The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: A Horror Story For Humanists

“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson was published in 1886 in Great Britain during a period of time in which the sovereignty of religion in Victorian society was at odds with the emerging school of thought known as humanism. Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” was published not many years prior, and the increasing emphasis placed on scientific inquiry swung the pendulum of social approval towards an increasingly humanistic viewpoint that stood in sharp relief against the backdrop of religious extremism that predominated much of the country’s cultural attitude in ages past.

It must be noted that the modern definition of humanism and the Victorian definition of humanism differ; humanism as defined by the modern world is ‘both a belief system and a stance for living. It has been described (by H. J. Blackham) as proceeding “from an assumption that man is on his own and this life is all and an assumption of responsibility for one’s own life and for the life of mankind”’ (Humanists Victoria). Humanism as practiced in the Victorian era was not quite as extreme in its tenets. It had profound similarities with Renaissance Humanism practiced between the 1400-1600s. We can see it in Darwin’s emphasis on the scientific study of human origins, or the publication of “Vestiges,” the mysterious work that caused such a ripple for its inflammatory insights into the creation of the world, an idea hitherto dominated by the tradition of the Judeo-Christian mythos. We can see it also in Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” The sensation of the Victorian era was rooted in a reexamination of the nature of humanity and how it related to the world it possessed through the lens of multiple disciplines. Renaissance Humanism did not preclude the idea of a supernatural power or prohibit religious practice; rather, this brand of humanism was characterized by a belief that education should focus on what it is to be human. It was a social movement as opposed to a philosophy. This school of thought believed that the goal of an education should be to study humanity through the lens of various subjects, including (but not limited to) the depiction of humanity within religion. Mark Cartwright explains in his article “Renaissance Humanism” that this definition is “typified by a revived interest in the classical world and studies which focussed not on religion but on what it is to be human.” Considering that before this movement, the meaning of what it was to be human was largely confined to a single subject (religion), this idea was a novelty.

While it is true that Renaissance Humanism is not the same thing as humanism in the broad or modern sense, it is also true that many Renaissance Humanists also fit the definition of a modern humanist. Many prominent figures in scientific disciplines identified with humanism as defined in both the Victorian and modern eras. Even in an age where religious thought and Renaissance Humanism still shared the limelight, the espousal of a humanistic approach that proscribed religious adherence and italicized a focus on “seeking to connect natural phenomena with their physical principles” (John Tyndall, Belfast Address) was not uncommon.

How does the concept of humanism connect with a fictional short story that was published around the same period the idea emerged? “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” posits a plot-line that is obviously intertwined with the question of what it means to be human. Stevenson’s story examines the duality of the nature of man: good and evil. He studies how these two polarized features interact with each other and shape each other, and what might happen if these two characteristics, so inextricably linked in every person, gained independence from each other. The questions raised by Stevenson’s story are intimately human questions.

The presence of this examination into the human condition connects the story with Renaissance Humanism, but it also shares ties to humanism modernly defined, and thus to the people who (in both the Victorian and modern world) share its precepts. The alienation of good from evil in the two personages of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde results from an experiment performed by Dr. Jekyll, himself a scientist with humanistic leanings. Dr. Jekyll dreams about the alleviation of evil from mankind, eradicating half of the duality each person suffers from.

“If each, I told myself, could be housed in separate identities, then life would be relieved of all that was unbearable; the unjust might go his way, delivered from the aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin; and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path… no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil.”

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 109

He believes that he has found the key to eradicating evil in humanity, and is unprepared for the consequences of his experiment as it spirals out of his control. His humanistic belief that man is sovereign over, and thus exercises authority over, himself is tested, and Dr. Jekyll finds that he is not up to the challenge.

At first, Dr. Jekyll is pleased, or at least not discomfited, by the outcome of his experiment. While the emergence of Hyde is, as Jekyll recognizes, not ideal, and that it would have been better for the good side of his nature to manifest in an external form as opposed to Hyde, he still feels that he has control over the results of his tinkering with his soul. For a time, he is right; he can become Mr. Hyde and transform back into Dr. Jekyll at will, simply by taking a concoction of his own invention. Before long, however, he is unable to stay permanently in the form of Dr. Jekyll, unwittingly transforming back into Mr. Hyde in his sleep. As he begins to lose control, he believes that “this inexplicable incident… seemed, like the Babylonian finger on the wall, to be spelling out the letters of my judgement; and I began to reflect more seriously than ever before on the issues and possibilities of my double existence” (122-23).

Discovering that he has meddled with human nature and found the consequences wildly out of his depth, Dr. Jekyll is horrified, not only with the personification of the worst parts of himself in the form of Mr. Hyde, but with the finding that his humanistic faith in the power of man to exercise control over himself is ill-founded. Dr. Jekyll is faced not only with the adulteration of his soul but with the loss of one of his most dearly held beliefs as a man of science as he is forced to reconcile with the existence of Hyde and his lack of control over him. He remarks, “All things therefore seemed to point to this: that I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self….” (124). He continues,

“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is highly relevant to the humanist as defined in both the Victorian and modern eras. At its root, it is a story that cares deeply about the essence of humanity and how it relates to the world it inhabits. This aligns with the definition of humanism found in the Victorian era.

It also has profound implications for modern humanists as well; the story focuses on the nature of man and the possible consequences that stem from tampering with things we do not fully understand: ourselves. It is this notion that makes “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” a horror story for humanists; Dr. Jekyll intrudes on the boundaries of human capacity, reckoning with a force that is far outside his realm of authority, and in so doing is stripped of any delusions he possesses of the efficacy of humanistic thought and practice. As the definition of humanism has evolved in the centuries spanning the Victorian era and present day, the relevancy of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” has evolved alongside it.

Works Cited

Cartwright, Mark. “Renaissance Humanism”. World History Encyclopedia, 04 Nov. 2020, https://www.worldhistory.org/Renaissance_Humanism/

Stevenson, Robert Louis. “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1886.

Tribe, David. “Humanism”. Humanists Victoria, 11 Feb, 2010, https://vichumanist.org.au/humanism-intro/humanism/

“John Tyndall’s Belfast Address”, Humanist Heritage, https://heritage.humanists.uk/john-tyndalls-belfast- address-1874/