The novel “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Stevenson reflects 19th-century philosophical trends and world views as the social and political foundation the society. The character of Mr. Jekyll/Hyde can be investigated in terms of philosophical idealism popular in the 19th century. Stevenson depicts a flaw of the main character through the theme of dual personality which is closely connected with the evolution process and the contemporary problem of unethical scientific researches. The novel was screened and interpreted by dozens of producers and movie-makers thus it does not follow the plot and characters depicted by Stevenson. Critics admit that the absence of women is one of the remarkable features of this work caused by social values and a unique u8nderstanding of women’s ole in society.
Victor Fleming’s film (1941) film involves women and changes the plot of the novel. Evolution involves social and biological aspects of human existence. Stevenson follows this assumption and underlines that the behavior of Mr. Jekyll/Hyde has the dominant impact on his life and scientific success. Fleming depicts the New Womanish quirks of his heroines modified by the sheen of the beauty. Fleming also falters in the face of the question of his heroines’ looks. He does his best to make his fictional women of will and spirit unattractive, so better to emphasize his point that physical beauty is not necessary for the true American heroine. In contrast to Fleming, Stevenson’s work is written from a traditional point of view: from one end of the nineteenth century to the other, literary devices were put into play by observers who wished to call attention to peculiarities prevailing in the world. Males need strong mates, but men would wish to be tied to one of the criminal types. From the look of the man in the drawing, any respectable male bound to a suffragette is emasculated, unfit to sire children. The sexual give-and-take between such unlike creatures is unthinkable. Only criminals can breed with one another, but their spawn will prove more deviant still, endangering the necessary evolution of “the best types.” “With Jekyll, it was a thing of vital instinct. He had now seen the full deformity of that creature that shared with him some of the phenomena of consciousness” (Stevenson). They believed that if one’s figure is beautiful, there need be no embarrassment.
In the movie, the models’ perfection was their armor; that and their professionalism. The images the producer took away from the sight of their bodies had nothing to do with them personally. He wanted from them the real things of the type; they retained the actual thing of their individuality. In the meantime, Partridge informs his readers that his hero, through the pain he has suffered and the asceticism he practices, has learned how to love. When one wintry night he finds Julia dead outside in a snowdrift, frozen into purity, at last, he is able to forgive her. He rejoices that she has been transformed into the angel of his ideal, even though it requires death to bring her the cold stability of spirit and the defeat of the warm variations of her flesh. True to the conventions of this grouping of artist-and-model narratives, Fleming is too dedicated to his art, too fond of his male companions, and too preadolescent to have much interest in women. Women are dimly in the background, adding aesthetic fillip to studio life.
The evolutionary process of Stevenson can be seen as regressive, that is, it involves changes in structure and simplification of behavior. The evolution of the good to bad side of personality is forced by scientific developments and innovations marked this period of time. The bad side of the protagonist is hidden from the eyes of other people. Enfield describes Mr. Hyde: “There is something wrong with appearance. …I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point.” (Stevenson,1998). The conduct of Mr. Jekyll/Hyde is also depicted as an evolution process. His conduct is motivated by a clear-cut idea of what is wanted. The thing needed or desired is purposefully sought. Another large part of Mr. Jekyll/Hyde’s behavior is carried on quite unconsciously. Mr. Jekyll/Hyde does not attend to it and may not be aware that he has “behaved.” In his behavior, there are many components that escape his notice: for instance, murders and the unsocial behavior of Hyde. Stevenson does not include strong women characters because women were seen as weak sex who had limited knowledge and education. For contemporary society, the evolution process does not mean only positive changes and improvements but leads to degradation and cultural decline. Dogmas and norms of the society are influenced by economic and political events changing perception of the world and eternal values. As well as the character of Mr. Jekyll, contemporary society is not sure about the consequences and results of cultural transformations it is faced with. In contrast to he creates strong male characters: “I suppose, that stirred in my soul that tempest of impatience with which I listened to the civilities of my unhappy victim; I declare, at least, before God, no man morally sane could have been guilty of that crime upon so pitiful a provocation” (Stevenson).
Fleming underlines that the evolution process has a great impact on popular culture which causes one group of people to act collectively in a way that is different from another group of people, but these differences are caused by deep religious traditions and values as a core of the culture. Today, evolution includes both conscious and unconscious national values, ideas, attitudes, and symbols that shape people’s behavior. It should be mentioned that the influence of the uncontrolled evolution process is highly complex which has an impact on culture in three different ways: socialization, influences that shape behavior in a particular social setting, will determine individual orientations to life. The evolution process is a strong force that affects all aspects of our life including the decline of popular culture and morals of the majority of people. young women sitting for a social portrait received a visual treatment different from the treatment considered appropriate for professional women, particularly those who were no longer bright young things and whose full lives of service elicited respect from their portrayers.
In sum, Stevenson diminishes the role of women because he sees women as weak sex unable to play a great role in story conflict. In contrast to Stevenson, Fleming involves women characters to entertain viewers and add emotional tension to the plot. Viewers must be careful about concluding that the visual typing was somehow prophetic of a woman who later devoted her energies to instructing girls in the domestic skills to which the scouting movement was a party, activities are thrown into disrepute by feminists who distrust with equal fervor social butterflies dressed for a ball or little mothers gathered around a campfire Prominent producers of the period had to deal with the sexual of the women they portrayed in their stories. Fleming intentionally presents his female centers as unconventional in looks and actions, he wraps them in a language of such style its elegance rubs off on them. The issues and themes discussed by Stevenson are still relevant to our culture. Today, the motivation of the act and the manner of cultural performance are influenced primarily by the need of the moment and the bodily organization available for satisfaction of the need.
References
Stevenson, R.L. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. University of Nebraska Press, 1998.