I first became familiar with the golem legend during my senior year in high school, when I took a course on speculative fiction that, among other things, discussed the influence of Jewish culture on the genre’s development. So it was that when I read Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I was struck by the similarity of Mr. Hyde’s description to that of the golem. This revelation led to a closer examination of the relationship between the two stories and the subsequent realization that, not only was this connection largely undocumented, but that it helped to elucidate some of the finer points of the text, as well as place Stevenson’s work in a broader literary context.
DANIEL COLLINS is a sophomore at Boston University, where he is enrolled in the College of Fine Arts/College of Arts and Sciences Double Degree Program and majors in music composition and physics. He resides in Bushnell, IL, and graduated from the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in 2015. As a musician, Daniel is a conductor, pianist, and clarinetist in addition to a composer. His works have been read and performed by numerous ensembles, including the BU Symphony Orchestra, ALEA III Contemporary Music Ensemble, and JACK Quartet. His current compositional interests include designing dramatically compelling musical structures that rely on motivic repetition and non-linear thematic development. This fall, he will be continuing his studies abroad at the Royal College of Music in London.
Daniel would like to acknowledge the contributions of Ms. Tracy Townsend, the teacher of the speculative fiction course which laid the groundwork for this paper; Dr. Michael Hancock, whose unwavering support and friendship have been a constant sources of relief and encouragement; Prof. Anandita Mukherji, the WR 100 instructor who sought so valiantly to impose word limits on his writing; and Prof. Theodora Goss, the WR 150 instructor who allowed him to so flagrantly ignore them.