Robert Louis Stevenson
I have decided to dive into the mind frame of what the writer had when creating this The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde novel, whether it was something in his history that he had experienced and turned it into fiction or just from his imagination.
Robert Louis Stevenson was an British writer he wrote a lot of novels, short stories, poetry and much more but his most popular was The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Researching I have found that his story came about a nightmare he had and basically had wrote his first draft overnight. Comparing him to 'Frankenstein' Mary Shelley and 'Dracula' Bram Stoker which took them years to complete their novels, he struck creativity overnight. Rumored that his first draft was so alarming he was told to burn it, he then took a week to produce a "carefully censored- tale" [David Pringle,St James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic writers, 1998,p565-567] which we now come to know as 'The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'.
"both
novels were dubbed "poisonous" by reviewers and were reviled for both
their forms and their subject matter. "Man is not truly one but truly two
... :' says Dr. Jekyll as he pursues his scientific experimentation. Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde uses multiple nar-rators to tell the story of a man doomed by the
chemical reproduction of his double.
This book was seen as poisonous to people as Gothic Horror Novels where of the abnormal back in the 18th century, they didn't want to hear about murders/ deaths or ghastly goings on, they where all for the romantics. Most Gothic Horror Novels writers wouldn't have their names to the books and leave them as anonymous as they would be thought of as having a sick mind. Gothic Horror gives people a thrill and lets you dive into strange places, I believe they keep us on our toes and to not be surprised by the unexpected.
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References:
David Pringle,St James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic writers, 1998,p565-567
Halberstam, Judith.1994. Skin Shows : Gothic Horror and the
Technology of Monsters Chapter 2
[1] Robert Louis Stevenson,n.d, portrait of Robert Louis Stevenson [digital image] [02/02/16]Available from: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/dkPkh5_
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