Voges 1 Brianna Voges ENG 102 Mary Petty March 4, 2014 Silent Voices Literature in the late 1800s

strived to make mute anyone who was not a gentleman of high social standing. Women and low class citizens did not have a voice in literature just as they had little voice in anything else. Most were illiterate and few were labeled as contributors to anything important. Not only were they ignored, they were looked down upon and scorned for their gender and social standing. While Robert Louis Stevenson did not fall among the ranks of those social elite who frowned upon anyone with a lower social standing than himself, he did place a greater importance on men. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson depicts his male characters as upper class members of society not only to show the great separation of gender in comparison to importance and morals, but also to show his own disdain for the higher members of society. Stevenson uses the social standing of his main male characters to show a great separation between genders in the late 1800s. Consequently, he cast his few female characters in lower class positions to express their inferiority. According to Stephen Heath on his analysis of Stevensons almost absence of female characters, the general absence of womenas their "negation," which perhaps is also a form of violence, leading him to concludethat the psychoanalytic mechanism of male disavowal is very much at play in the novel (Choen) His

Voges 2 main male leads, Mr. Utterson, Dr. Jekyll and even Dr. Layon, are all of a high social standing whereas not a single one of his female characters said to have been in a position of low class. All of the females in the short novel consist of a small girl, a maid and a landlady none of which are high on the social ladder. However his list of male characters is made up of doctors and lawyers. Three are professional men-two doctors, one lawyer-and the only non-professional, Richard Enfield, is so locked into his role that his description as "the well-known man about town" might as well be a professional designation (Saposnik 719) Not only does he place the women in a position of lower social standing but he also graces them with a multitude of faults and undesirable attributes. The first female character is a young girl who is easily pushed aside and mowed over by a man much larger than her. She then proceeds to cause quite a ruckus when she is not much worse, more frightened (Stevenson 7). Through the actions of the girl Stevenson begins to show a lack of will and honorable character in his females. Stevenson also neglects to name the trampled girl and her family therefore implying their unimportance. The second character we are introduced to is a maid who witnesses the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. The maid is depicted as romantically given (Stevenson 20) which was not necessarily a good trait for women to have. When she happens to witness the murder of a gentleman, comparatively described as aged and beautiful with a face that seemed to breath and innocence and old-world kindness of disposition (Stevenson 20), she presently faints. When she comes to and gives the police her account, she is described as in hysterics. Stevenson depicts the maid as such a delicate and weak character to better show the less valuable traits he believed women possessed. The last woman described by Stevenson was Mr. Hydes landlady. While Stevenson gifted this character with excellent manners, he did not neglect to give her a fair share of deplorable traits. She had an evil

Voges 3 face, smoothed by hypocrisy (Stevenson 22). The landlady is also shed in a light of disloyalty when Stevenson depicts her taking joy in the fact that her master has gotten into trouble. Stevensons female characters are clearly severely lacking the favorable traits and higher social standing he grants his male characters. Through his use of social class we also sense a certain amount of distain from Robert Louis Stevenson for those of a high social standing. His main character Mr. Utterson is described as the last reputable acquaintance and last good influence in the lives of down-going men (Stevenson 5). However this character that is so liked by all is never seen partaking in any form of work or unpleasant activities. While Stevenson describes him as a well off lawyer we learn that at times Utterson will push aside his job at noon when business was plenty and time scarce (Stevenson 13), to attend to matters he deems more important. Utterson as well as Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Layon are often depicted attending dinner parties and this seems to be the social norm. In fact Utterson does not truly believe that Dr. Jekyll has recovered from hi unfortunate acquaintance with Hyde until he rejoins the word and once again becomes their familiar guest ad entertainer (Stevenson 28). Through these scenes and instances Stevenson is implying that the life of someone in upper class society is fraught with laziness and over indulgence. Even Dr. Jekyll would not have had the time to indulge in his dark fantasies of uncontrollable wildness and unrestrained freedom if he did had given more of his time to his work as a doctor. However due Stevensons belief that upper class citizens care only for self gratification and enjoyment, Dr. Jekyll delves into a science that he cannot understand to fulfill his own desires. This also shows a lack of judgment and common sense in his higher class characters. Stevenson implies that his upper class characters do not have to concern themselves with the constraints that come from work or the

Voges 4 general integrity of men. Stevenson shows a subtle dislike for those who believe they are above such suppression of freedom. Stevenson was a very influential writer in the late 1800s and his voice reflects some of the vast viewpoints of the men in that time period. Through Stevenson we not only glimpse in to the mind of an incredible author, but also into the mind of a society so different than our own.

Voges 5 Brianna Voges ENG 102 Mary Petty March 4, 2014 Works Cited Cohen, E. "Hyding the Subject?: The Antinomies of Masculinity in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Novel: A Forum on Fiction 37.1-2 (2003): 181-99. Print. Saposnik, Irving S. "The Anatomy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Studies in English Literature 11.4 (1971): 715-31. Print Stevenson, Robert Louis, and Roger Luckhurst. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Other Tales. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.