The Mortal Immortal as well as Jekyll and Hyde are both moving into what I will call the "realistic mysticism" aspect of Gothic literature. In previous novels we have a general dark setting, but the characters are mostly lively and comparatively "upbeat" in their relative conditions. These short stories / novellas are moving into almost a new sub-genre that still keeps the dark setting of the Gothic novels, but the characters themselves actually seem dark and obviously "evil".
Take for example the Mortal Immortal, There are no more Heroines that take on a journey or a perfect un-fallible male that comes to her rescue. Instead there are extremely stagnant characters. You have a woman who for all purposes, somewhat disgraces Winzy in the fact that he does not have a good income. He goes and gets a job with an Alchemist that he originally does not want to do in order to earn a living, when she ends up leaving him anyways. She is in no way a heroine. She is self centered and arrogant. Winzy is by no means a saint either. He is unable to overcome the obstacles that are placed in front of him, and ends up with "the short stick" in a way that puts him to Immortal torture.
Jekyll and Hyde is a novella that I have not yet finished, yet the characters are obvious. Hyde is the "evil" person that will trample a girl in the street and think nothing of it. Richard is the man who Gossips to his friends and will probably start the whole problem, and Utterson is the "Hero" but he has obvious internal problems that are leading to conflicting actions.As the story progresses, we will see if these assumptions are correct.
On a personal note, I do enjoy reading these novellas more. It has nearly the same length of a story line, but leaves out details and leaves room for imagination on the story.
I like how you mention the shift away from the typical heroines that we have read so far this semester. There is no more fainting or waiting to be saved by a true hero. Rather, there is Bertha, a quite frustrating character, if I do say so myself. I have to give her credit for not being the "typical" helpless female, however, her actions lead her to an eventual characterization as helpless. She may be demanding in the beginning of the story by insisting Winzy earn more money, but by the end of the story, her insecurities come out because she is aging. Whereas the female heroine in "Romance of the Forest" begins as a pathetic female, she lays claim to a bright future by the end. In Mortal Immortal, we see the opposite, a strong outspoken female in the beginning and a worn down, powerless character in the end.
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