Układy przestrzenne i zagadki osobowości. „Niezwykły przypadek doktora Jekylla i pana Hyde’a” Roberta Louisa Stevensona

Abstract

Spatial patterns and mysteries of personality: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

The paper is devoted mainly to textual signals foreshadowing the final and dubious solution of the Jekyll-and-Hyde puzzle. The motif of duality will be discussed, as underlying mainly the way the characters of the novella are juxtaposed, thus suggesting a  similar relation between the two eponymous protagonists. On the other hand, the space organization foregrounds inclusion rather than simple opposition which is in concord with the explanations provided by Jekyll in his confession.
These seemingly incompatible relations inclusion and/or opposition find their equivalent in Jekyll’s narration — especially in the use of personal pronouns by the narrator, illustrating the process of Hyde’s gaining independence together with the gradual disintegration of Jekyll’s self.