Thursday, September 19, 2013
Jekyll and Hyde vs Media
After some discussion with some peers pertaining to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in media, I found it interesting how skewed views can be compared to the original story. In the story we do not see Hyde as a separate being or separate personality, Hyde is the "shell" that still contains Jekyll's being. Previously, I too did not fully understand Jekyll's motives for creating Hyde, but through reading I learned it was to fulfill his repressed urges that were deemed inappropriate during his time without the risk of smearing his good name. I believe that Stevenson specifically named Hyde, "Hyde" because it was a mask for Jekyll to literally hide behind. Although I feel that is obvious, I feel as if the media keeps us from making that connection because of how skewed the story becomes through different versions.
3 comments:
Hyde is the mask that Jekyll hides behind in order to fulfill his repressed urges once more drawing parallels between the private life and the public life. The face we want people to see and the other which we don't want others to know about. Its possible that Hyde represents Jekyll's 'inner demon,' so to speak. But as you said there are not polar opposites like the media depicts them to be, they are the same person. One is just more hidden then the other.
It seems to be a common thread that as more media gets ahold of these Victorian tales, the more they are changed from their original contexts, and the way in which we view them are sometimes vastly different. A lot of that could have to do with the fact that as the stories are then retold, they are updated to then suit the interests and situations of modern society, understanding still that someone who pulls a "jekyll and hyde" references one with two seemingly different personalities or moods, but not getting the idea of Victorian repression. But it is interesting that when it comes to sort of the duality of self that Stevenson's text is what culture and media has held onto, continuing to reinterpret again and again in order to continue to make it relevant.
I think it is particularly interesting that the media puts distance between Jekyll and Hyde—suggesting they are complete opposites, instead of being within each other. This is because I think the idea that Hyde is lurking inside Jekyll can be expanded to express that there is a Hyde, an evil/repressed portion of all people. This concept provides an arguably scarier idea that there is a repressed monstrosity in all of us.
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