Already bad enough when the name was but a name

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson recounts the story of a man divided against himself, oscillating between two identities – one decent (named Jekyll) and one wicked (named Hyde). This short essay by Christian Bök examines the transitions that occur in the narrative, when the proper names shift from one moniker to the other in reference to the protagonist: each name vying for ‘citation’ in the story, thereby attempting to predominate, as a signifier, throughout the course of events. The narrative (perhaps coincidentally) maintains an almost equal usage of these two names, as if preserving an equilibrium of tensions between their contrarian identities, balancing them almost perfectly, giving each character 100 chances to be mentioned. The form of the story thus seems to perform the idea of eponymic division, indicated within the plot.