Evil Incarnate in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde vs The Picture of Dorian Gray

The problem of separating good from evil in human nature is addressed in literature through the guise of making evil incarnate: the Devil, in “Dr Faustus”; Mr Hyde, in R.L. Stevenson’s “The Curious Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”; or the portrait, in Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. Rereading the latter two revised my opinion. Stevenson’s short novel is an absolute page turner, and the sense of place is remarkable: his London is a character in the book, its changes of mood, time of day, and weather, as sensitively rendered as anything by Virginia Woolf. On the other hand, Wilde’s Dorian Gray, in the 1890 pre-censored edition, is almost unreadable. Stupefying, pointless pontification by “Lord Henry,” contrariness failing to pass for wit, let alone philosophy. London, as a city, is atmospherically absent, whereas the detailed descriptions of luxurious interiors serve no more purpose than Décor magazines.

In the end, though, the coexistence of good and evil in every human remains irreconcilable, at least outside of the realm of religion.