Stevenson & Joyce

Unlikely Heroes

While there are many stories that contain clear-cut protagonists and antagonists, there are an equal number, if not more, that do not. Moreover, despite the fact that it can be easy to identify the main character of a story, deciding whether they deserve the title of hero or villain is not always as easy. Through most of literary history, writers have given readers a traditional hero; one who tends to do battle against the forces of evil. This is usually represented through physical or intellectual battle with a person (the villain) other than himself or herself. For many readers, the words hero and protagonist are interchangeable, both are the main character and both are the 'good guys' fighting against the 'bad guys,' the antagonist or villain, terms which are also interchangeable. During the end of the Victorian era, represented in this essay by Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the beginnings of modern fiction, represented in this essay by James Joyce's The Dead, there is an abundance of writings in which the line between protagonist and antagonist, hero and villain, becomes ambiguous and the main character is not always a hero in the traditional sense. These authors do not always give their readers clear battles between good and evil, their heroes often fight with themselves rather than an outside foe, and they usually struggle with seemingly ordinary situations/emotions as opposed to villainous figures or deadly creatures.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde presents numerous problems for the reader trying to identify the protagonist in that the first character in the title, Dr. Jekyll, can only sometimes be categorized as a hero, while the second, Mr. Hyde (ultimately Dr. Jekyll's alter-ego), is certainly not a hero. However, a character does not have to be in the title to rank the status of hero, which is good for this novella, because the true hero is in fact the first character introduced: Mr. Utterson, a lawyer. Written almost 30 years later, The Dead, also causes problems for readers attempting to ascertain which character is the protagonist, although the issue in this work is that Gabriel Conroy, the main character, is not a hero in the traditional sense. Indeed, it would be very easy to read this story without ever needing to identify a hero at all because there is no clear conflict. Yet Gabriel is the hero as he battles uncertainties and jealousies within himself and vanquishes both before the end. In each of these stories, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Dead, the authors induce the reader to rethink not only the definition of hero, but also the whole good/evil dichotomy in which heroes (and villains) operate.

In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson is seeking to explore the world of the Victorians and expose the duality of man and society. To do this, he must present both an extreme case of this duality and a protagonist who comes to terms with the idea that not everything is absolute (i.e. good or evil). Mr. Utterson , the lawyer and hero from is central to all of the action that takes place because he speaks to every major character and is the recipient of the two confession letters, one of which serves as the only account of the events from Jekyll's point of view. Utterson portrays the typical Victorian gentleman and it is through him that the audience experiences the events of the novella. Utterson is the first character introduced in the novella and is described as austere, reserved, upstanding, helpful of those in need and "undemonstrative at the best, and even his friendship seemed to be founded in a similar catholicity of good-nature" (Stevenson 2170). Due to his job as a lawyer, Utterson is in the unique position to see the dark side of men, as well as the good side. However, he operates in absolutes: bad men are bad, good men go bad; they are not bad and good at the same time. This can especially be seen in his refusal to accept the basic nature of Jekyll or Hyde, that they are indeed the same person. To Utterson, Jekyll is a model Victorian gentleman, good, intelligent, and upstanding. Hyde is none of those things; he has an aura of evil, inspires fear, and continually commits acts which the civilized world sees as depraved. It is easier for readers, especially ones from the Victorian era, to identify with Utterson than Jekyll/Hyde.

Throughout the novella, Utterson seeks to shield and protect his friend, Jekyll, from Hyde, never once assuming or imagining that these two individuals were actually one and the same person. In fact, when Utterson and Poole, Jekyll's butler, find Hyde dead inside Jekyll's laboratory their primary thoughts centered on Jekyll's whereabouts and whether or not they could keep his name from this incident. Utterson says to Poole, "O, we must be careful. I foresee that we may yet involve your master in some dire catastrophe" (Stevenson 2195). This need to protect someone he sees as good is what makes Utterson the protagonist and hero in this story. Not only is Utterson trying to fight the personification of Jekyll's evil, Hyde, but also the dying notion of absolutes, of the idea good or evil, rather than good and evil.

In his quest to understand and save his friend, Utterson finds himself in places and situations he does not normally inhabit. He is forced to see the other side of Victorian life, not only through his encounter with Hyde, but also through the places he visits during the course of his investigation. One of these places is the door by which Hyde enters Jekyll's residence. Utterson is on a cheery street full of shops when he happens upon "the door, which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, was blistered and distained" (Stevenson 2170). This door is the back door to a respectable, well-kept mansion, but illustrates that even the nicest looking things can have dark sides. Another building which Utterson sees in the course of his investigation is the residence of Hyde. He, and his impression of Jekyll, is completely at odds with the other side of Victorian London: "a dingy street, a gin palace, a low French eating house, ... many ragged children huddled in doorways, and many women of different nationalities passing out..." (Stevenson 2181). It is through Utterson that the audience is exposed to the duality of man through his experiences with Hyde and Jekyll, but also to the duality of society through the course of his investigation into The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Utterson realizes by the end of the novella that good and evil can reside inside of the same person, inside of himself even, but attempting to upset the balance of human nature the way Jekyll did will only cause problems. He comes to appreciate