, “I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold slave to my original evil… I was suddenly aware that I had lost in stature,” (Stevenson page 2273). The idea of a “loss in stature” holds a double meaning. Stature, meaning size, can allude to Hyde’s height which is understood to be much less than Jekyll’s own. Yet, stature, meaning stance in society, can also imply that Jekyll, when transformed, no longer hold’s his prominence in his culture. This speaks to the Victorian society’s habit of only portraying the high society as impeccable which Stevenson battles throughout this mysterious case. Another parallel of appearance is described by Nabokov as he states, “The relations of the two are typified by Jekyll’s house, which is half Jeykyll and half Hyde,” (Nabokov 186). The side facing the street filled with others in the upper class is neat, tidy, and welcoming; this is Jekyll’s half. The side facing a dimmer and more dangerous street is dark, looming, and mysterious; similar to Hyde’s

An Atmosphere of Mystery and Suspense in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

head of this, when he is really saying that he goes his own way and

Frequently overlooked in favor of discourse on the duality of man or the dubiousness surrounding the characters’ interactions with Hyde, Jekyll’s portrayal of his transformations into Hyde in Robert Lewis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde has an indubitable parallel to symptoms of drug addiction. This allegory fits seamlessly into the narrative once the reader becomes aware of its presence. Not only does Henry Jekyll present symptoms paralleling drug addiction, his transformations into Hyde and how the other characters in the novel react to them are also typical of situation involving an addicted person. Finally, the ease with which a respectable member of the bourgeoisie lapses into such a degenerative state serves the

Brown does not rely on most of the conventions of the gothic literature. Brown does use conventions of a Gothic genre. Brown follows the topics shared in an American Gothic novel. Allan Lloyd-Smith talks about how many American Gothic writers would exchange key aspects that can be seen in a European gothic novel. For example, instead of a castle the setting of the novel will include a remote house in the country side away from most of the population. Brown does not include a great deal of the setting but uses atmosphere and suspense to inflict fear into his readers. Brown stays away from the European gothic conventions discussed in “The Gothic Novel”. Brown does not include castles, dungeon and does not place his gothic novel in the medieval

Gothic literature has been criticized as being a dreary, dark, and death-involving subset of Romanticism (a literary movement accentuating human individuality, imagination, and subjectivity). In addition, gothic lit incorporates several themes- not all about deathly acts - but includes some emotional and surprising themes such as dreams, nightmares, or hallucinations, and grotesque or bizarre occurrences. Two short stories, both written by Edgar Allan Poe, entitled “The Raven,” and “The Black Cat,” as well as the novel The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, all encompass these gothic elements, found throughout each story.

Jekyll’s outward actions may disguise his internal disarray, but it is clearly depicted in his environment. The habitations of Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde parallel the arrangement of his mind state. While Jekyll’s home is open for all to view and enter, every abode highly associated with Hyde is kept locked and off-limits. Hyde’s residence, or the nether-side of Jekyll’s, is an impenetrable fortress with no windows and which showed every sign of “prolonged and sordid negligence” (8). Jekyll’s private cabinet, which contained the chemical components for bringing about his transformation into Hyde, had a door that was “very strong, the lock excellent,” and which required “two hour’s work” by a locksmith to allow admittance (43). The most obvious representative residence is that of Jekyll’s last refuge in the inner sanctum of his scientific research building. The door had to be repeatedly axed to allow forced entry as “the wood was tough and the fittings were of excellent workmanship” (38). This area proved to be the most revelatory of Jekyll’s unconscious, containing many “closets” that

The Gothic genre often reproduces a conservative paranoid structure when it comes to homophobia and other moral panics over sex (Hanson, Pg. 176). Eve Sedgwick depicts this in her work, ‘Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosexual Desire’ as she discusses how these ideas (paranoia) are represented within the Gothic, in what she describes as the ‘homosocial’ in reference to male bonds (Sedgwick, Pg. 86). She also discusses how bonds between men exist as the backbone of social form and forms (Sedgwick, Pg. 86). Thus, a consequence of said structure is the ability to define, control, and manipulate male bonds, which in turn becomes an inexplicably powerful instrument of social control (Sedgwick, Pg. 86). Thus, homosexuality is represented as the ‘unspeakable’ within the Gothic, as it has been defined, controlled, and manipulated to be such though social control. Therefore, this paper will discuss how ‘homosocial’ bonds between men, are used as a tool in social control and used as a way to produce paranoia and moral panic, thus in reference to the Gothic, these forms epitomize homosexuality as the ‘unspeakable,’ especially through homosexual representations within the contexts of ghosts and haunted houses.

The power of consciousness and thought- that inner voice of reason constraining one from happiness, or perhaps protecting one from the imminent fear and gloom encompassing the Earth. This is what Romanticist writers across the centuries have worked so sedulously to convey. In the 1700’s these topics frequently arose through what is known as gothic literature, a severe configuration of Romanticism. Most gothic literature writers including Edgar Allen Poe and Horacio Quiroga, demonstrate the universal idea of this inherent, earthly darkness through the use of two elements- entrapment and mental decay. These writers manipulate these elements to show that it is the unfathomable darkness present in people’s hearts and minds that claws at them, torments and traps them; draining the souls from their bodies leaving nothing behind but broken minds. The preceding elements of entrapment and mental decay are portrayed prevalently through “The Black Cat,” “The Feather Pillow,” and “The Raven.”

Religion often takes a central theme in both Gothic literature and literature from The Romantic Movement. When these two literary genres combine, it is inevitable that religion will take an even more important role in the author’s expression. It follows that a novel with such commercial success in this century (Caleb Williams, Godwin, 2008) demonstrated the theme of religion. “Caleb Williams” attracted many negative reactions as many saw it as an affront to virtue, religion and government. The British Critic (1794) stated that “This piece is a striking example of the evil use which may be made of considerable talents…every gentleman is a hard-hearted assassin, or a prejudiced tyrant; every Judge is unjust, every Justice corrupt and blind.”

Therefore, the house is characterized as being dark and uninviting in contrast to the well-kept home of Dr. Jekyll. As a result, these locations of Dr. Jekyll’s residence symbolize the struggle that exists between good and evil. The well kept home is occupied by the respectable Dr. Jekyll while the evil Mr. Hyde resides in the un-kept and dingy laboratory. Dr. Jekyll is described as a wealthy man who takes part in good deeds, which is illustrated in this welcoming and elegant house. Mr. Hyde is a gruesome creature that takes part in animalistic and immoral acts, which is represented by the dingy and secretive laboratory.

The author uses the idea of Jekyll's double sided house to transfer the message of having a split personality. The house provides a very contrasting space where Jekyll can on one side live his day to day life while the other is used for scientific use , with a door that permits Hyde to conceal the fact that he is associated with Dr. Jekyll. Dr Jekyll's house is described in the book as a two sided house with on one side a very big, expensive looking entrance and on the opposite a discreet laboratory. The grand entrance is described to show off an air of “wealth and comfort” , the laboratory is accessed by a door a block away, which is covered by “the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence.” This idea of two very opposite, contradicting

on the aid of Hell itself, and to find things familiar in the world of

The term gothic serves as the ideal backdrop for a literary era of suspense, mystery, and terror. A haunted mansion bursting with secrets, a naïve helpless heroine, and the male hero that saves the day are all quintessentially gothic. When Ellen Moers first coined the term “Female Gothic” in her 1976 book, Literary Women, she defined it as “the work that women writers have done in the literary mode that, since the eighteenth century have been termed Gothic” (Moers). Her argument that Female Gothic literature is a code for women’s fear of domestic entrapment, especially within their own bodies as was mainly experienced in childbirth and motherhood, was quite influential. Anne Williams, in her book The Art of Darkness: A Poetics of Gothic, argues that Female Gothic can be further dissected to include its intention to criticize the patriarchy while educating and socializing its female readers with an affirmation of absolute independence and strength. The Female Gothic is often pursued and haunted by a villainous patriarchal figure, but finds salvation on her own accord and more importantly, within herself. Another element of Female gothic is madness and monstrosity as an explanation for why the female would deviate from the conventional norm.