Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde - Book Discussion

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"Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" (1886) - Robert Louis Stevenson
Tuesday, January 20, 6pm - 7pm
Caledon Library and Welcome Centre, Caledon Victoria City
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Victoria%20City/160/117/23

From the final confession of Dr. Jekyll
"With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two. I say two, because the state of my own knowledge does not pass beyond that point. Others will follow, others will outstrip me on the same lines; and I hazard the guess that man will be ultimately known for a mere polity of multifarious, incongruous and independent denizens".

Stevenson's novel has become a byword for transformations and hidden selves. Many critics see it as a commentary on the straitlaced propriety enforced by standards of the day. Other writers have used the metaphor of the proper and respectable Dr. Jekyll and the dreadful Mr. Hyde to explore the Victorian debate about "demon rum", or to comment on the hidden darkness in every human character -- and of course it is a common image in discussions of the clinical phenomenon of split personalities.
But what is really in the novel? Dame Kghia Gherardi will take us through an examination of Stevenson's skillful depictions of character, personality, and its vagaries. All readers, and their Alts (see the above), are welcome



The Sense of Self in 19th century literature - a discussion series at the Caledon Library, led by Kghia Gherardi

Tuesdays, once a month, 6-7 pm SLT

As exploration, industrialization and colonization expanded during the nineteenth century, the way the individual viewed his and her role within this world also altered. This literature series will look at how the individual defines himself or herself, how societies react to these changes, and how the evolving sense of self succeeds and fails. The readings will included essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson, poetry by Walt Whitman, and fiction by Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, and Kate Chopin.

Full Schedule
November  11 2008
"Self-Reliance" and "Circles" (1841) - Ralph Waldo Emerson

December 02 2008
Leaves of Grass (1855) - Walt Whitman
 
 January 20  2009
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1886) - Robert Louis Stevenson

February  10 2009
The Picture of Dorian Grey (1890) - Oscar Wilde

March 10 2009
The Awakening (1899) - Kate Chopi

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This page contains a single entry by JJ Drinkwater published on January 16, 2009 6:02 PM.

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