The Shortened (and Sloppy) Version of My TSCDJMH Notes - Version 1/?
After my fiftieth read of the novella, ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’, I’ve decided to take notes on the characteristic and physical aspects of the two main boys, primarily for myself in writing and drawing, but also serving as notes that anyone can use if need be.
I apologize for how sloppy and rambly I tend to get with my notes, but again, this is the shortened version.
(Yes, ouch, I am that bad at taking proper notes.)
•Nicknamed 'Harry' by Utterson.
-May also be called Harry by various long-time friends, at least when he still had some sort of relationship with them.
•Jekyll's titles were written as such in the story, "Henry Jekyll, M.D., D.C.L., L.L.D., F.R.S., etc.".
*D.C.L.= Doctor of Judicial Science
*F.R.S.= Fellowship of the Royal Society
-Basically, a title given to a person who has made substantial progress in the fields of mathematics, science, etc.
-This gives a bit of weight to Jekyll’s social appearance, as well as pertaining to the fact that he’s actually quite popular (may it be in certain circles or to the common folk as well).
-This gives way to various other titles in which the reader can only assume- I personally headcanon a PhD in Chemistry, but to each their own.
•Poole has been Jekyll’s butler for a whopping twenty years. Within the novella, it explicitly states that he (Jekyll) is a ‘smooth-faced man of fifty’.
-I’ve concluded that, if you were to bend the canon or make an AU of some sort, Jekyll’s age could be anywhere between late thirties to his early sixties (at most- again, canon states him as fifty, so I typically wouldn’t breach that line unless I want to play out a much older Jekyll). If you’re headcanoning a younger Jekyll, it’s believable to place him at an age range between late thirties to early-mid fourties. If you want an older version of him, the oldest I would go would be anywhere within his sixties.
-According to the casting requirements for the Jekyll & Hyde musical, Jekyll’s actor is 30-40 years of age. Do with that what you will.
*Also, if you’re just making a full out AU, go ham with the age, who cares about canon (because if I’ve gotten to the point where I have to take notes on canon, then I certainly haven’t pertained to the laws of said canon in forever).
•Described as a ‘large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness’.
- Henry Jekyll is, without a doubt, a kind man- that doesn’t necessarily mean he has skewed morals, though. I’ve already written a handful of essays of where Jekyll stops and Hyde begins, whether or not Hyde even exists, whether or not Jekyll even exists, blah blah blah. The whole interpretation of Jekyll’s character, excluding the few details given, is entirely up to the reader, and how exactly they perceive the line between Jekyll and Hyde is also very much a thing.
-I’ve, personally, always imagined Jekyll to me a lanky, youngish looking man. To further my imagination, ‘The League of Extraordinry Gentlemen’ sort of beat that interpretation of Jekyll into my head and so my imagined version of him is a bit skewed.
•HEIGHT! Oh Lord, this man’s height. Tall way back in the day (in the 1800’s, in England) wasn’t really that tall compared to now. My height range for Jekyll would be 5’6”-5’8”, though the 5’8” is sort of pushing it.
•Jekyll is actually pronounced Gee-Kill, and now I want to Jekyll myself.
-hah I’m still going to pronounce it as I’ve always have because bad habits die hard, but mine won’t be dying at all
Described as ‘dwarfish’ multiple times. Probably tragically small due to the height waaaay back in the day.
- I think I put him at anywhere between ‘4”8- ‘5”4, but that’s probably being a bit generous.
*Multiple adaptations have pictured Hyde as an enormous, towering figure that looks heavily deformed. I note that, while some characters within the short story did describe him as ‘deformed’, they meant that in a ‘metaphorical’ way. The thing with Hyde was that he looked normal, if a bit short, and that it was the way he ‘felt’ that set others off. He was twisted in the good old classic soul-sense, being Jekyll’s incarnation of evil and all.
-It is certainly valid to picture Hyde as enormous, but I tend to only write (or draw) Hyde larger when I’m trying to imply the growth of Jekyll’s ‘evilness’. The more twisted Jekyll becomes, even if it doesn’t outwardly affect his character, the larger (and perhaps more deformed) Hyde becomes.
•Hyde, based off of Poole’s description, is a man pertaining a sense of ‘bigness’- this may allude to the fact that Jekyll’s evil is crammed within a small form (which sort of debunks what I’ve stated previously), or the fact that Hyde is just... ‘well-upholstered’.
-It certainly makes sense, given that Sloth doesn’t necessarily seem like something the Good Doctor wouldn’t oblige himself with, but rather something Hyde would do.
Please do keep in mind that I’m probably going to edit this about a million times, because my small brain misses entire words when reading, and I didn’t really take that many notes (it’s basically just a handful or cited notes with my rambling attached to them, sorry again).
