Explore The 'double' Or 'the Monster' In Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde And The Picture Of Dorian Gray.

The double in Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), represents the monster in the protagonist's personality. The monster signifies the moral degeneration that Victorian Britain was afraid of. It also reveals the hidden secrets of society, such as the use of drugs, child prostitution and homosexuality. The gap between the person and their "other" is narrowed as definitions of good and evil become more ambiguous. The form and structure of both novels act as a double to the contents of the novels, by highlighting the importance of themes that are reiterated. Otto Rank asserts that the immortal soul was the first double of the body. This can be seen in Dorian Gray, as the portrait allows Dorian to remain healthy in physical terms. However, after being an assurance of immortality, the double then becomes an "uncanny harbinger of death" (Freud). It develops a thing of terror, as emphasises through Dorian's fear that the portrait will be discovered. Dorian reasons that "there was a God who called upon men to tell their sins" (Wilde), and that the portrait is a confession of all his sins. His numerous sins, coupled with his love for endless youth, make him afraid of his double in the portrait, and death. David Punter argues that "to be the monster is also to be the monster's victim." (Punter). He makes it clear that the double, or the monster, are one and the same as the original character, and cannot be separated. The double dramatizes the inner struggle and vacillation between choices of good and evil in the individual. Dorian remarks that "each of us has the Heaven and Hell in him" (Wilde) and this is shown explicitly in both these texts through the characters' different sides of their personality. The distancing of the "other" from the "self" becomes narrower. Neither of the main protagonist's in the texts are absolutely good or bad, so are more like multiples. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is fuelled with fears surrounding the instabilities of identity. Putting the monster and the civilized into one removes the concept of a separate "other". The horror of the monster coming from within is reflected through this transgressive figure of Mr. Hyde, who is in fact inseparable from Dr. Jekyll. The "otherness" of Mr. Hyde is not as obvious, as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are one person, so Mr. Hyde cannot be seen as the "other" of Dr. Jekyll. Dr. Jekyll confesses that he himself has difficulty in separating the two characters. In Dorian Gray the painting shows explicitly Dorian's evil self, whilst his actual face shows his alleged good self. Basil confesses that in the portrait he has revealed "the secret of my own soul" (Wilde) thus defining art as a union of soul and body. The portrait then can be seen as depicting, as well as being a part of, Dorian's soul. Dorian's immoral actions are not separate from his own personality, as the painting and him are the same person. "That hideous thing" (Wilde) as Dorian describes his portrait, is also, he acknowledges, "the face of my soul" (Wilde). Dorian and the painting cannot be seen as two separate entities. Dorian hides his vices, such as drugs and taboo sex, under the guise of his painting. This emphasises how the "hideous" man in the painting is not separate from Dorian. Doubling foregrounds the motif of mirroring, in particular, the projection of one's fears and desires onto the "other", which becomes an uncomfortable reflection of ugly traits that the self refuses to acknowledge. Common Gothic tropes include violence, abuse, and narcosis according to David Punter. These three common gothic tropes are utilised in both novels. The "other" thus reveals the social ills and moral decay that high Victorian society tried to ignore. Dr. Jekyll uses strong drugs which turn his monster version, Mr. Hyde, violent. Dorian takes opium and is eventually pushed to murder. Homosexuality is implicitly mentioned in both novels. Intense male homo social desire in the Victorian era was both compulsory, and prohibited. Eve Sedgwick deems that Wilde camouflages male objects of male desire as ultimately mere reflections of a divided self. She argues that when one man's mind can be read by that of the feared and desired "other", it is a sign of repressed homosexuality. Thus, Dr. Jekyll both desires and fears Mr. Hyde. Dorian becomes increasingly watchful over his portrait, as it "had been like conscience" (Wilde) to Dorian, thus making him more wary of it as the painting displays his immoral actions; of which it is implied one is sodomy. Child prostitution is mentioned in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The young girl, who is knocked down by Mr. Hyde, is, it is implied, a child prostitute. In 1885 W. T. Stead revealed in the Pall Mall Gazette the trafficking of girls in London. Judith Walkowitz notices how in Stead's accounts, it is working-class women who arrange this type of business. This is shown in Hyde through the fact that the child's parents are clearly working-class. Mr. Enfield's descri ption of them as "wild as harpies" (Stevenson) gives an impression of fierce anger, as well as shrill screaming, actions normally associated with the lower classes in the Victorian Age. The "doubles" of the characters are primarily in the Id stage. They both desire instant pleasure and act purely on instincts. Sigmund Freud believed that the Id contains a destructive instinct. Dorian embodies this destructive quality with his drug abuse, and his promiscuity at a time when syphilis was rampant. Dorian retains his perfect appearance, when he should look monstrous. His picture instead resembles his monstrous self. It is implied that Dorian would have acquired syphilis, hence his painting's yellowing, decaying complexion. Syphilis was a type of monstrosity in how it would affect people. The painting then reveals his Id, whereas his physical appearance is a sign of his Ego. The Ego works in contradiction to the Id. The Ego strives to act in a socially appropriate manner. The Super-ego controls our sense of right and wrong. Dr Jekyll's respectability is a sign of his Ego, and his horror at Mr. Hyde's actions depicts his Super-ego. Dr. Jekyll aims to split his identity into two as he believes that "in separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was unbearable." (Stevenson) The evil side would not have the conscience to worry it, and the good side would not be lead into evil doings through temptation. Both texts use the framework of realistic characters to explore what happens when the self is demonically doubled. Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle believe that this leads to the texts challenging the basis of realism itself. Framed narrations normally guarantee a stability, which neither novel has. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the novel plays with the narrative form. It has different perspectives and a very complicated textual arrangement. It is only possible to have a partial view, as there is no one true perspective. In Dorian Gray, Dorian is compelled to keep on checking on his painting to ensure that no one discovers it. Neither character has any stability in their life due to this fear of discovery. The texts themselves are monstrous - hence the critical outcry over the contents of The Picture of Dorian Gray, when it was first released. There is a doubling in the text, as the double itself is a monster. Dr. Jekyll and Dorian both use their double as a way of separating their sins from them. Their double then becomes a monster, as it displays all their evil characteristics fully, without any hope for redemption. Victorian vices, such as child prostitution, drugs and homosexuality are all displayed by the monster. The double is an assurance against death, yet the characters find themselves destroying their doubles in an attempt to escape the consequences of their actions. Ultimately, both characters are still connected to their monster double, and hence cannot free themselves from their monster without killing themselves too.