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| <http://verumsingula.com/2011/04/legislatingmorality/> |
Published in 1886, Stevenson’s, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was certainly influenced by the authors rearing, but other forces may play a larger role. The intended audience and purpose of the story surely shaped the resultant product, maybe more than any other. Early Victorian attitudes were harmonious, religion and science appeared as parallel paths, each reaffirming the other. The Church of England dominated both politics and religion, so much so that they seemed interlaced and made it almost impossible to differentiate between the two. By the 1830’s, the monarchy had lost control and democracy had become the order of the day. Education, social unrest and science were threatening long held beliefs, growing trade and foreign wars brought new concepts to a populace that was fertile soil for their growth. These new attitudes produced rapid progress in the arts, sciences, and mechanical inventions. The industrial revolution and economic boom were reaching their peaks.
In 1859, the publication of Darwin’s, Origin of the Species provided new doubt on long held beliefs and teachings. Lay people weren’t the only ones with whom these new ideas gained favor, artist who were at first slow to listen to these theories, and even clergy became to feel their effects. The Church of England rejected these claim with little success, the new viewpoint had already found their way into the minds of many and the damage was done.
This is the audience to whom Stevenson wrote and to whom he expected to purchase his works. It is difficult to discern his motivation, whether it was a confluence of his personal feelings, the religious struggle within him, and the popular feeling of the time or simply an effort to earn a wage, the result is an entertaining tale with a multilayered text that provides enjoyment for those seeking escapism to those pursuing direction.
