How Robert Louis Stevenson Builds and Maintains a Sense of Mystery and Suspense in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

How Robert Louis Stevenson Builds and Maintains a Sense of Mystery and Suspense in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in 1886 after

waking from a dream in which he recalled a "fine bogy tale". The book

was published in the same year and its likes had never been seen

before. It gave a chilling insight into the murky depths of both

experimental science and the duality of the human mind. These two

fields of study were both in their infancy at the time so the novel

was delving into the unknown, which instantly creates mystery about

the text, this was the key to the success of the book, in my opinion.

In the writing of "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" Stevenson set a standard to

which all writers who followed aspire. It is a ground breaking novel

which was produced to such a standard that it is studied in schools as

an example of writing which can still envelop the reader in a world of

mystery, suspense, secrets and deceit despite the time that has passed

since it was originally written.

At the time of its release "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" was in its own

category and was truly unique, it was based on a subject that never

been written about before so it is difficult to understand how a

reader would have felt when reading the novel for the first time. In

the modern day it appears to be a mild psychological thriller where as

in 1886 it was a terrifying, futuristic horror story displaying, for

the first time, the greed of the average human, wanting more power

than they could possibly control, realising the desire to play God

without learning to deal with the consequences. I believe that

Stevenson was not only tryi...

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...of returning to it at any time, but also of seeing

that he was aware of the consequences should things go wrong. The fate

of Jekyll was decided by Stevenson to be a sour one to show what can

happen when greed overcomes restraint, when curiosity overpowers

caution.

One of the most important statements this novel made to me was that no

one person can be wholly good or wholly evil. A good person will

always have the desire to throw off the burden of reputation once in a

while and duck below the bar of expectation to the other side. An evil

person will always feel the want, no matter how faint, to step out

from the shadow and into the light and once more be counted as a human

being. Stevenson knew this and put on full display what might happen

if a mere mortal could tamper with Gods delicate mixture of Good and

Evil.