Man is not truly one, but two As illuminated by a reading of R. L.

Stevensons
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, explore the ways in which the duality
of human nature is presented in Bram Stokers Dracula and John Miltons
Paradise Lost.

In each of us, two natures are at war - the good and the evil (Stevenson), it is this
internalised battle that is the crux of Bram Stokers Dracula, John Miltons Paradise
Lost and Robert Louis Stevensons The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Both
Stevenson and Stoker were influenced by Victorian anxieties of the time, exploring
the duality of sexuality/repression and evolution/ degeneration within human nature.
Similarly, Milton explores the nature of humanity as a whole, examining the influence
of knowledge and free will upon the discovery of evil. The split psyche of good and
evil is further physicalized by the function of the doppelganger in the three texts, as
the double serves to unleash the evil and the repressed side of self. But it is also clear
that the binaries of good and evil are not always rigidly adhered to, Dracula and Satan
both can be seen as anti-heroes, rebelling against tyranny and repressive attitudes.

In Dracula Stoker examines the dual nature of Victorian sexuality. Nineteenth-century

British men were pressured by norms of propriety, as respectability was a creed
and a code for the conduct of personal and family life.1 From Stokers descriptions of
Harker his respectability is highlighted, as Seward describes a quiet, business-like
gentleman. (217) He is also a lawyer, an occupation that further evokes his propriety,
making him a universal figure for the middle class male reader. However we see
under the influence of the female vampires the division between Harkers gentlemanly
faade and his inner desires is revealed, as Stoker reduces him to his most innate
sexual passions. The innate desire of male sexuality was indeed recognized by
Victorian society, as Dio Lewis noted Womens pivotal passion was the maternal
Mans pivotal passion was the sexual (i.e the carnal).2 However the pursuit of these
passions was linked to moral degeneration and evil, as the individual becomes more
and more the slave of his passions3, particularly like Henry Jekyll in Stevensons
novel. Stevenson implies that Jekyll also falls to victim to these perverse passions
as he confides to Utterson I concealed my pleasures (77) leading to a profound
duplicity of life. (77) He goes on to state, The pleasures which I made haste to seek
in my disguise were, as I have said, undignified; I would scarce use a harder term. But
in the hands of Edward Hyde, they soon began to turn toward the monstrous, (82)
although the undignified pleasures are never explicitly alluded to as sexual, the
ambiguity of his language could certainly suggest so, and even further implicate them
as homosexual. Moreover the fact, they turn from undignified to monstrous
reflects the link between evil and moral degeneration with the pursuit of erotic desire.

Stoker foregrounds Harkers repressed desire for the vampire women as he notes their
brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips
(37), the focus on the voluptuous lips and vampire mouth further invites the sexual
thoughts of Harker. The vampire mouth at first, being red and moist could be seen to
represent the vaginal orifice but as Craft notes luring at first with an inviting office, a

1 F.M.LThompson: The Rise of Respectable Society; A social History of Victorian Britain 1830-1900
(London 1988) 251
2 Dio Lewis
3 Blackwell, Council to Parents, pg. 39
promise of red softness but instead a piercing bone 4 it is not only receptive but
penetrating. This could be linked to the vagina dentata as a vagina equipped with
teeth which symbolises dangers of sexual intercourse.5 The abnormal oral
physiognomy could be seen to exemplify the vampires unnatural and threatening
practice of sexual passion, warning against the pursuit of these desires. Furthermore
the word voluptuous is repeated throughout the encounter, voluptuous lips (37)
deliberate voluptuousness (38). The Oxford English Dictionary defines
voluptuous as the gratification of the senses, marked by the indulgence in sensual
pleasures, it was this indulgence and gratification of pleasure, which was condemned
by the patriarchal elements of Victorian society, consequently the voluptuous form
was seen to denote sexuality, corruption and the ability to devour the masculine
figure. Voluptuous is furthermore the quintessential word by which Victorian texts
could be commonly identified as pornographic. This pornographic connotation is
perhaps used to further illustrate the perverseness of sexual desire and heighten
Harkers lust. This lust can be paralleled with Satan, as Daniel comments, his true
motivation for escaping hell and perverting paradise is, at least party, something more
basic: Satan needs sex.6 Like Harker, Satans desires for sex are repressed, leading to
unbridled lust. Like Harkers encounter that is filled with sexual imagery, it can be
said that Milton uses sexual imagery to portray the Satan in Hell. Satan ascends from
the flood and the upright devil rears himself amidst flaming phallic pointing
spires that play about each of his hands.

The sexual imagery continues in Dracula, The fair girl went on her knees and bent
over me, Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my
mouth and chin and seemed about to fasten on my throat (38) the allusion to oral sex,
further condemns Harkers pleasures and desires, as oral sex was mainly the domain
of prostitutes. As Sigel noted fellatio was considered the most offensive.7 Through
the implications of oral sex Stoker highlights that Harkers innate sexual desires are
not socially acceptable and do not live up to the respectability of the middle classes.
However it could be argued that Stoker purposefully presents the pornographic nature.
His focus on the senses foregrounds this, as Harkers language focuses on the
shivering touch and his supersensitive skin, that began to tingle as the ones
flesh does when the hand that is tickle approaches it nearer- nearer, he also presents a
waiting and anticipation that mirrors that of the reader, creating erotic suspense, an
agony of delightful anticipation. Which in turn perhaps allowed Victorian readership,
in particular male to experience their desires. As Maurice Hindle argues the erotic
encounter was aimed mainly at male readership and its soft- pornographic content
is but a mild example of the much harder and ruder versions to be found catering for
the late Victorian and Edwardian pornography market.8 Milton presents a similar
sensory experience in the temptation of Eve, with a focus on taste and smell, Even to
my mouth of that same fruit held part /Which he had pluckt; the pleasant savourie
smell / So quick'nd appetite, that I, methought, [ 85 ]. O fair Plant, said he, with fruit

4 Christopher Craft, "Kiss Me with those Red Lips": Gender and Inversion in Bram Stoker's Dracula
5 Vagina dentata Oxford English Dictionary <http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50274354?
single=1&query_type=word&queryword=vagina&first=1&max_to_show=10> [accessed 8th April
2016]
6 Daniel, Clay. Death in Milton's Poetry. (London: Ass. Univ. Press, 1994)
7 Lisa Z. Sigel, Name Your Pleasure Journal of the History of sexuality, IX;4 (October 2000) pp395-
419
8 Dracula Edited with an Introduction and Notes By Maurice Hindle, 2003
surcharg'd, / Deigns none to ease thy load and taste thy sweet we see again a link
between lust and taste and smell. Some critics have argued that his sensory detail,
mirrors the temptation of the reader along with Eve, in a similar way Stoker can be
seen to try and fulfil males through his prose. However at the same time, Draculas
reaction could be seen to symbolise what happens when men fulfil their desires,
never did I imagine such wrath and fury, even to the demons of the pit. His eyes
were positively blazing. The red light in them was lurid, as if the flames of hell-fire
blazed behind them. (46) The focus on wrath, fury and the devil all link overt sexual
desire to evil. Much like the monstrosity of Edward Hyde that is emphasised by
Stevenson. Consequently, Hindles argument is only correct if it rests on Stoker using
the encounter to present the moral implications. As evident in an Stoker interview,
The Nineteenth Century and After in 19089 Stoker was strictly against literary
works of shameful lubricity dismissing sex as force of evil that needs to be
contained.

Fowler commented that carnal motivations come to monopolise the unconscious and
conscious life of the individual till they haunt his very dreams10. In Harkers journal
entries he recounts the incident as a dream he believes he experienced with them I
suppose I must have fallen asleep; I hope so, but I fear, for all that followed was
startlingly real. Psychoanalytic readings are useful when examining this, as the
dream format allows for the unconscious to pervade the psyche. Currently,
psychoanalysis is defined as an investigation in the manifestation of the unconscious
meaning of words, actions, and products of the imagination (dreams, phantasies,
delusions) of a particular subject 11. In Freuds The Interpretation of Dreams he
expresses the belief the unconscious state allows one to play out repressed desires.
This is particular true in the case of Harker, as his repressed sexual desires and
fantasies are enacted, allowing him to experience, languorous ecstasy (46) at the
breaking from societal constraints, however simultaneously his conscious mind tries
to break through as he recognizes his impulses but tries to repress his desire by
remembering Mina briefly, It is not good to note this down, lest some day it should
meet Minas eyes and cause her pain but it is the truth (45). He quickly remembers
the constraints of respectability and morality engrained with Victorian culture. Milton
in Paradise Lost presents a similar unconscious state that foreshadows the fall of man.
As the angel Raphel warns Adam Dream not of other worlds, (VIII.175) and it is
the unconscious state that facilitates Eves loss of all-important capacity for reason,
My guide was gone, and I, methought, sunk down, / And fell asleep; but O how glad
I wakd / To find this but a dream. Within her dream Eve presents this duality of
knowing the angels actions are wrong mee damp horror chilld / At such bold
words voucht with a deed so bold (65-66). But as they are in Dracula, the temptation
proves to be strong. She notes that her dream is filled with offense and trouble (34)
however also provides details on the Tree /Of interdicted Knowledge: fair it seem'd,/
Much fairer to my Fancie then by day being extremely alluring and fair and
Fancie. Tillyard believes that since Eve wakes with tresses discomposd and
glowing cheek (v.10)12 the dream has affected Eve, and she has really passed from a
state of innocence to one of sin Since both forging illusions with Eves Organs of
9
10 Orson Fowler, Love and Patronage, p.g 131
11 Laplanche, Jean, and Jean-Bertrand Pontalis. The Language of Psycho-analysis. Trans.
Donald Nicholson-Smith. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1973. Print.
12 Tillyard
her Fancy and tainting Th animal spirits use things already present in Eve to raise
discontented thoughts, like Harker, she can be seen as having repressed desires.
Both the Vampire and Satan consequently unlock dualities within from their victims,
as Satan (Quoting Aristotle) can darken mans reason so that it may consent to sin,
which darkness is due to the imagination and sensitive appetite, similar in the way in
which the vampire unlocks the rampant sexuality within man.13

One of the ways in which the duality of human nature is presented is through the
doppelganger (or double-ganger in German). Defined as an apparition of a living
person; a double, a wraith.14, the term was first introduced by Jean Paul in his 1796
novel Siebenks, and has been explored and developed, both as a theoretical concept
and a narrative device ever since. Notably, Stevensons Hyde can be seen as a direct
doppelganger to Dr Jekyll. Furthermore, Dracula and Satan can be seen as
doppelgangers to humanity as a whole, as the contradicting elements of humanity are
reflected in doppelgangers, which serve as the physical manifestations of the
internalised world. In human identity two forces always contradict and attempt to
conquer one another, and it is good and evil that are usually internally fighting. The
Gothic doppelgangers in many ways represent the evil and the return of the
repressed. In a similar fashion Miltons biblical poem, presents Satan to represent the
dark side of humanity, tempting humans into sin and damnation. The ways in which
Satan, Dracula and Hyde can be seen to fit into the doppelganger archetype is
evidenced not only by their appearance, but their characteristics and actions that
embody the sins, deceits, and evil that humans repress. Kelly Hurley explains that
doppelgangers have vestiges of human identity, but are in the process of
becoming, some half-human other[s] wolfish, or simian, perhaps simply
unspeakable in [their gross, changeful corporeality (190). 15Hyde is described as
pale and dwarfish, [giving] an impression of deformity without any nameable
malformation. But he is also human looking, like Dracula. Harker first describes him
as an, tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache. But upon second
glance, Harker notices his animalistic, non-human characteristics with peculiarly
sharp white teeth (24) and peculiarly arched nostrils. The doppelgangers are
indeed of a degenerate form, implying them as a darker shadow of the original
selves. Satan can also be seen to evoke this degeneracy, as he becomes more and more
a dark doppelganger for humanity, his physical form gradually degenerates. Satan
lessens from a Leviathan (211) to a large mythological vulture (272), to a wolf (286),
to a cormorant (287), and even a lion and a tiger (293); he appears squat like a toad
when he corrupts Eves dream (304). When Satan enters Eden to undo mankind, he
arrives merely as a mist, hardly an impressive entrance for one so previously
powerful. His foul descent into the serpent actually appalls him; his awareness of
his own repugnant ambition and revenge, and his subsequent dismissal of that
disgust for the sake of his vengeance (395), This ability to perform metamorphosis is
also a conventional nineteenth-century Gothic archetype of the doppelganger,
exhibited by Dracula in his ability to turn into a bat, a wolf and mist and in Jekyll and
Hyde who use the draught to change.

But as said previously, the actions of the doppelgangers are also indicative of their
roles and anxieties they represent. As a doppelganger Dracula exemplifies the fin-de-
13 Aristole
14 Shorter Oxford Dictionary
15 Kelly Hurley
siecle phobia16 of both sex and degeneration. He is the primeval, ultimate example of
a man completely consumed by the fulfilment of sexual desires. Stokers
descriptions of the Count undoubtedly connote sensuality, as Mina comments his
face was not a good face; it was hard, and cruel and sensual (205). But the perhaps
most evident sexuality that Dracula expresses is through his desire for blood, blood is
the life (226) and serves to be the ultimate aphrodisiac for Dracula. The intensity of
Dracula s passion for blood is evident in his reactions, eyes blazed with a sort of
demoniac fury at the sight of blood on Harkers wounded neck (34). Furthermore,
blood and sexuality within Dracula are highly related, reflecting the Victorians belief
that blood is sperm 17therefore, when feeding upon blood and exchanging bodily
fluids (it) can be associated with intercourse 18. As Carol A Senf comments, his
thirst for blood and the manner in which he satisfies his thirst can be interpreted as
sexual desire which fails to observe any of society's attempts to control it -
prohibitions against polygamy, promiscuity, and homosexuality. 19 As sex was often
only seen as virtuous within the realms of marriage, so Dracula is seen to pervert all
these pillars of society. In Miltons biblical epic we see sex as pure and joyful in the
context of marriage of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eves sexual relationship is devoid
of lust, as sex is an intrinsic act necessary for the multiplication of mankind and the
preservation of Gods assumed omniopotence. Their intercourse clings on to no other
ties but adoration pure /Which God likes best a complete union of two souls
absent of the troublesome disguises of human limitation. Even angels, Raphael
reminds Adam procreate, telling him that whatever pure [man] in the body enjoyst/
we enjoy / In eminence. The initial purity of the sexuality between Adam and Eve
provides a conduit for Miltons own social commentary on the issue of marriage. Like
Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde exemplifies the Victorian
unspoken fears of eroticism, and was to many a moral tale of consequences when
sexual appetites are revealed. The double life of Jekyll and Hyde can be seen as
parallel to the necessarily double life of the Victorian homosexual. Jekylls,
Doppelganger Hyde is has a variety of feminine qualities, such as his small stature,
his whispering and somewhat broken voice (48), and his luxury and good taste
(54). Yet simultaneously, he is described as having a troglodytic (48) appearance
and a bestial (84) love for pleasure. This combination of feminine demeanor and
unbridled self-indulgence within a male character evokes a clear allusion to
homosexual stereotypes according to Conahan. Furthermore, Stevenson heavily
implies that Jekylls secret adventures as Hyde represents the dual lifestyle of a
practicing homosexual. In a posthumous letter, Jekyll confesses that his desire to
create and maintain Hyde developed because Hyde allowed Jekyll the freedom to,
like a schoolboy, strip off these lendings [the social conscious and morality that
plagued Jekylls mind and spring headlong into the sea of liberty (Stevenson 60). Not
only does this confession describe Jekylls desire to be free of social restraint
--restraint that would surely prohibit any type of deviance from a standard sexually
hetero-normative model-- but his allusion to an adolescent schoolboy only makes
his homosexuality more explicit. There have also been implications of homoerotic
desire in Dracula, most explicitly when Dracula intervenes and chases away the
female vampires when they are about to attack Jonathan. This man belongs to me!
16 auerbach 7
17 The Importance of Blood during the Victorian Era: Blood as a Sexual Signifier in
Bram Stokers Dracula, Liz Keller
18 Pektas 2
19 As Carol A. Senf, 'Dracula: The Unseen Face in the Mirror', 1979In
(53). This desire for possession could be a manifestation of homosexuality. Erotic
same-sex relations were among the paraphilias of the time, homosexuals were cast
into opprobrium by society. The famous trial of Oscar Wilde in 1895, in which he was
sentenced to two years of hard labour for his sodomy, turned the attention to the
other Victorians the character of the vampire definitely carries in itself the anxiety in
respect to homosexuality. Either way, both Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Dracula seem
to play on these dualities within the sexual nature of humanity, condemning both
anything outside the hetro-normative models and also the expression of sexual desire.
The concept of evil incorporated with aggressive sexual behaviours and sexual
temptations very much plays into the evil and appalling behaviours of Dracula and Dr
Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Doppelgangers Dracula and Hyde further play on Victorian anxieties through their
depiction of degeneration. Whilst Dracula brings in the conflict of the civilised vs the
uncivilised, Hyde as the mirror of Jekyll serves to be a reminder of the barbarism,
which underlined Victorian civilisation. The publication of Charles Darwins The
Origin of the Species in 1859 undoubtedly had a great impact on Victorian society.
Darwinian evolutionary theory blurred the boundaries between human and animal by
stating that humans had an ape-like ancestor. As Spencer states, For if humans could
evolve, it was thought they could also devolve or degenerate, both as nations and as
individuals. 20Both Stevensons and Stokers atavistic doppelgangers communicate
the malaise that seemed to typify the fin de sicle, that of degeneracy and the fear of
reversion to a primitive other (Dryden 76)21 These post-Darwinism influences can
immediately be seen in their descriptions of both Dracula and Hyde. Dracula in many
respects is an animal rather than a phantom 22(auerbach 7) with rather cruel-looking
peculiarly sharp white teeth, his ears were pale, and at the tops extremely point and
fingernails and hairs growing from palms all evoke an animalistic, bestial
appearance to Dracula,23Mina comments she does not know if Dracula was man or
beast, [she] could not tell (112). Described most often in words that are suggestive of
vicious animalistic predators - when Dracula is discovered in Mina Harkers bedroom
he is described with white sharp teeth, behind the full lips of the blood-dripping
mouth, [that] champed together like those of a wild beast (333). Similarly, Mr
Hydes physical appearance provokes disgust. He is described as ape-like,
troglodytic and hardly human (ch. 2). As Mr Enfield, observes There is something
wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable
Draculas ability to transform into the shape of various animals further highlights his
degeneracy and link to evil and sin. Satan in Paradise Lost takes the form of several
different animals, he is a ravening cormorant in the tree of life an animal but able
to fly. Then he is a lion and a tiger earth-bound beasts of prey, but magnificent.
Finally, he is a toad and a snake. Stevensons portrayal of Hyde works in a similar
fashion. Mr Hyde is regarded as physically detestable but perhaps only because he
subconsciously reminds those he encounters of their own distant evolutionary
inheritance.

The atavism of both Dracula and Hyde can be linked to Lombroso new science of
criminal anthropology, and what he called the criminal man which purported to
20
21
22
23
demonstrate that habitual criminals were throwbacks to primitive ancestors. He noted
that enormous jaws, high cheek bones, prominent superciliary arches, extreme size
of the orbits and handle-shaped ears were some of the features. Both overlap with the
descriptions of Dracula and Hyde. It was also thought that since the criminal was a
degenerate version of the human, their brains that were less advanced. Draculas is
seen to be degenerate a criminal and of criminal type according to the theories of
Lombroso and Nordau which mean he has an imperfectly formed mind. Similarly
Hyde is the opposite of the bourgeois English gentleman. Instead of manners, he has
rudeness; instead of sensibilities he has impulse; nature instead of culture. The
eyewitness account of a maid who witnesses Hyde murder a popular Member of
Parliament in the street at night, describes him trampling his victim with ape-like
fury (351-52), and, in his final account of the situation, Jekyll describes his evil other
half as someone who played him ape-like tricks (400) out of ape-like spite (401).
But the criminal is seen to play out societys duality as a whole, as Dryden noted in
London the vast population contained elements of the beast (Dryden). Thus, the
criminal and atavism of Dracula and Hyde is used to represent class divides and the
fears of the bourgeoisie. As Andrew Lang noted The heroes are all successful
middle-aged professional men in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Indeed one could hardly
miss the novels foregrounding of the stature enjoyed by Henrky Jekyll, M.D, D.C.L,
LL.D, F.R.S etc similarly we see numerous characters of statue, Lord Golding, Van
Helsing and Dr Seward. Consequently in the doppelgangers Stoker and Stevenson
have created figures who embodies bourgeois readerships worst fears about both a
marauding and immoral underclass and a dissipated and immoral leisure class24

The degeneration, sexual expression and uncivilised nature of the doppelgangers of

Dracula and Hyde are all overtly linked to evil. Satan, consequently is perhaps the
strongest universal doppelganger of this, he represents the sins, temptations and
repressed desires of humanity, completely driven by his own passions and desires,
much like the other two, leading to only pure evil. This evil side to humanity is
perhaps best seen in Miltons final embodiment of Satan and the devils as snakes in
Book 10. In altering the somewhat sympathetic Satan from his original heroic
depiction to a simple snake, Milton is more importantly reducing evil to its essence:
temptation. For the final vision of Satan and the devils is not as monstrous beasts, but
rather as luring tempters. Thus what Milton offers his readers as a final taste of Satan
and his followers, as snakes, is wholly important to his understanding of the great
threat of evil itself. It appears that Milton wants to define evil, above all, as the
lurking Enemie / that lay in wait (9. 1171-2): a persuasive, deceptive and seductive
temptation that must be resisted. On the other hand within the binaries of and evil,
there is an almost redeeming quality to the doppelganger villains presented. Many
critics, like Shelley have judged that nothing can exceed the energy and
magnificence of the character of Satan.25 Indeed, like Dracula, Satan is presented as a
tempting figure to the audience almost fitting in to the anti-hero archetype. The
initial perception of Satan within the first two books challenges the preconceived
notions of Satan as pure evil. Milton magnifies the positive, human character traits
displayed [his] dauntless courage and considerable pride (I, 604) raising Satan
towards heroic proportions while simultaneously drawing the reader towards him.
Milton elevates him physically above the rest/in shape and gesture (I, 589-90) and
his immense size is spotlighted in the first physical description Milton devotes to
24
25
Satan, calling upon mythical imagery of huge proportions:As whom the Fables name
of monstrous size, /Titanian, or Earth-born, that warrd on Jove, /Briareos or Typhon,
whom the Den/ By ancient Tarsus held, or that Sea-beast Leviathan, which God of all
his worksI. (192-202). The sheer magnitude of the imagery invoked by Milton in this
initial description portrays Satan formidably, aligning him with impressive
mythological figures such as Leviathan and Titanian. The physical descriptions are
furthered throughout book I with his imposing figure amplified with his use of huge,
celestial objects as armour his ponderous shieldHung on his shoulders like the
Moon (I.284-287). Dracula can be said to be presented in a similar fashion, as The
characters charm and charisma almost masks his evil and violent temper(Cheung
188) The count is an aristocratic figure, and when Stoker first meets him, he evokes a
sense of honour and duty, like Satan, recalling military stature and victory, The old
man motioned me in with his right hand with a courtly gesture, saying in excellent
English it was a welcome sight, for here was a great bedroom well lighted and
warmed with another log fire (23) here I am noble he is seen as respectable, well
spoken and of high class. He is also seen to have a strong ancestry, recalling his
military statue, was it not this Dracula indeed, who inspired that other of his race
who in later age again and again brought his forces over the great river into
Turkeyland; who, when he was beaten back, came again we of the Dracula blood
were amongst their leaders, for our spirit would not brook that we were not free.

Stanley Fish puts forward the argument that Milton intentionally creates Satan as an
attractive, tempting proposition to the reader in an attempt to reflect the tempting of
Adam and Eve. One interpretation of this could be that the extended metaphor enables
Milton to illustrate to the reader the dangers posed by the seductive Satan. This role of
educator is one that Milton seems willing to undertake, at the start of the poem he
professes his desire to justifie the wayes of God to men (I.26), this could be similar
for Stoker, to present the danger that Dracula represents. In each story, then it could
perhaps be taken as a moral lesson. Jekyll, and Hyde can be seen similarily, as
according to Professor Robert Winston, Jekyll and Hyde...is almost a classic morality
tale, 26 and we are taught that the evil side exists within all of us and are told the
dangers of splitting the consciousness into two. However whilst Stevensons novel
remains ambiguous in he end, In Dracula Victorian anxieties are overcome as the
good characters defeat Dracula and offer him redemption through death. Rampant
sexuality is crushed, the degeneracy is overcome and the cultural other is removed
from London. As Christopher Raible notes, Forces of good and evil, clearly
identified, clash until the climax and final destruction of the dread vampire. 27 In a
similar way, Paradise Lost serves to reaffirm the corrective sketch of God, as Milton
presents the defence of Gods goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of
evil. To conclude, it is clear that the duality of human nature is explored extensively
in the three texts. Whether it be more specific dualities relating to society and
Victorian constraints, or more epic in the relation to Good vs Evil the duality of
human nature is presented as something that will always be innate, but ultimately it
will be the good and the civilised that will outweigh the evil.

26 (Ian Rankin Investigates: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, 2007)

27 ' Christopher Gist Raible, 'Dracula: Christian Heretic', 1979 (pp. 105