Take-home essay
Wednesday 16:00 (EZ2)
Focalization in Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. The work has known a worldwide success since 1886, the year of release. The book is about the lawyer John Utterson who investigates the strange events between his friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll and the mischievous Edward Hyde. In this essay it will be justified how the reader interprets the story. Furthermore I will explain how Stevenson makes sure that the reader is actively involved in the unravelling of the case and analyse the use of focalization and its importance for the development of the story.
The first aspect that will be discussed is the importance of the focalizer for the reader’s interpretation. Already from the first chapter on, people realize that the story is told through the eyes of Utterson, which is internal and fixed focalization. Chapter by chapter, Mr. Utterson discovers new information which helps him to discover the truth about his old friend, Mr. Jekyll. As Mr. Utterson discovers all kinds of new information so does the reader. Because of the internal-focalization, the reader feels and thinks like Mr. Utterson. For instance, nobody has ever clearly seen Mr. Hyde and people know little about him. This keeps Mr. Utterson occupied, even if Mr. Lanyon – who is a common friend of his and Mr. Jekyll- has never heard of him. After that conversation, the reader knows what is going on in Mr. Utterson’s mind; “It was a night of little ease to his tolling mind …. And still he was digging at the problem” (Stevenson 12). The case of Hyde doesn’t only keep the lawyer occupied but also the reader.
The benefit of an internal focalizer is that the reader too is going to ask his/herself questions about the story and is therefore pulled into the story. So, by using an internal –focalizer Stevenson really involves the reader in resolving the case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It could be said that the reader him/herself is going to be the detective and tries to unravel the case such as Mr. Utterson. An example of this is found in the text, when Poole, the servant, sees his master with a mask; “It seems he had slipped out to look for this drugs, or whatever it is… He looked up when I came in, gave a kind of cry…” (Stevenson 47) in that dialogue Mr. Utterson begins to understand what is going on, he explains to Poole, that Mr. Jekyll is ill (due to the drugs he is taking) ; “Your master, Poole, is seized with one of those maladies….” (Stevenson 48). In that dialogue we learn that there is something up with Mr. Jekyll and his weird behaviours which will be explained later on.
To continue I will analyse the importance of focalization for the development of the novella. The novella leaves the impression of a detective story which needs to be solved. The story starts with a problem and by means of clues, the focalizer, Mr. Utterson, is going to solve the mystery. For the story’s sake Stevenson has chosen Mr. Utterson as the focalizer. In the story he represents the ‘good’ who wants to banish the ‘evil’, the split-personality, Jekyll vs. Hyde. If we just had the story from Jekyll’s point-of-view, there wouldn’t have been such a dramatic ending and the excitement towards the end would have been lost. The fact that the story is told through the eyes of Mr. Utterson, draws a certain mystery in the beginning and a suspense towards the end. For instance, already in the first chapter, there is a secrecy about Mr. Hyde: “He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing,… and it’s not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment. (Stevenson 7-8).
From the first pages on, the reader already observes a certain mystery about this character which is important for the other chapters to find out who Mr. Hyde is. This mystery affects the curiosity of the reader which means that the reader has an impulse to read in order to interpret the details- given in each chapter- to find out the truth. An example of suspense can be found in the eighth chapter, when Poole thinks something is wrong with Mr. Jekyll and he turns to Mr. Utterson; “Mr. Utterson, said the man, there is something wrong…. Come, said the lawyer, ‘I see you have some good reason, Poole’…”(Stevenson 42-43). At that moment, the reader knows something is going on and they really want to know what is going on and what has happened to Mr. Jekyll which really excites the story even more. This results in the fact that the reader is willing to read each and every page in order not to miss any detail to be able to solve the mystery together with the focalizer.
As a conclusion it could be said that the story is told through the eyes of a fixed and internal focalizer which is important because the reader interprets the events through the perspective of the focalizer. The reader doesn’t learn anything until the focalizer does. Therefore the reader will be involved in the story and consider him/herself as the detective who needs to figure out what the relationship is between Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The focalization is also significant for the development of the novella. There is a certain mystery and suspense drawn from the beginning on towards the end to make the reader wanting to read more and feeling needed to investigate and solve the strange occurrences between Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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