The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Changing Face of the Monster

Simon Bacon

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The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Changing Face of the Monster

In: Monsters in Society: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

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Simon Bacon

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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 21–30

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9781848882973_004

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The Wordsworth edition of R. L. Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has the tag line ‘In seeking to discover his inner self, the brilliant Dr. Henry Jekyll discovers a monster,’ intimating that we all contain a repressed monster within us. Curiously, the narrative itself does not go into any great detail on what this monster might look like, other than it is small in stature and exudes a dark malevolence that is beyond description. However, the many cinematic adaptations of the novel can afford no such vagaries and the very nature of the visual media requires manifesting the monster in greater detail. Looking at the ‘classic’ adaptations of the story – from 1920 (dir. John S. Robertson) starring John Barrymore; 1932 (dir. Rouben Mamoulian) with Frederich March; and 1941 (dir. Victor Fleming) and starring Spenser Tracey – this chapter will compare these with more contemporary versions such as Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde from 1971 (dir. Roy Ward Baker), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring John Hannah from 2006 (dir. Maurice Phillips) and Jekyll starring James Nesbitt from 2009 (dir. Douglas Makinnon and Matt Lipsey). Subsequently, it will look at these representations in the light of such theorists of monstrosity as J. J. Cohen and Brian Asma to see how the changing representations of our normal and monstrous selves reveal the cultural and temporal specificity of the monster but what parts of its signification remain consistent through time, and why Stevenson’s narrative is still popular over a hundred years after being published.

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Monsters in Society: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

E-Book ISBN:: 9781848882973

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 01 Jan 2014

Subjects
- Philosophy
  - Ethics & Moral Philosophy
- Social Sciences
  - Cultural Studies

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The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Changing Face of the Monster

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Monsters in Society: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

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