Narrative voice and letters

The mutli-layered narrative Stevenson uses in this text is entirely deliberate and aligns with many other writers of the period. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, it is Captain Robert Walton who passes on the story through letters to his sister, or in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, the main story is revealed to the tenant, Mr Lockwood. Utterson’s ongoing investigation frames the main account of Jekyll’s experiment and subsequent catastrophe in a way which allows Stevenson to build tension, rather than having the truth revealed in a chronological way through first-hand accounts. Using the epistolary form also adds a layer of realism to the text, engaging the reader in other perspectives. The plot of the text develops further through these letters and allows a deeper connection with the characters; using both Lanyon and Jekyll’s letters to close the novella, Stevenson finally provides insight into two previously mysterious characters, thereby eliciting greater gratification from the reader as their stories are revealed.