Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
By Bolette & Sofie
The book
Throughout the story we meet some of Mr. Uttersons friends including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Lanyon.
Dr. Jekyll is rarely seen and he has become close with an ugly and scary looking man named Mr. Hyde.
When Mr. Hyde kills a member of parliament Dr. Jekyll promises not to associate with him anymore.
When both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Lanyon fall ill, Lanyon sadly dies. Before he dies he gives Mr. Utterson a letter, which Mr. Utterson is not supposed to open before Mr. Lanyon is dead. After he has passes away Mr. Utterson opens the letter and sees that inside there is another letter, on the letter there is written, "don't read before the passing of Dr. Jekyll."
Mr. Utterson tries to visit Dr. Jekyll multiple times, but is turned away by Poole, Jekyll's butler.
A few weeks later he is called to the doctors house, because Poole thinks there is someone inside the doctors laboratory, other than the doctor. They hear a voice that does not belong to the doctor, but to Mr. Hyde.
They break in, and find Mr. Hyde lying on the ground dead. Mr. Utterson finds a letter with his name on it, it tells all about how Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll are the same person. The letter tell all about how there is a good and a bad side to a person, and how Dr. Jekyll made a special poison, that made his bad side come out, his bad side is Mr. Hyde. In a long period of time he kept drinking this poison, and he somehow got addicted to the freedom of being Mr. Hyde, but it got out of control and he could no longer control when he would become Mr. Hyde. His bad side took over, and in the end he couldn't become Dr. Jekyll no more, there was no longer a Dr. Jekyll in him.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Born November 13th 1850 in Edinburgh to a wealthy family.
Though he was supposed to continue the family business of lighthouse engineering he ended up studying law, but never actually practiced because he'd rather be a writer.
During his lifetime he wrote a lot of famous novels and became a famous novelist while he was still alive. Some of his most well known works are Treasure island, Kidnapped and The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Stevenson traveled a great deal throughout his life, because of his health issues, which meant that he had to stay in warmer climates. These journeys gave him a lot of inspiration for his novels and short stories. He even died while he was on one of his travels to Samoa, at the age of 44.
From his early childhood Stevenson was very fascinated by the fragmentation of Deacon Brodie's personality, where he had a highly esteemed facade during the day, but at night turned to his evil nature. This inspired him to write a play about Deacon Brodie, called Deacon Brodie, or The Double Life. This play was not received well by the public, but he kept the interest in Deacon Brodie's life, which urged him to write the novel The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which is heavily inspired by the double life, that Deacon Brodie led.
Fun fact: Robert Louis Stevenson's father owned furniture made by Deacon Brodie.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Deacon Brodie
Deacon Brodie is a great example of a person living a double life.
As said before the characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are heavily inspired by Deacon Brodie. The characters are a form of exaggerated version of Deacon Brodie, with the huge hidden differences between their outwards facade in comparison to their true and private self. Where Deacon Brodie spends his secret time gambling, drinking, whoring and thieving, Dr. Jekyll spends his time as Mr. Hyde doing the same type of things, it seems, though with even more fatal consequences. They are both extremely respected citizens, who end up in bad places, because they become addicted to the freedom of life without a reputation. Neither of the men's true identity are discovered before it is too late. Their motivation for the immoral things they do aren't the same. Deacons motivation for the thefts was to support an addiction, while Jekyll's motivation comes from a deep desire to get the freedom of youth and the common man.