 His first great writing success was Treasure Island, a thrilling story of a swashbuckling pirate named Long John Silver.  RLS has a good claim as the inventor of the sleeping bag, taking a large fleece-lined sack with him to sleep on his journey through France.  RLS was very interested by the idea that a man could possess two contradictory personalities – one good and one evil.  This idea is said to be modeled by the late 18 th century case of Deacon Brodie, a respectable Edinburgh businessman by day and a gambler/adulterer/armed robber/ murderer by night.  RLS wrote Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in three days after awaking one night from a nightmare. RLS “Fun” Facts

In each of us, two natures are at war - the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our hands lies the power to choose - what we want most to be, we are." -Robert Louis Stevenson

 Victorian morality supported sexual restraint, low tolerance of crime, and a strict social code of conduct.  Victorian prudery sometimes went so far as to deem it improper to say “leg” in mixed company.  Historians now regard the Victorian era as a time of contradictions – the outward appearance of dignity and restraint together with the prevalence of prostitution and child labor. Victorian England

 Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution came out in (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde saw instant success in 1886.)  Interestingly, Hyde is described as “apelike” and as moving “like a monkey” in the novel.  He is also described as “troglodytic,” or like a cave man, comparing him to the first man or “natural” man.  Sigmund Freud, the father of psychotherapy, lived at the same time Jekyll and Hyde was published.  Freud named the conscious part of oneself the ego.  He named the unconscious part of oneself the id.  He also labeled the superego as society, ethics, and morals.  Stevenson was on the cutting edge of science to be writing about division in the human mind. A Sign of the Times

 Drug use and abuse was increasing during Stevenson’s time.  A popular drug of the time was opium (a highly addictive drug). It was frequently prescribed, even to children to help them sleep.  Connection: Edgar Allan Poe had a problem with opium. He even referenced an “opium-eater’s dream” in his poem “The Raven.”  Stevenson was said to be using cocaine when he wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. A Sign of the Times (continued)

 Cavendish Square, the area in which Jekyll, Utterson, and Lanyon live, was the wealthiest part of London.  Only a few blocks away, one would find ghettos, such as Soho, where Hyde kept his residence.  Soho was a part of London known for its immigrant population.  People tended to keep to the main thoroughfares because a “wrong turn” could land you in the ghetto and exposed to theft or worse.  Also, due to the emphasis on society and social class, people tended to stay in their own neighborhood  Many Londoners led double lives though, attending church and working in the wealthy part of London and participating in “other behaviors” in ghettos like Soho. Duality of London

 RLS had a strict Christian and moral upbringing. The idea of good vs. evil was one the was quite familiar.  Adam & Eve vs. Serpent  Cain vs. Abel  Thomas Hobbes thought that humans were naturally bad and would be animals in a “state of nature”  In Christianity, original sin says that people are born inclined toward evil and struggle to be good. First Interpretation: Born Evil

 Context: Takes place in Victorian Era ( ) in London, England  Members of the upper class in Victorian times were especially expected to behave virtuously. They, along with their homes, were expected to be proper and elegant at all times.  Victorian society was divided.  Social classes did not mix, and behavior, especially among members of the upper class, was to be exemplary at all times.  The unrealistically rigid morality of upper class Londoners led many to live double lives. Second Interpretation: Society Makes us Evil

 The Enlightenment view was the people are born blank slates.  Society shapes the person into good or evil  Sigmund Freud, the father of psychotherapy, believed that human beings are powerfully influenced by impulses they are not aware of.  Personality:  Freud said there were three parts to a person’s psychology  Ego – the conscious part of oneself (adult)  Id – the unconscious part of oneself (childlike)  Superego – society, ethics, and morals  To many readers, Hyde represents Dr. Jekyll’s subconscious desire to be freed from society’s restrictions.  People need to repress desires for society to work. Second Interpretation: Society Makes us Evil