With or Without Castles

Although there is no literal castle in Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, there are many other elements in the description of the setting that breeds the same terror in his readers. Examples of this start at the very beginning of the story when Mr. Enfield discloses events to Mr. Utterson about what he saw outside of Dr. Jekyll's door. Describing the building with the door as two stories with no window, basically a large discolored block which gives the same picture in my mind as an eerie castle. Later, Stevenson continues when explaining the circumstances of the Carew murder case, detailing the fog that rolled in over the streets that night with the cloudless sky, and the lone window where the maid overlooked the murder. Finally, the description of Dr. Jekyll's laboratory and how Stevenson seems to mention the high built fires multiple times throughout the novel puts a picture in my mind of a castle's dungeon or something similar. This is clearly another reference to the invoking terror that castles create and the overall settings of Gothic literature. The way everything is described gives rise to a sinister fear in the readers that is the same as stories described with castles in this genre.

Women

I think the women in this novel play an interesting role. It seems that there roles are appropriate for the time period, but they seem to lack any backbone at all. The way that Hippolita so easily accepts her possible fate when she finds out that Manfred is planning on divorcing her stood out to me the most. Hippolita says that she is willing to offer the divorce and live in a monastery for the rest of her life because what happens to her does not matter. It could just be the times, but it seems that if someone were to hear news of their spouse wanting to divorce them, especially for the reason that Manfred does, they would put up a bit of a fight or at least show some self respect. It really seems as though the men care very little for the women. Clearly they court them well and play the role of chivalrous men perfectly, but I think that has more to do with them just playing the role than it is for their true feelings for the women. Theodore, the most chivalrous character in the novel, definitely has strong feelings for Matilda, and was forever heartbroken after her death, but, again, I don't think he treats Matilda and Isabella the way he does out of respect for women. Theodore is simply an upstanding and respectful young man to everyone, including Manfred, which just shows that the women in this time (or maybe just this novel) are among the lowest of importance in their society .

Hi

My name is Joe Lacy and I am from Chicago, IL. I am about to be a junior Film major, and hope to direct/edit movies someday. I hope to gain knowledge about Gothic authors and about the Gothic time period throughout the course of this class. It is hard to say whether or not I am a fan for Gothic literature because I have never really read the genre, but am enjoying the reading so far and find it pretty interesting. I have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus, and am looking forward to the next few weeks.