In the 1931 adaption of the 1886 gothic novella “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” (Stevenson,1886) there are two representations of women. The two representations are: Muriel, the reputable upper-class fiancée of Jekyll, and Ivy, the promiscuous low-class girl. Muriel is shown as being obedient as she refuses to marry Jekyll, although she wants to, asking him to be patient as she announces that she must obey her father in his decision that the wedding will take place in eight months. We meet Ivy when she is being attacked by a man outside of her house. Jekyll carries Ivy up to her room to attend to her injuries. Ivy is pleased that an upper-class man has taken interest her and begins to seduce him. As she begins to undress, the camera angle suggests that we …show more content…
Prior to this, we are shown a close-up of Muriel’s innocent eyes. We are then shown Ivy undressing through the eyes of Jekyll which establishes a parallel between the women. Ivy pulls Jekyll in for a kiss, which he does not stop until he is interrupted by Lanyon. Jekyll laughs the occurrence off, dismissing it as “an impulse,” and claiming that while men can and must control their actions, impulses primal. He says this instead of blaming himself for being in the wrong. This highlights the objectification of Ivy because, not only are women’s bodies being objectified as a sex object in this scene, but they are also being objectified in terms of being men’s reasons to lose their righteousness. Laura Mulvey (Mulvey,2002) describes this as scopophilia. Additionally, when Jekyll transforms into Hyde for the first time, his visions are filled with memories which oppose his morals as Jekyll such as brigadier Carew and Lanyon and the shot of Ivy’s legs. This makes it apparent that the