The major reason for writing an account from Hyde's point of view is to attempt to tie up
some of the loose ends that Stevenson intentionally left in his story. This account could
serve in the place of a frame narrative to close the tale. Several questions abound, and
one of the greatest is 'who won'?" When they died, the body found was Hyde's. Does
this mean that Hyde committed suicide, or that Jekyll killed him? Or did something else
happen?

The biggest challenge in this assignment may be to both determine Hyde's motivations and
feelings about what he has done, and to find a voice that sounds authentically Hyde's.
In order to do all of these things, one must analyze the glimpses we get from other people's
narratives.

Jekyll declares more than once that Hyde can be quite intelligent; this is stated clearly
after the waking transformation in the park:

[I]n my second character, my faculties seemed sharpened to a point
and my spirits more tensely elastic; thus it came about that,
where Jekyll perhaps might have succumbed, Hyde rose to the
importance of the moment. (93)

This intelligence is combined in Hyde with the strongest primordial feelings, such as
lust, hate and fear. Fear does not act as a crippling emotion for Hyde - it acts on
him as it would on a predator animal: Hyde's fear only causes him to act with more care
for the consequences of his actions. Jekyll's fear, however, seems to be more the fear
of a prey animal. The crippling, paralyzing fear described by Jekyll at the end - 'the
doom that is closing on us both has already changed and crushed him' - seems to fit Jekyll
more than Hyde. To 'sit shuddering and weeping in [his] chair' (97) doesn't match up with
the sharpened faculties and tensely elastic spirits ascribed earlier to Hyde (93). The
crushing doom seems in fact to be more appropriately perceived by the man who earlier stated
that he would 'suffer smartingly in the fires of abstinence, [while] Hyde would be not even
conscious of all that he had lost' (89).

According to this interpretation, the fear described most often in this story has been
attributed to Jekyll in the following narrative. The only fear expressed by Hyde is
presented in connection with the possibility of harm to him by a 'higher predator'; for
instance, the crowd at the scene of the trampling of the child might rise up against him
and do him physical harm by virtue of their greater numbers. After the murder of Carew,
Hyde realizes that he could be captured and hanged or guillotined. In these cases, his
faculties sharpen and he finds a way out of trouble.

I have therefore also proposed an answer for what happened in the laboratory: frustrated
with the weakness of Jekyll, Hyde attempted to take complete control. Perhaps in removing
the alter ego, Hyde could also assume Jekyll's shape so that he could freely make his way
to another city or another land. This final solution is necessary because we know that
even when they wear the physical shape of Edward Hyde, Henry Jekyll is still present in
some way. Although Jekyll says 'Here, then, ... I bring the life of that unhappy Henry
Jekyll to an end' (97), I doubt that his consciousness would be completely removed from Hyde.

Well, now that my feeble counterpart has had his say, I suppose I
will have mine. I increasingly loathe the necessity of hiding
behind such a weak creature; his attraction to that which he calls
immoral is as strong as mine, yet he lacks the strength of will to
admit it and stand behind his own actions. So he resorts to his
transforming potion and drinks in the satisfaction by proxy.

If I could find a way to remove his consciousness from our shared
body, perhaps I could continue to wear his form without the
troublesome timidity and self-righteousness. I fear I may damage
myself in the process, but anything which would rid me of his voice
in my head will be worth the risk.

The first time Jekyll took his potion I began to wake up, as if from
a lifelong slumber. I had barely time to become aware of the new
sensations connected with controlling my physical form when his
spirit, which was the stronger at the time, drank again the formula
which was to become both my desire and my bane.

As the weeks went by he would call me up from my prison to engage
in those 'crimes' that Henry Jekyll would never commit. Each time
I awoke, I could feel my strength and awareness increasing. On
only one occasion in that early time did the spirit of my other
self intrude on my affairs. As I made my way down the back street,
an urchin of no consequence crossed my path. I could hardly be
troubled to halt my progress, and she certainly posed no threat to
myself, so I continued on my way. It was really no-one's fault but
her own that she ended up under my feet. A bystander ran after me
and impelled me to return to the corner. As the gathered crowd
swelled, that infernal Jekyll imposed himself on me and agreed to
pay a forfeit to the family. His fear had a double effect on me:
it first made me despise him the more for his weakness - it later
showed me the power I could have over him.

I began now to sense my advantage. I would assert myself at first
in subtle ways, causing Jekyll to drink his potion when I wished
it. Eventually, I would lie in wait and induce the transformation
by myself once his spirit had lost consciousness. Ah! The success
of my first attempt in this vein was heady! I withdrew immediately
after causing the change in order to observe my jailer's reaction.
His terror was a tonic to me. I knew then the extent of my power,
and it was left only to determine how best to use this advantage.

Jekyll decided after this event to cease his excursions in my form.
At first I allowed this, in part to deceive him that he was still
in control, and partly for the pleasure I took in considering how
the tables had turned. After some time however, I tormented him
with thoughts of those illicit pleasures in which Jekyll himself
could never indulge, and soon he drank again.

I revelled in my regained freedom. Although I had allowed myself
to be kept hidden, I now felt compelled to make up for the
pleasures of which my captivity had deprived me. As I made my
way towards my favorite haunts, a white-haired old man stopped
me to ask directions. Impatient to be on my way, I pointed
towards the place he sought. He continued to trouble me however,
asking that I walk with him to show him the way. I refused,
raising my cane at him. He stepped back, and the slightest bit
of fear in his look spurred me to action. I have stated earlier
that I loathe weakness - the sight of it is a drug to me as
powerful as Jekyll's potion is to him. I smashed the cane in
this old man's face and stamped his feeble body into the cobbles.
I thrilled in this exercise until physical weakness betrayed me.
Just as I could assert myself when Jekyll was asleep, he asserted
himself in a slighter manner when I exhausted myself. He could
not transform our body, but his fear was wakened and he fled the
scene. He ran to my home and attempted to put an end to me by
destroying my papers and belongings. As he left my quarters, he
let down his guard slightly and I entertained myself with planning
future occasions for violence. Even as Jekyll desperately made
his potion and drank it, I sang and toasted the old man lying
bloodied in the street. As Jekyll's fear of me increased, so
did my confidence that I would one day reign supreme in this body.

Shortly after this event I made my first attempt to take control
while Jekyll was still awake. I had hoped that in this way I
could direct Jekyll without undergoing the physical change that
would betray me to those hunting the murderer. Unfortunately my
character was too strong to remain in this weak disguise. I
realized that I must withdraw, leaving our body in Jekyll's form.
I was not able however to give up my shape alone. Just as Jekyll
had first needed his potion to assume my form, I needed his
draught now to give up my control and allow him to possess me.
I knew that I could not return to his chambers in this shape -
therefore I arranged matters so that one of Jekyll's friends
would acquire the formula for me.

After this occasion I found it increasingly easy to assume
control. I have been hesitant to leave this house for fear
of capture and death on someone else's terms, but I am desperate
enough now to risk it on mine. As I said at the beginning of
my statement, I will attempt to evict Jekyll from our shared
occupancy of this body. If I am successful, perhaps I may
retain his customary form and escape London. In either case,
I know that I am much the stronger of us, and the substance I
placed in his tea while he was last absent should harm me only
slightly if at all.

E.H.

References for the narrative of Edward Hyde

Stevenson, Robert Louis. 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde',
in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Stories. 1979, (Penguin Books, England)

Page #	Event	Narrator
31 32 46-47 49 70	Trampling the little girl The check to the family The Carew murder Hyde ransacks his apartment The 'suicide'	Utterson Utterson maid-servant/Utterson Utterson Utterson
74 83-85 86-87 87-88 89	Hyde's letter to Lanyon The first transformation Jekyll's feelings of immunity First time he woke as Hyde Attitudes about each other	Lanyon Jekyll Jekyll Jekyll Jekyll
90-91 92 93 94-95 96 97	The Carew murder The first 'waking transformation' Hyde figures out how to get potion Increase of transformations Hyde's hatred of Jekyll Jekyll says Hyde is 'crushed'	Jekyll Jekyll Jekyll Jekyll Jekyll Jekyll

Erica Brown
ENL 155B, December 3, 1997

English 155B - 19th-Century British Novel

Perhaps the most democratic of literary forms, the novel served both
writer and audience as a forum for questions of utmost public importance.
The course will examine the British novel from the close of the 18th
century through the fin de siècle. We will study its development
both formally and within a social and cultural context, paying particular
attention to questions of gender, race, and class, and to the wider
literary milieu. Course reading will include six novels as well as a
few selections from other textual sources such as journalism,
parliamentary reports, and popular poetry.