Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Amy

I just finished reading Valerie Martin's Mary Reilly  about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde's maid.  Firstly, I recommend it. Especially if you like books about people who clean-you know who you are, you clean freaks!
I learned about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as a child, so to me, it was a monster story.
I got older, I realized that monster stories are actually about people. We're monsters, get it? You're a monster. I'm a monster. So, to all my four-year old readers, sorry, there's no Santa, there's Marshall Fields. Excuse me, Macy's.There's no tooth fairy, there's rich dentists with houses on the Lake. There's no monster, but what about that drunk great-uncle... who the aunts all edge their daughters away from? Monster.
I know that I'm a monster. It's actually my nickname at home.
He say "Monster?" I say "In the kitchen."
Anyway, what's great about the Jekyll and Hyde story, especially from the maids point of view, providing a nice distance from the monster talking about the monster...The maid is the perfect narrator, cause it's her job to watch, but not comment, especially in the 1800s. I can't imagine a sassy maid would have worked in a very distinguished household back then. Maids knew their place.
Not like now, not like my maid. My maid is always mouthing off, giving me unsolicited advice. I'm like "Shut up, maid. I'm the boss of you."(of course she has no name, other than maid, not because she's lower status than me, but because I made her up. She's my Snuffleuffagus, or whatever that birds invisible friend's name was).
Anyway, like I was saying, the Jekyll and Hyde story is great because people are compartmentalized as good and bad. Even as babies, there's good babies, there's bad babies. Students-good and bad. Eaters-good and bad. Kissers-good and bad. Drinkers-yep, them too.
Anyway, like I was saying, the Jekyll and Hyde story reminded me that we all contain both symptoms of good and bad. Good thinks bad is interesting, getting to misbehave and taste all the forbidden fruits. Bad thinks good gets all the trophy cookies. Bad wants cookies too.
Dr. Jekyll(good) thinks Hyde (bad) has a greater will to live, a greater tour de force compared to  his own benign complacent existence. Jekyll thinks he, himself, is not really living because he challenges none of societies rules. He thinks letting Hyde out is necessary in order to truly live. Hyde thinks nothing of Jekyll. He's merely fighting to remain. Bad wants cookie. Bad wants to rape and pillage cookie.
Valerie Martins Mary Reilly  is so much more interesting than Fiona Apples interpretation of Jekyll and Hyde in her song "I've been a bad bad girl" or whatever it's called. (she's played games with an innocent man...know the diddy? Anyway, the book's better. It always is.)