This is important. Taken from an article at www.tor.com: And when I say everybody, I mean everybody. Not just most people today don’t understand the original story—though that’s true—but every retelling of the story, from the earliest stage plays to Steven Moffat’s otherwise brilliant miniseries Jekyll, misses a key point of Robert Louis Stevenson’s original story:
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There has been some fervent discussion (and an argument!) about Hyde's living arrangements in the novel. Of course, Hyde's only real place of abode is inside Jekyll's head - for he is not a person, as many assume - he is Jekyll himself - though when Jekyll is in Hyde form, he does indeed tend to 'live' in Jekyll's laboratory, behind the 'red baize door' (symbolism alert!). However, there is a small frame of time around the Carew murder where 'Hyde' takes on a different apartment in a shady area of Soho - this is where Utterson finds the broken cane and so is where he begins to make links between Hyde and the murders that have taken place. The apartment is described as dull and dank - not a place resplendent in luxury, as Jekyll is accustomed to. As the cab drew up before the address indicated, the fog lifted a little and showed him a dingy street, a gin palace, a low French eating-house, a shop for the retail of penny numbers and twopenny salads, many ragged children huddled in the doorways, and many women of different nationalities passing out, key in hand, to have a morning glass; and the next moment the fog settled down again upon that part, as brown as umber, and cut him off from his blackguardly surroundings. This was the home of Henry Jekyll’s favourite; of a man who was heir to a quarter of a million sterling. This apartment dwelling could symbolise Hyde's role in Jekyll's life. When Hyde begins to commit violent acts like murder, Jekyll almost 'removes' him by placing him in a different location, a place where he occasionally visits when in Hyde form. He is almost in denial, treating Hyde as a different person rather than simply him in another form. It could well be that Jekyll is trying to separate his evil side from the life he knows and loves by placing it in a separate location altogether. However, after the Carew murder, Hyde returns to Jekyll's quarters and 'lives' in the laboratory, which is connected to the house by a secret walkway. This symbolises the closing gap between Jekyll's good side and his evil 'Hyde' persona.
I think I love Mr Bruff.
Here's a brilliant analysis of Edward Hyde; it could come in useful when revising character. |
In a Nutshell...Mr Utterson, the lawyer, is concerned when his friend Dr Jekyll leaves everything in his will to the mysterious, and often violent, Mr Hyde. Whilst trying to uncover a suspected murder plot, he ends up finding out that the truth is actually far, far worse... ArchivesCategories
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