Some biographers have claimed that Robert Stevenson had a history of cocaine and ergot use. Ergot is produced by a fungus that grows on rye and its compounds were used to create synthetic LSD. If the rumors of his ergot habits are true, his psychedelic experiences under the influence could have inspired him to write the “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. Psychedelic hallucinations can force an individual to witness their own lack of self-control. If Stevenson had lost himself to the darker side of his uncontrolled thoughts during a hallucination, that might have inspired him to perceive internal duality with more clarity. In my opinion the themes in this story are based in the duality of good vs evil, private vs public, and masters
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All the characters surrounding Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde represent the public. Although Mr. Utterson and Dr. Lanyon were great friends with Dr. Jekyll, they distance themselves and worry about him when they begin to recognize it as unusual. Because of the gap between public life and private life, Dr. Jekyll’s friends fail in their attempts to save him from the dark path which he appeared to be heading down. The red base door surely symbolizes the barrier between public and private because in the eighteenth century base doors were used to separate public areas of the house from areas where servants did their dirty work. In the scene when the base door is broken down the silence afterwards might stand for the peace obtained by breaking down public barriers. The lack of female characters could be insinuating that women provide men a way to sort out their more private and perverse feelings. After all, the public view of women at the time suggested their role was to be at home maintaining the private lives of their men. Considering that as a possible representation, the young girl getting trampled by Mr. Hyde might express the damage done, to the balance between genders, when bachelors aim to satisfy their darker side by using women carelessly. I think that a modern version of the story with the gender roles flipped and the class separations exaggerated through corporate western social references would be
All the characters surrounding Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde represent the public. Although Mr. Utterson and Dr. Lanyon were great friends with Dr. Jekyll, they distance themselves and worry about him when they begin to recognize it as unusual. Because of the gap between public life and private life, Dr. Jekyll’s friends fail in their attempts to save him from the dark path which he appeared to be heading down. The red base door surely symbolizes the barrier between public and private because in the eighteenth century base doors were used to separate public areas of the house from areas where servants did their dirty work. In the scene when the base door is broken down the silence afterwards might stand for the peace obtained by breaking down public barriers. The lack of female characters could be insinuating that women provide men a way to sort out their more private and perverse feelings. After all, the public view of women at the time suggested their role was to be at home maintaining the private lives of their men. Considering that as a possible representation, the young girl getting trampled by Mr. Hyde might express the damage done, to the balance between genders, when bachelors aim to satisfy their darker side by using women carelessly. I think that a modern version of the story with the gender roles flipped and the class separations exaggerated through corporate western social references would be