MAKING THE OLD NEW AGAIN: ADAPTATION AND CLASSIC LITERATURE
Ms. Manners
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
ISBN-13: 978-0393974652
OR
ISBN-13: 978-0393540048
NOTE: Please make every effort to buy one of these two editions of the book (Norton Critical Edition, 1st or 2nd edition). The footnotes are essential, and, in addition to the novella, I ask that you choose two of the excerpted critical essays at the end of the book to read and digest before we meet in September.
Even if you have never read a word of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous novella, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the names “Jekyll” and “Hyde” before, and you may already know the secret of their “strange case” already. There is an equally good chance, though, that the story will still manage to grip you, even as you revel in the dramatic irony of knowing what all the other characters are desperately trying to figure out.
It’s because of the duo’s cemented place in our collective consciousness that we start this course with this story. We, the readers of the 21st century, likely know the end of the tale before we’ve even begun. How, then, does the story affect us? How does our knowledge affect the way we read it? And how can the hundreds of adaptations that have followed its 1886 publication bring something new to the table?
What follows is a series of questions to consider as you read. While you do not need to write out your responses to these questions, you should try to answer them for yourself and be prepared to discuss—and write about—them during the first weeks of school.
Consider the pairings in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Stevenson’s novella is a study in antithesis—what happens when opposites are placed side by side? While the eponymous men are certainly a good place to start, Stevenson has multiple juxtapositions worthy of note. How do characters embody surprising contrasts in their personalities? How do friends, strangers, or enemies complement one another? Keep track of the surprising/interesting examples of antithesis you encounter as you read.
How is the story told? Given what you (presumably) know about Jekyll and Hyde, you might be surprised by how absent they are from the story. Who is given a voice and who is denied one? Whose perspective do we have access to and whose thought process is hidden from us? Why might that be?
How is writing used in the story? Why does Stevenson choose to convey certain information through wills, letters, and even checks?
Track the nuances of morality in the novella—it is much more complicated than a clean divide between good and evil. Consider when the “good” characters drift into morally gray areas, and if the “evil” ones have any redeeming qualities that you can discern.
What role does appearance play in the story? Focus specifically on descriptions of Hyde. How do others describe him, and what might be the symbolism of these comparisons? Why is it easier for people to articulate the way his appearance makes them feel rather than what his appearance actually is?
Linger on Stevenson’s descriptions of settings. How do each of the locales in the story reflect or complicate the personalities and moralities of the men who inhabit them?
What are the motivations of Jekyll and Hyde? How does each benefit from the other? How does each harm the other? As with so much else in the book, things are not simply black and white—their rationales are worth unpacking!
Play with the dramatic irony of the story. After you have finished reading (or as you are reading, if you are already familiar with the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde), try to examine plot points from both perspectives—that of a reader familiar with the story and that of a reader who is as in the dark as the characters. For example: consider Jekyll’s will—how does it look to Utterson? Why does it make sense for Jekyll to have created these terms? Keep a list of plot points you find worthy of this double examination.
In general: What did you think of the story? How did it meet your expectations? How did it subvert them?
In general: Choose two of the excerpted critical essays at the back of the Norton edition to read (don’t panic—each is only a few pages long). Be able to summarize the central argument (and evaluate how persuaded you are—or not—by it). Pro tip: choose based on which topics seem the most interesting, not by page count!
a. Below is a list of the titles from the First Edition:
i. “The Real Stab of the Story” by G. K. Chesterton
ii. “A Phenomenon of Style” by Vladimir Nabokov
iii. “Instabilities of Meaning, Morality, and Narration” by Peter K. Garrett
iv. “An Unconscious Allegory about the Masses and Mass Literacy” by Patrick Brantlinger
v. “Sex, Secrecy and Self-Alienation in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Katherine Linehan
a. Below is a list of the titles from the Second Edition:
i. “Dr. Jekyll's Closet" by Elaine Showalter
ii. “Parasites and Perverts: An Introduction to Gothic Monstrosity" by Jack Halberstam
iii. “Dr. Jekyll's Two Bodies" by Martin Danahay
iv. “The Sedulous Ape: Atavism, Professionalism, and Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde" by Stephen D. Arata