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Dr Subotksy tantalisingly decribes The Stange Case of Dr Jekyll and
Mr Hyde, but does not penetrate two aspects of the story which are worthy
of mention.
The first is that the story is about all of us. Stripped of cares and
morality we are monsters. Stevenson was once very impressed by a small boy
who wandered into his sick room. Not noticing or caring that Stevenson was
ill and in a lot of pain, the boy asked if he had seen his bow and arrow.
In the first draft of the novel (sadly burned by Stevenson), Mr Hyde was
merely a pseudonym for Jekyll. Jekyll realises that his cares and duties
are part of his very identity. Interestingly, as Hyde becomes the dominant
personality, Jekyll needs to consume the transforming drug just to return
to himself. Innevitably Hyde becomes a wanted man for capital crimes. This
remains a paralel for drug and alcohol-related crime and is one reason why
the story, after threatening to 'fall flat', was quoted from Church
pulpits.
The second is that there is a small but significant comment on
doctors, a comment which is just as valid today. Stevenson was well aware
of medical scandal; the posterboards for his short story, 'The body
snatchers' were so graphic that they were suppressed by the police. As a
student in Edinburgh, he described medical students as the 'loudest in the
street but the quietest in the debating society' and goes on to describe
how they might share an excellent bottle of wine and then 'beg a penny' to
buy the last copy of the college paper. Clearly inside every upstanding
doctor there lurked a vagabond of a student.
Dr Jekyll -Medical Student
Dear Editor
Dr Subotksy tantalisingly decribes The Stange Case of Dr Jekyll and
Mr Hyde, but does not penetrate two aspects of the story which are worthy
of mention.
The first is that the story is about all of us. Stripped of cares and
morality we are monsters. Stevenson was once very impressed by a small boy
who wandered into his sick room. Not noticing or caring that Stevenson was
ill and in a lot of pain, the boy asked if he had seen his bow and arrow.
In the first draft of the novel (sadly burned by Stevenson), Mr Hyde was
merely a pseudonym for Jekyll. Jekyll realises that his cares and duties
are part of his very identity. Interestingly, as Hyde becomes the dominant
personality, Jekyll needs to consume the transforming drug just to return
to himself. Innevitably Hyde becomes a wanted man for capital crimes. This
remains a paralel for drug and alcohol-related crime and is one reason why
the story, after threatening to 'fall flat', was quoted from Church
pulpits.
The second is that there is a small but significant comment on
doctors, a comment which is just as valid today. Stevenson was well aware
of medical scandal; the posterboards for his short story, 'The body
snatchers' were so graphic that they were suppressed by the police. As a
student in Edinburgh, he described medical students as the 'loudest in the
street but the quietest in the debating society' and goes on to describe
how they might share an excellent bottle of wine and then 'beg a penny' to
buy the last copy of the college paper. Clearly inside every upstanding
doctor there lurked a vagabond of a student.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests