Human Nature Duality in Victorian Literature The Case of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Novella: “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”

Abstract

One of the most significant current discussions in literature is human nature duality. Several literary works used duality of man to express the social anxieties and the double lives individuals have in which these works are written. The present study is an attempt to investigate human nature duality in British society during the Victorian period through the literary study of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as a case study. The fundamental aim of this study is to analyze the aspects of duality in the novella through the investigation of the historical and intellectual background in the Victorian Era. The method followed in this study is the analytical approach to explore the use of the dualistic features in the novella. The overall structure of the study takes the form of three chapters: The first chapter provides a brief overview of Victorian literature, then it draws logical relation between the novelist’s real life and duality of man. The second chapter examines the novella’s intellectual and philosophical foundations such are morality, Darwinian theory and Freudian psychology. The final chapter draws upon the entire thesis, tying up the various theoretical and empirical strands used in the previous chapters in order to explore the facets of duality in Stevenson’s novella. On the whole, this research work offers an insight into human nature duality and the consequences of double lives and irrationality.