How Does Robert Louis Stevenson Create Mystery and Suspense

in Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The story of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was first published in 1886 at the end
of the nineteenth century. This was a time that people where concerned
about death and rebirth where gruesome murders where happening. It was
also an era when many other horror and scientific books where being
published, for example: Oscar Wilde who wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray
and Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley which were all books concerned
with immortality. The Victorian readers would not have been aware of
Stevenson’s theme when it was first written. It would have been a unique
piece of work in terms of suspense and mystery.
The chapters in Jekyll and Hyde have different titles, for example the
name of the first chapter is “Story of the Door”. This is the first part of the
story we read and already Stevenson is creating suspense and mystery from
this small simple title because it makes the readers wonder and think what
the chapter is going to be about and what this door is. The second chapter in
the story is called Search for Mr. Hyde. This is another example of
Stevenson creating suspense because this is the first time we hear anything
about Hyde from the title. Also in the book there are two different types of
narrative that Stevenson uses. Through most of the book he writes in 3rd
person but in the last two chapters he writes in 1st person describing the story
and flashing back to different parts. This is because in the last chapter
Stevenson reveals all the mysteries and questions that the author has been
wanting to ask all the way through the novel.
Stevenson also uses description and actions to show suspense and
mystery in his novel for example his description of Hyde “with a kind of
black, sneering coolness” and “but carrying it off just like Satan”. Hyde’s
appearance has a bad effect on people in the story linking to mystery for
example “he was perfectly cool and made no resistance, but gave me one
look, so ugly that it brought out the sweat in me like running.” Stevenson
uses animal imagery in the book which creates tension and suspense because
this leaves the reader wanting to know what Mr. Hyde is and why he is
doing what he does. For example “And next moment, with ape like fury, he
was trampling his victim under foot.”
In the story every chapter in the book ends in a cliffhanger leaving the
reader in suspense and tension. It also creates mystery because some of the
chapters end with a missing piece which is vital for the reader to know, so
they want to read more: “Henry Jekyll forge for a murder! And his blood ran
cold in his veins.” This is an important part of Stevenson’s writing because
this is one of the main parts of how he creates suspense. Another cliff hanger
in the novel is one of the main ones showing that the events of the story have
ended and the next chapter will describe and explain everything that’s
happened in the story “trudged back to his office read the two narratives in
which this mystery was now to be explained”.
The settings that Stevenson uses in the novel create an atmosphere and
mystery for the reader. For example in the first chapter when the little girl is
attacked “about three o’clock of a black winter morning” This immediately
is a typical horror scene which causes the readers to anticipate something
bad that is about to happen and creates a tension. He also uses this strategy
in the murder of Carew when he is describing the scene of the murder the
most gruesome murder in the story. “Although a fog rolled over the city in
the early hours, the early part of the night was cloudless, and the lane, which
the maid’s window overlooked, was brilliantly lit by the full moon.”
Another description is of the area of Soho, where Hyde lives, which is a
wealthy area but in the Victorian times it used to be the main sex industry
and a place of ill-fame.
Stevenson describes the weather in chapter 8 when Utterson and
Poole travel to Jekyll’s house “It was a wild cold, seasonable night of
March, with a pale moon, lying on her back as though the wind had tilted
her, and a flying wrack of the most diaphanous and lawny texture.” This
again gives the reader a sign that something is going to happen and creates
tension and suspense and at the same time causing mystery of what is going
to happen next in the story. Stevenson also uses devices that are typical of
the horror and mystery genre. For example Utterson’s dream. Many writers
use dreams to tell the reader and give them clues of what’s going to happen
in the story and Utterson’s dream also creates mystery and suspense because
it leaves the reader asking questions.
The story of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is written around the idea that
there is a duality of nature which is evident in everyone. During those times
it would have seemed blasphemous to the Victorians because they were very
religious and most of them would have disagreed with Stevenson’s queries.
This had the same effect when Darwin’s origin of the species had been
published at a similar time, causing a lot of confusion and disagreement.
This is because at the time the people would have been very religious and be
very anxious and curious about the supernatural and most things that went
against their beliefs.