feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence" (Stevenson 8). This is perhaps the most overtly homosexual reference in the novel, leaving almost no doubt as to it's meaning. Doors are symbolic of maintaining boundaries. But Mr. Hyde has complete access to Jekyll's back door any time he wishes. Another insinuation towards homoeroticism Stevenson makes in the novel is the way Utterson and Poole break into the laboratory in their attempt to rescue Dr. Jekyll:
             Poole swung the axe over his shoulder; the blow shook the building, and the red baize door leaped against the lock and hinges. A dismal screech, as of mere animal terror, rang from the cabinet. Up went the axe again, and again the panels crashed and the frame bounded; four times the blow fell; but the wood was tough and the fittings of excellent workmanship; and it was not until the fifth, that the lock burst in sunder and the wreck of the door fell inwards on the carpet. The besiegers, appalled by their own riot and the stillness that had succeeded, stood back a little and peered in. (Stevenson 48)
             Described in images similar to that of a gang rape, this further evidence shows the novel lending itself to a homoerotic interpretation.
             The characters, Edward Hyde, Henry Jekyll, and Mr. Gabriel John Utterson appear to symbolize the three types of modernly stereotypical homosexual men juxtaposed in Victorian society: Hyde, the condemned openly gay man; Jekyll, the torn individual who is destroyed when he gives into his darker side, and Utterson, whose ability to repress his homosexual tendencies allows him to survive and be revered in the community. Mr. Utterson and Mr. Hyde are two opposing extremes, while Jekyll poses as the conflicted middleman. Completely repressive of his desires, Utterson is a respectable, upstanding member of society, while Hyde, on the other hand, has no restraint and allows his desires to run rampant. Utterson is "a man of a...