Negotiating Self and Other: Atavism, Cultural Otherness, and Dual Identity in R.L. Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Semanti Nandi

Negotiating Self and Other: Atavism, Cultural Otherness, and Dual Identity in R.L. Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Author(s)	Ms. Semanti Nandi
Country	India
Abstract	This paper examines R.L. Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in relation to late-Victorian discourses of degeneration, atavism, and cultural otherness. Drawing upon contemporary medico-legal theories, particularly Cesare Lombroso’s formulation of the atavistic criminal, the study investigates the ways in which Hyde is constructed both as a moral and racial ‘other’. While the novella appears to reproduce the prevailing Victorian anxieties regarding criminality, primitivism, and racial difference, it simultaneously destabilizes the ideological assumptions that underlie such constructions. Through an analysis of Hyde’s representation, the urban geography of London, and the divided identity of Jekyll/Hyde, the paper argues that the qualities attributed to the cultural ‘other’ are shown to be an indispensable part of English cultural selfhood itself. Stevenson thus exposes the instability of binary oppositions like civilized/savage, self/other, and rational/irrational. Ultimately, the novella suggests that attempts to externalize or suppress the darker dimensions of individual and collective identity are both ethically flawed and self-destructive. By foregrounding the interdependence of opposing elements, Stevenson advocates a more nuanced understanding of human subjectivity and cultural identity.
Keywords	Dual identity, atavism, cultural otherness, criminality, degeneration
Field	Arts
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 3, May-June 2026
Published On	2026-06-16

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Negotiating Self and Other: Atavism, Cultural Otherness, and Dual Identity in R.L. Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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