Essays: On Narration, Freud and the Gothic (763 hits)
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Submitted by Flash Harry (View user info) at 2008-04-16 07:32:25 EDT
"Gothic fiction's characteristic complication of narrative form and multiplication of voices, whether in conflict or complementarity, always express the effort required to establish control of meaning and often suggest its uncertain success." Discuss with particular reference to either Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or The Great God Pan.
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When one thinks of a typical Gothic text, certain characteristic functions and recurring images are brought to mind: an atmosphere of horror or terror; a brooding, dark setting; and a conflict between rationalism and fantasy, are but three examples which can be found within almost any text of the Gothic genre one cares to consider.
Another function which is used often, although perhaps not as prolifically as those suggested above, is the usage of multiple voices within the narrative. Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is one of the texts which take advantage of such a method. Throughout Stevenson's novel, we hear from several separate narrators, in the form of letters and confessions, as well as a more traditional third person approach. The effects of this 'characteristic complication' are numerous and add potent effect to the novel's message.
By accessing the thoughts and considerations of more than one narrator, the reader is able to suspend disbelief and begin to accept that the bizarre events presented to them might just be true. The author is also able to use the multiple narratives to his advantage: he can portray any information or twists as and when he wants, and this creates a form of dramatic irony among the characters of the novel.
The use of more than one voice within a text is inevitably more complicated than a more traditional first or third person narrative; however, it can be more pleasing and interesting to read than that of an omniscient narrator. Stevenson's use of the more complicated of narrative forms expresses his effort to establish control of meaning within his novel: he wants to be able to withhold certain information at certain times, and divulge it at others, leading the reader into a pre-determined maze to discover the truth behind Stevenson's tale.
When Robert Louis Stevenson first published his best-known novel, it was entitled The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. This has been shortened over the years and it is now commonly referred to as simply Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; however the original title can have much more read into it than first imagined.
The use of the term 'case' is intriguing, as it can be suggestive of two of the driving discourses of the novel: a medical discourse and a legal discourse. As the key characters in the novel are a doctor and a lawyer, it can be no coincidence that Stevenson's original title can be seen to apply to the parameters of both professions. However, it is up to the reader's individual interpretation whether the mentioned 'case' is of a medical or a legal nature.
By originally entitling the novel thus, Stevenson was immediately establishing that although the novel was fictional, it should be read as though it were fact. Since the material within the novel can be at times fantastic and unrealistic, the Victorian readers might have suspended their beliefs somewhat when presented with the tale as being a 'case'.
The Victorians have secured a place in infamy for being one of the most proper, polite and moral societies of recent times. It might have been considered improper by some to be reading a novel about such incredible events; however, the representation of the novel as a 'case' gave Stevenson's work more credibility among his readership.
Both the medical worlds and the legal worlds collide in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. For the most part the narration is in the third person and from the point of view of Mr Utterson, the lawyer, who is a well-respected, moral and unnaturally dull man. Although his attributes list as "long, lean, dusty, dreary", he is also considered "lovable", seemingly for his loyalty to a friend who has acted immorally and whose reputation has been tarnished.
The novel hears from three other characters however: the third person narration turns briefly to a maid who has witnessed a murder; a letter from Dr Lanyon to Mr Utterson is presented; and the final chapter is a full written confession from Dr Jekyll himself. The reader is able to analyse the events from all possible angles thanks to this complication of narrative - we hear from the pen of both the rational Dr Lanyon and the mystical, experimenting Dr Jekyll. The impartial, neutral lawyer, Mr Utterson, provides a balance among the feuding doctors.
The narrative style appears to borrow somewhat from Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, which presents confessions, diary entries and letters from various characters throughout the text. The supposed purpose of this is so that the information can be presented as the truth for a legal case in the end. This narrative style draws the reader into supposing the events may be real, and is utilised several times in the Gothic genre, notably in Mary Wollstonecroft Shelley's Frankenstein.
As mentioned above, the original title's use of the word 'case' had the effect of making the story more believable: the narrative style adds further strength to the validity and verity of Stevenson's novel. The character of the lawyer, Mr Utterson, whilst seemingly rather dull and humourless, bolsters the believability for the reader, who would not imagine that such a respectable man would exaggerate much from the truth.
Furthermore, the formal presentation of the final two chapters - 'Dr Lanyon's Narrative' and 'Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case' - echo Wilkie Collins' technique of presenting fictional letters and confessions as factual, and thus enveloping the reader in the actuality of the story they are reading.
Despite the number of the voices which bombard the reader, one thing on which they are all agreed is the ugliness of Mr Jekyll's alter ego, Mr Hyde. Upon Mr Utterson's first meeting with My Hyde, the calm and polite lawyer describes him thus:
Mr Hyde was pale and dwarfish; he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky whispering and somewhat broken voice, - all these were points against him; but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust, loathing and fear which Mr Utterson regarded him...(Mr Utterson said,) 'God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say?...Or is it the mere radiance of a foul soul and thus transpires through and transfigures, its clay continent? The last I think; for, O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan's signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend!'" (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson, p23).
This is far from the only negative description ascribed to Edward Hyde. When he is witnessed murdering Sir Danvers Carew, Mr Utterson's query over the murderer's appearance is answered by a policeman: "Particularly small and particularly wicked-looking, is what the maid calls him." (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson, p31). She also describes him as having been "ape-like" and acting "like a madman" during his frenzied attack.
Hyde's appearance also receives unpleasant review from Dr Lanyon, whom Jekyll has asked to help him recover the potion he requires to modify from Hyde. At this point, the little troll is wanted by the police for the murder of Carew. Hyde goes to Lanyon's home, where the potions have been taken, and in 'Dr Lanyon's Narrative' he describes his first altercation with Edward Hyde:
"He was small, as I have said; I was struck besides with the shocking expression on his face, with his remarkable combination of great muscular activity and great apparent debility of constitution, and - last but not least - with the odd, subjective disturbance caused by his neighbourhood. This bore some resemblance to incipient rigor, and was accompanied by a marked sinking of the pulse. At this time, I set it down to some idiosyncratic, personal distaste, and merely wondered at the acuteness of the symptoms; but I have since had reason to believe the cause to lie much deeper in the nature of the man, and to turn on some nobler hinge than the principle of hatred" (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson, p65).
Throughout these descriptions, several recurring attributes of Edward Hyde become apparent: he is small in stature; he seems deformed, however no-one is quite able to articulate exactly how; he is bold and confrontational; he causes his beholder discomfort and anxiety; and he seems somewhat inhuman. All of these traits should be considered symbolic, of several things.
Stevenson uses his multiple narrative technique to show that Hyde is small: this suggests he has been repressed and thus not been able to develop fully, or grow. Hyde is ugly: he represents to uglier side of Dr Jekyll, and indeed society's psyche. Hyde causes discomfort and uneasiness within one who beholds him: this suggests that the Victorian society frowned upon what might be seen as immoral or frivolous behaviour, and that witnessing such behaviour caused embarrassment.
Finally, Hyde is labelled "troglodytic", suggesting primitive: is he simply the original beast within us all, held back by society and oppressed by civilisation; is Edward Hyde the natural state, and we are all a perverse evolution?
Another multiple voice function can be found within the character of Edward Hyde and Henry Jekyll. Towards the end of the novel, Jekyll is finding it increasingly difficult to suppress Hyde, and upon the visit to Dr Lanyon's home, Hyde speaks as Jekyll: the two are becoming the same man, and it is clear that Hyde is the more powerful persona. Before drinking the potion and assuming the body of Dr Jekyll, Hyde mocks Dr Lanyon thus:
"'Lanyon, you remember your vows: what follows is under the seal of our profession. And now, you have been so long bound to the most narrow and material views, you who have denied the virtue of transcendental medicine, you who have derided your superiors - behold!'
He put the glass to his lips, and drank at one gulp" (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson, p68).
This example shows an unusual change in the character of Hyde: he is speaking with the opinion of Jekyll, as a result of the doctor's experiment, in order to mock Lanyon. Normally, Hyde has concerned himself only with brutality and debauchery to satisfy himself.
In this instance, however, he is talking from Jekyll's point of view, before the transformation. This is a clear indicator that Jekyll has lost the contrast between his two personalities: he is no longer in control of the boundaries between the pair, and soon the stronger Hyde will engulf the retiring doctor.
The voices within the head of the Henry Jekyll character are complex - at times he is speaking as Henry Jekyll, before referring to Edward Hyde in the first person, and then both persona in a third person perspective. This delusion of who is in control of the mind of the character can be viewed in a Freudian light; although, remarkably, Stevenson's novel was published some time before the psychologist's works.
In basic terms, Freud's view of consciousness contains three parts: the id, which is hedonistic and pleasure-orientated; the super-ego, which strives to be unselfish and utilitarian, even at one's own expense; and the ego, which is a regulator between the two.
The ego looks to do well for others and will use sound moral reasoning, all the while still seeking a measure of individual pleasure and satisfaction.
With this multitude of voices within the psyche, it is possible to look upon Edward Hyde as the id, whose only main concern is his own pleasure. Dr Henry Jekyll would fall under the category of the super-ego, as he strives to maintain his respectable, charitable, and gentlemanly reputation, at the expense of his id.
The ego however has no character: it seems that the potion concocted by Jekyll removes the ego, and thus the character cannot regulate between personal gratification and charitable generosity. Without the ego, the character becomes two distinct, polar personalities with nothing to find common ground between the two.
In conclusion, Gothic fiction's characteristic complication of narrative form and multiplication of voices in Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is utilised for several reasons. It establishes control of the author in the text: he is not bound by the confines of a single narrator and can hold back information, causing suspense and curiousity for the reader.
This technique can also be used in Gothic fiction to shed some credible light on a fantastic or unlikely subject, and this was especially important in the Victorian era. Multiple voices serve to strongly develop a character: for example, throughout the numerous descriptions of Hyde we are able to draw a better conclusion and reach a more likely image of the beast.
Finally, the voices within the head of Henry Jekyll show his mental state: he is struggling to cope with the complexity of the desires of his paired personalities, and it becomes clear that towards the end of the novel the voice will be reduced to one: the dominant and despicable, Mr Edward Hyde.
User Reviews
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2008-04-17 05:03:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by SPECIALk (user info) at 2008-04-16 14:16:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Berty, meet me in Paris in May! It will be so romanticalll!
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I like the sound of that! I can walk around the hotel room wearing just a shirt complaining about being too tired to make love or eat chocolate. Lunchtime we'll spend in some manner of gallic breakfast bar reading the English papers (I can't read a word of French, nor speak it) and pretending to be glamorous. Then we walk to some manner of jazz restruant (commenting on all the marvellous statues and momuments on the way) to fill our bellies with fine, expensive, food before retiring to our hotel room for more lovemaking and chocolate.
So yeah, email me pretty lady.
Submitted by haikumikoo (user info) at 2008-04-16 19:59:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by bob (user info) at 2008-04-16 12:38:43 PDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by haikumikoo (user info) at 2008-04-16 12:35:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-04-16 07:12:57 PDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh yeah, and +2 for trying to bring something new to Uber.
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No offense, but this needs to not catch on.
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I disagree. I think pieces on the "longer end" like this one will not be as useful, but if someone is able to condense their thoughts into 4-6 solid paragraphs, then i think it could be very interesting.
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I won't argue with that.
Submitted by rob_berg (user info) at 2008-04-16 17:54:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
TRY HARD.
Submitted by lostnphound (user info) at 2008-04-16 16:50:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by bob (user info) at 2008-04-16 15:38:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by haikumikoo (user info) at 2008-04-16 12:35:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-04-16 07:12:57 PDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh yeah, and +2 for trying to bring something new to Uber.
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No offense, but this needs to not catch on.
___________
I disagree. I think pieces on the "longer end" like this one will not be as useful, but if someone is able to condense their thoughts into 4-6 solid paragraphs, then i think it could be very interesting.
Submitted by SPECIALk (user info) at 2008-04-16 14:16:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Berty, meet me in Paris in May! It will be so romanticalll!
Submitted by haikumikoo (user info) at 2008-04-16 12:35:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-04-16 07:12:57 PDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh yeah, and +2 for trying to bring something new to Uber.
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No offense, but this needs to not catch on.
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:45:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:37:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It is a rather useful piece of kit.
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Um...
*jawline tightens, brow furrows, fingers clench*
...er...
*sags*
...yes.
I've got nothing. 16th April is the most boring day of the year and nobody anywhere has anything funny/interesting to say.
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:43:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.mythsdreamssymbols.com/psychstarwars
You ought to like this. Jungian psychoanalytic theory as reflected in, and relating to, Star Wars.
But...since we're on the subject of Freud and now Jung, take a look- http://www.ubersite.com/m/72078
I did that instead of something constructive or humourous (I could have typed humor-but I know how much you Brits hate that).
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:37:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It is a rather useful piece of kit.
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:34:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:31:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
So, Bertram, if I understand this correctly, your life is a long litany of Wednesdays?
I'm here all week.
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Well dangnation, if you ain't done knocked me down with your ROFL iron.
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:31:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
So, Bertram, if I understand this correctly, your life is a long litany of Wednesdays?
I'm here all week.
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:25:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
It is Wednesday and scientists have proven that it is much harder to be funny on a wednesday than any other day.
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:18:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm giving this a 2 now, as on scrolling down, uber sucks badly today.
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:14:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
But this still stands;
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Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-04-14 22:33:52 BST (#)
Ranking: 2
I am going to be blunt with you here, FJ, I think all we have is the sex.
Quite clearly you are way above my intellectual level of 'pondlife', no matter how awesome a blowjob I give, or how often I let you penetrate me anally, when it all wears off and we come to the crunch point I will want to talk about lipgloss and the colour pink and you will want discussions or worse still, debates, on 'stuff' like this.
You will leave me for some bookish librarian or worse still, a coffee breathed, crochet wearing, poetry quoting English teacher. You will swap our wild passion for the mundane just to fill your desire to have stimulating conversation, mot hear the word 'like' hanging from every sentence uttered to you and attend book clubs (go for it by the way on that one).
Drinking red wine and lounging in the sitting room - no television, I ruined that for you with my love of soaps - you will sometimes reminisce about how I would let you pee on me after sex, only your raging boner will get no attention from your new love as she will be far too busy making vol-u-vents (assorted) in the kitchen as Ronnie and Sandra, the lesbian couple from two doors down are coming over for dinner.
I am not saying it is over, I am just saying.
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Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:12:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh yeah, and +2 for trying to bring something new to Uber.
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:12:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
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Submitted by orph (user info) at 2008-04-16 15:08:28 BST (#)
Ranking: 1
Unbearable sesquipedalianism
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lol
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:08:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Unbearable sesquipedalianism
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:04:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
You picky bastard.
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-04-16 10:00:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Also, and this is just being picky, it was just 'Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'.
http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/britlit/rls/djmh2.jpg
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-04-16 09:57:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
To be honest, I reckon that 'Treasure Island' is better known than Jekyll & Hyde.
Submitted by corn_nugget (user info) at 2008-04-16 09:54:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
I hated proof-reading other peoples papers when I was in highschool/college.
I still hate it.
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2008-04-16 09:53:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
OMG BORING!
Seriously though, if I wanted to read an essay on English Literature I'd have gone to university for a purpose other than vomiting on white people.
Submitted by Linus (user info) at 2008-04-16 08:52:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Blah blah blah... I am dumb.
Submitted by LittleMonster (user info) at 2008-04-16 08:34:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I could do with a bit of filth. It might help me along with this damn post. I'm rubbish under pressure.
Bautiful day here too, just a bit of a wind chill.
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-04-16 08:29:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Ah LittleM. Is filth all you want me for?
The weather's lovely here today :o)
Submitted by LittleMonster (user info) at 2008-04-16 08:25:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good. A tad much for me on a blustery Wednesday, but I was cirtainly impressed by the effort. What do you think we are? A serious writers forum?
Now go back to writing easily digestable smut.
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-04-16 08:12:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I love it when these make sense:
Marge: You don't have to join a freak show just because the
opportunity came along.
Homer: You know, Marge, in some ways you and I are very different
people.
Homerpalooza