Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are both famous novels about a man who experiences a change in character due to the influence of another mysterious person, Frankenstein explores Victor Frankenstein’s life before his transformation, while Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde focuses on how each character interacts with one another.
Frankenstein is Frankenstein’s story from start to finish, but Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde involves multiple characters including- Henry Jekyll/ Edward Hyde, Mr. Utterson – a lawyer who reads a will written by Dr. Jekyll that leaves everything to a mysterious person named “Edward Hyde”, Doctor Lanyon – who was friends with Dr. Jekyll,and Poole – Dr. Jeykll’s butler. Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde both feature a transformation of character, Frankenstein deals with Frankenstein’s struggle to cope with this change whereas Dr. Jekyll deals with what other characters think about this transformance.
Frankenstein is told from Frankenstein’s perspective who is telling his story in six months before he dies, the reader only knows the things Frankenstein tells them leading some readers to believe Frankenstein is lying about events that occurred in his life when really they are just misunderstandings on the readers part due to lack of information given by Frankenstien in-order to paint him in a more positive light.
Dr. Jekyll story starts with two lawyers discussing the will left by Henry Jekyll which leaves everything to a mysterious person named “Edward Hyde”, Dr. Lanyon – who was friends with Jekyll, and Mr. Poole – Jekyll’s butler. Frankenstein has a lot of information about Frankenstein available to the reader including Frankenstein’s detailed autobiography which Frankenstein wrote for his children so they would have an explanation as to why Frankenstein is the way he is after Frankenstein dies.
The problem with Frankenstein being so open about their life is that Frankenstein tends to omit certain facts from their autobiography in order to protect people from knowing exactly what happened during Frankenstiens life leading some readers to believe that Frankenstein is lying about events that occurred in his life when really they are just misunderstandings on the readers part due to lack of information given by Frankenstien in-order to paint Frankenstein in a more positive light.
Frankenstein also has problems with Frankenstein’s storytelling as Frankenstein is the only first person narrator of Frankenstein’s story, this makes it difficult for Frankenstein to convince readers that some of their testimony isn’t influenced by Frankenstiens’ subjective view on events making it harder for Frankenstein to prove the authenticity of Frankenstein’s story leading some readers to believe Frankenstein is lying about events that occurred in his life when really they are just misunderstandings on the readers part due to lack of information given by Frankenstien in-order to paint Frankenstein in a more positive light.
Dr. Jekyll starts off with Doctor Lanyon – who was friends with Dr. Jekyll and Poole – Jekyll’s butler talking about Dr. Jekyll’s will, this allows the reader to understand what is going on before the story begins and know that Doctor Jekyll has died leaving everything he owns to a mysterious person named “Edward Hyde”.
Frankenstein starts off Frankenstein’s autobiography with Frankenstein writing Frankenstein’s biography for Frankenstein’s children so they will have an explanation as to why Frankenstein is the way Frankenstein is after Frankenstein dies and how Frankenstein became friends with Henry Clerval – Frankenstein best friend who went missing when he was young, Victor Frankenstein – father of Frankenstein, Elizabeth Lavenza – adopted sister of Frankenstein, and William Frankenstein – cousin of Frankenstein.
Dr. Jekyll also deals with multiple characters as opposed to just one character as it deals with Dr. Lanyon – who was friends with Dr. Jekyll, Poole – Dr. Jekyll’s butler, Utterson – a lawyer friend of Dr. Lanyon, Mr. Enfield who is recounting the danger he faced from Edward Hyde to Utterson, and Richard Enfield who is recounting how his father died which led him to meet Frankenstein who inspired him to become a scientist at Frankenstein’s university Frankenstein deals with just Frankenstein as Frankenstein is the only first person narrator in Frankenstein’s story however Frankenstein does have multiple characters in Frankenstein’s story including Henry Clerval – Frankenstein best friend when Frankenstein was young until Clerval went missing when they were both young and Elizabeth Lavenza – adopted sister of Frankenstein whom Frankenstien cares about deeply, Frankenstein does not have as many characters as Dr. Jekyll as Frankenstein is written in first person and Frankenstein’s story is limited to just Frankenstein whereas Dr. Jekyll has a lot of different characters because Dr. Jekyll plays out like a mystery novel with multiple narrators which allows for more characters than Frankenstein who only plays out like Frankenstein’s autobiography where Frankenstien tells Frankenstein’s story from Frankenstein’s point of view and one character at a time – similar to Frankenstein telling Frankenstein’s story through Frankenstein’s eyes.
One similarity between the two novels is that Doctor Lanyon – who was friends with Dr. Jekyll, Poole – Dr. Jekyll’s but, Utterson – a lawyer friend of Dr. Lanyon, and Frankenstein all die in Frankenstein’s story Frankenstein also has a lot of characters who share similar names which can make it difficult for Frankenstein to keep track of Frankenstein’s characters with Frankenstein often getting Frankenstein’s characters mixed up or Frankenstein referring to Frankenstein’s different characters by the wrong name making it difficult for Frankenstein to remember their names when they were not the focus of Frankenstein’s mind at that time in Frankenstien’s life especially when many of them have similar names such as Henry Clerval – Frankenstein best friend who went missing when he was young, Victor Frankenstein – father of Frankenstein, Elizabeth Lavenza – adopted sister of Frankenstein, and William Frankenstein – cousin of Frankenstein because state abbreviations are used instead of first name like Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s family members Frankenstein also has Frankenstein’s brother who Frankenstein does not see or hear from much in Frankenstein because Frankenstein lives with Frankenstein’s father, Elizabeth Lavenza – Frankenstein best friend who went missing when he was young, and William Frankenstein – cousin of Frankenstein which can make it hard for Frankenstein to keep track of their names and how they fit into the story.
Both novels deal with a creature that is misanthropic because both creatures feel alone and unwanted by society because no one understands them which puts the creatures in positions where they cannot become friends with anyone except each other.
