Jekyll & Hyde

[Jo]

The book contains themes not just related to good and evil but also many more complex issues such as the psychology of addiction. Jekyll and Hyde can be seen to engage with Freudian theory on psychology such as the fact that mans repressed sexual desires appear in dreams. The novel also appears to endorse Darwins theory of evolution as Hyde appears to be the 'beast' in Jekyll, though the novel may not work at its horror level anymore, the novel is a representation of a Victorian mindset which was largeley hypocritical, ie the 'gentlemen are allways drinking and child prostitutuion was rife in Victorian England when its society regarded itself as morally superior.