Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

[JTRSickert]

Hi everyone. One of my favorite Victorian horror stories (next to Dracula) would have to be The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. As I'm sure most of you are aware, there are several connections between this story and the Whitechapel murders. At the time of the killings, the story was adapted at the Lyceum theatre in the West End with the title roles played by American actor Richard Mansfield, whose performance was said to be so terrifying that several patrons were said to leave the theatre in fright. One writer to the police said in a letter that the performance was so convincing that he believed the actor was capable of commiting the Whitechapel atrocities. Also, several film adaptations have tried to connect the story of Jekyll & Hyde with the JTR story (Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde, Edge of Sanity, and the animated Van Helsing prequel, to name but a few). I just wanted to use this forum to discuss the story and it's connections to the Ripper murders. Some topics could be:

What do some of you like/dislike about the story?

Anyone here think "Jack" watched the play?

Anyone here think it more than a coincidence that the play opened in the beginning of August 1888, and shortly after, the murders of Tabram and Nichols occured?

Anyone here think the real "Jack" suffered from dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality)?

[KatBradshaw]

I love that play too. I have to say that it is a great example of Victorian Gothic Melodrama.
I doubt personally that the Ripper would have seen it as I see him as being lower class and probably not a theatre buff.
I would also say that it is a coincidence that the play opened just before the main killings took place. I believe that the killer built up to this with smaller local attacks and therefore the attacks would pre-date the play.

[JTRSickert]

Interesting, Kat. Do you (or anyone else) think it possible the real kilelr had a split personality and would not remember committing the atrocities?

[KatBradshaw]

I don't think it seems like Mulitple Personalities to me. More like paranoid schizophrenia if it was mental illness at all.

[JTRSickert]

Interesting.

One question I had is this:

is the familiar image of the Ripper (top hat, long cloak, and medical bag) inspired by the Mr. Hyde get-up we see in some adaptations of the story?

[DVV]

...or is it the reverse ?

Amitiés,
David

[KatBradshaw]

There may have been some cross references but tbh I think that the Ripper's image coming in that way comes from the idea that it was a toff doing the killings, Jekyll is a toff.

[Limehouse]

Actually, the crimes of Mr Hyde, as described in the book, are completely unlike those of JtR. However, the transformation of the Dr from man to beast must have influenced the way the JtR crimes were conceptualised and made sense of by many people.

I doubt whether the murderer saw the play and if he did I don't believe he would have identified with it in any way.

[JTRSickert]

Anyone hear have a favorite adaptation of the story? The one with Spencer Tracy is considered the best one.

[DVV]

Hi JTRS

When it comes to this story, I just can think of the original version burnt by Stevenson because of Fanny... It's said it was much longer...
Jekyll could have been his masterpiece, who knows, but it is not.

Amitiés,
David

[KatBradshaw]

There was a version done with Michael Caine not long after the Jack the Ripper film. It was good but very hammy.

[JTRSickert]

Yes, Kat. In fact, it was directed by the same one who did JTR (1988) and a lot of props and minor actors were recycled.

[Archaic]

re: The Mansfield Stage Production of Jekyll & Hyde

Hi, JT, how are you? Happy New Year.

I think you'd enjoy this book on Richard Mansfield's stage production of Jekyll & Hyde. It was written by Alex Chisolm and Martin Danahay.

Alex is a well-known Ripperologist; you can find more of his works here on Casebook in 'Ripper Books' and also in 'Dissertations'.

Here's a link to 'Jekyll and Hyde Dramatized: The 1887 Richard Mansfield Script and the Evolution of the Story on Stage ' on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Jekyll-Hyde-Dramatized-Mansfield-Evolution/dp/0786418702/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262806106&sr=1-7

Best regards, Archaic

[JTRSickert]

Thanks Archiac.

Happy New Year to you as well.

Thank you for the link. I will be sure to check it out.

[alex_the_droog]

I too am a lover of this book.
I suppose its just one of this things but its perfect in terms of melodrama to have this play about a mad doctor playing at the time of the Ripper murders! And all the mad doctor theories that were doing the rounds in the press at the time.

Who knows? Maybe Stevenson or Irving were involved in the murders to sell books or tickets for the play, lol

from hell

Chris