Abjection in Fiction: A Study of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Authors

Emily Jobe, Kennesaw State UniversityFollow

Name of Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Ashley Shelden

Faculty Sponsor Email

ashelden@kennesaw.edu

Author Bio(s)

Emily Jobe graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a Professional Writing minor. Currently, she is an editor for a publishing company in Alpharetta, Georgia, and an Associate Editor for a research journal. She has been published previously as an editor and poet, with her poetry having appeared in Aberration Labyrinth and Waymark. This paper was written in 2018 under the guidance of Dr. Ashley Shelden (Department of English).

Publication Date

2020

Abstract

Julia Kristeva’s focus on understanding what the abject is and how it is manifested plays a key role in this essay. This essay argues that abjection informs the representation of dual personality and addiction in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. By determining what is an abject for Jekyll through an analysis of the characters and plot development, this essay argues that not only is abjection possible for an individual, but it is a necessity of fiction. Using literary and psychoanalytic scholarship and theory, this essay demonstrates key factors in figuring out what, how, and why an abject can affect an individual.