After hearing and seeing so many references to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it was really nice to actually read the book. I was really interested in the extensive discussion of physiognomy. Mr. Hyde was considered to look deformed although there appeared to be nothing wrong with his appearance. That he was considered evil just because of physical appearance and evoked emotions of fear is an important element of Victorian philosophy. Cesare Lombroso studied physiognomy and phrenology and said one could determine if a person was evil or mad from their physical appearance. Stevenson utilized Lombraso’s ideas in his writing. Mr. Hyde can be clearly classified as a degenerate criminal type from studying his unnerving appearance.

In addition to utilizing ideas of physiognomy for identifying a criminal, Stevenson exploits different genres in his book to make it seem more believable. By calling the novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson uses the idea of a medical case study and of a police case history. I think it is even more interesting that he used such specialized areas because through evoking the idea of a specialist, Stevenson places himself in a special kind of authority role which another writer would not have been able to presume because there were no centralized police forces and medicine was beginning to get specialized. I think that the book was very effective in conveying its ideas because it appealed to the inner Mr. Hyde in all of us, which is both frightening and exhilarating. On the one hand it was terrifying to see a person from whom all seemed to be good and at least relatively righteous even if he was a bit fairy in the character of Dr. Jekyll, to a character who exudes pure evil: from the way he walks, to the way he talks to the way he looks and carries himself. I also thought it was interesting that after the novella came out, Jack the Ripper started on his bloody rampage, so much so that the play Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was shut down and some people believed that the actor playing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was Jack the Ripper. He was not, and was acquitted of his charges. I found it interesting how people were communicating more easily and people were getting involved in their communities.