As far as I'm concerned, Chapter 8 is the absolute best chapter in the entire book. This is where the story pretty much comes to a very abrupt end and yet it's also where everything I love about the book finally comes front and center; Poole and Utterson.

Elaine Is Reading Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde > Chapter 8 - Part 2

As far as I'm concerned, Chapter 8 is the absolute best chapter in the entire book. This is where the story pretty much comes to a very abrupt end and yet it's also where everything I love about the book finally comes front and center; Poole and Utterson.

It is a shame that the two people who have the most interesting perspectives in the entire book are the only two people to never have their stories told in any adaptations. Out of the hundreds of times this story has been adapted for stage or screen, the actual NARRATOR OF THE STORY and the only other person to genuinely care for Dr Jekyll have often been completely erased from existence. Why? When their perspective of the story is probably the most poignant.

What I hate about adaptations is that they don't make it clear that what you're experiencing is someone else's fantasy or interpretation of the story, not the story itself. The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a powerful story about, as I've said before, male friendships, loyalty, and the spiral of addiction, and yet it's never told from that perspective and that's a real wasted opportunity.

I hope throughout this podcast I've given you a new way to see this story.

Elaine Is Reading Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde > Chapter 8 - Part 1

As I mentioned in the previous video …

One of the primary issues I have with adaptations of Jekyll and Hyde is that they leave out so much of what makes this story interesting and some of the best aspects of that include the relationship between Utterson, Lanyon, and Jekyll and how that deep friendship is destroyed by Jekyll’s selfish doings. In many ways it feels like trying to be friends with an addict or someone with mental illness and it’s a shame that no adaptations truly address the heartbreak and betrayal and conflicting feelings that go along with being friends with someone in a self destructive spiral.

This video goes into depth about how the story mirrors so much of the reality of addiction spirals, dealing with the breakdown of friendships, and trying to find your role in a relationship with a friend who has descended into a dark and downward spiral. Chapter 6 and 7 are so sad and so upsetting for me on a personal level, but I don’t think I’m the only one who reads these chapters this way. This is very obviously Stevenson’s intention because the wording, the reactions, and the feelings are all there clearly in the text.

Where are the discussions of these underlying themes? Why is there only a focus on Jekyll? Why do people find the selfish, destructive nature of addicts and the mentally ill so fascinating? What about all of the bodies, hearts, and souls left behind in the wake of their death spirals? What about the true victims?

Elaine Is Reading Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde > Chapters 6 and 7 - Part 2