Dual Personalities in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson
INTRO
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a classic mystery story, enticing to all audiences merely upon it’s suspense alone. When Stevenson first wrote the story (after recalling a dream he had) he had only the intentions of writing such an entertaining tale. Yet at the suggestion of his wife, he decided to revamp the mystery to comment on the dual nature of man and of society in general.
I believe that Stevenson is suggesting that "All human beings…are commingled out of good and evil.", as spoken by Dr Jekyll.
HYPOCRISY & THE GOOD MAN
Stevenson is suggesting that good and evil are inseparable in human nature. By discussing such themes as the hypocrisy of society, and the suppression of passion he proves that Stevenson proposes that we must feed our evil souls as well as the good.
Throughout the novel Stevenson portrays the central characters Utterson, Lanyon, Enfield and Jekyll as, to put it plainly boring. Each of these characters appears to be a fine, upstanding citizen, yet inside they harbour deep desires they consider as blasphemous as a short skirt on Sunday. Utterson enjoys wine, whilst the other characters allude to prostitutes, betting halls and public houses.
All of these "indulgences" are deemed unacceptable, forcing Victorian society to subdue their urges, and focus upon being "good." Most of the noblemen succeed at this strange game of deception, throughout the novel Utterson is referred to as good, a "good man" on countless occasions.
Dr Jekyll also develops a guise of a pure "good man". Yet, he finds it hard to subdue his evil side, and in an apparent bout of ‘physicians curiosity’ he decides to develop a potion which decides the self into good and evil.
Jekyll has realised and accepted his evil side although he as yet doesn’t desire to embrace it. Many of the other characters support this idea of inseparable good and evil, almost subconsciously it seems. For example the friendship between the "good" Utterson and the questionable Enfield seems to flourish rather than wither due to their complete opposites in personality. Lanyon, another "good" man, is also described as "somewhat theatrical", hardly a compliment in the uptight Victorian era in which the story is set.
HYDE
I believe the most telling proof that good and evil is linked within ...
... middle of paper ...
...te is encountered throughout the novel does Jekyll have control of Hyde or is it something that is merely out of his control. The latter seems more true. I believe that Stevenson is comparing Jekyll’s dependence on Hyde to an the addiction of drugs for substance abusers. While those victims repeatedly say, "I could stop whenever I want," in reality, like Dr. Jekyll, they are not in control.
The singular enlightening moment is when Dr Jekyll realises himself that Hyde is part of him., "And yet when I looked upon that ugly idol in the glass, I was concious of no repugnance, rather, a leap of welcome. This, too, was myself." Although he fights Hyde consistently throughout the novel, this one moment of weakness, when jekyll Affirmates that Hyde, his evil side, is indeed appreciated proves conclusively that Dr jekyll and mr Hyde shows good and evil as linked in human nature.
Works Cited
Charyn, Jerome. "Who Is Hyde?" Afterword: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Bantam Books. Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1981. 105-114.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Bantam Books. Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1981.
Stevenson's narrative reflects some of the effects of socialization and their influence on the repression of certain forms of sexuality, specifically homosexuality, which we will explore a little later. Jekyll begins waking as Hyde, suggesting that when his social controls are weakest, Hyde is free to come out. The story dramatizes social norms, the search to deviate from them, and rid oneself of responsibility for one's actions that go against these norms. As Jekyll gets used to becoming Hyde, the socialized and repressed Je...
However, as the same happens much too often in real life, Jekyll is unable to keep this promise. He has already sunken too far into his addiction and it completely controls him, which Stevenson brilliantly illustrates as Hyde gains strength and begins to take over. As Hyde becomes stronger, he usurps Jekyll's body, mind, and life - just as drugs and alcohol often do to addicts, who sometimes lose their jobs, their possessions, and their friends. Jekyll finds himself turning into Hyde spontaneously, so he has to seclude himself from society, and give up his existence as Jekyll. His addiction has gotten so out of hand that his life has been completely destroyed; he is beyond resolution, since the only way to combat his problem is to kill Hyde, thereby killing himself.
“The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde” is a novella written in the Victorian era, more specifically in 1886 by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. When the novella was first published it had caused a lot of public outrage as it clashed with many of the views regarding the duality of the soul and science itself. The audience can relate many of the themes of the story with Stevenson’s personal life. Due to the fact that Stevenson started out as a sick child, moving from hospital to hospital, and continued on that track as an adult, a lot of the medical influence of the story and the fact that Jekyll’s situation was described as an “fateful illness” is most likely due to Stevenson’s unfortunate and diseased-riddled life. Furthermore the author had been known to dabble in various drugs, this again can be linked to Jekyll’s desperate need and desire to give in to his darker side by changing into Mr Hyde.
Robert, Stevenson L. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York: Dover Publications, 2013. Print.
May Charles E. "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Cyclopedia of Literary Characters. Ed. A.J. Sobczak. Eaglewood Cliffs: Salem Press, Inc., 1998.
Secondly, Stevenson uses control to show duality of human nature. When Dr. Lanyon sees Hyde take the potion and transform into Jekyll, he loses his innocence. All his life he was nothing but control, telling himself he didn't have dark passions but when he saw this transformation, he realized he had his own Hyde."...As for the moral turpitude that man/ unveiled to me, even with fears of penitence..."(121). ...
In this essay on the story of Jekyll and Hyde written by Robert Louis Stevenson I will try to unravel the true meaning of the book and get inside the characters in the story created by Stevenson. A story of a man battling with his double personality.
Stevenson focuses on two different characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but in reality these are not separate men, they are two different aspects of one man’s reality. In the story, Dr. Je...
Common with most fictional entries, this narration style gives the author of a piece of writing an individual voice in the work he creates. Such an author does not just rely on what he /her characters say, he/she actively becomes instrumental in them actually saying or doing them. In the text in question, Louis Stevenson uses this method to actively engage the readers about his own personal preferences in the debates ‘good’ and ‘evil’.... ...
Stevenson's Use of Literary Techniques in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Benjamin Franklin once said, “It is much easier to suppress a first desire than it is to satisfy those that follow.” This is certainly true in the situation of Dr. Jekyll, as the temptation of becoming Mr. Hyde becomes stronger as he continually surrenders to the wickedness that is constantly misleading him. Mr. Hyde is never contented, even after murdering numerous innocents, but on the contrary, his depravity is further intensified. The significance of the repression of a desire is a prevalent theme throughout the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, as the inability to repress one’s curiosity can lead to a fatal end, whereas the repression of a desire that can no longer contain itself, or the repression of confronting a guilty conscience, will conclude in a tragic ending and in this case specifically,
The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a confusing and perplexing one. R.L. Stevenson uses the devices of foreshadow and irony to subtly cast hints to the reader as to who Mr. Hyde is and where the plot will move. Stevenson foreshadows the events of the book through his delicate hints with objects and words. Irony is demonstrated through the names of characters, the names display to the reader how the character will fit into the novel. These two literary devices engage the readers; they employ a sense of mystery while leading the readers to the answer without them realizing the depth of each indirect detail.
Stevenson’s most prominent character in the story is the mysterious Mr Hyde. Edward Hyde is introduced from the very first chapter when he tramples a young girl in the street, which brings the reader’s attention straight to his character. The reader will instantly know that this person is a very important part of this book and that he plays a key role in the story. This role is the one of a respectable old man named Dr Jekyll’s evil side or a ‘doppelganger’. This links in with the idea of duality. Dr Jekyll is described as being ‘handsome’, ‘well-made’ and ‘smooth-faced’. On the other hand, Mr Hyde is described as being ‘hardly human’, ‘pale and dwarfish’, giving of an impression of deformity and ‘so ugly that it brought out the sweat on (Mr Enfield) like running’! These words all go together to conjure up an image in the mind of an animal, beast or monster. During the novel...
In conclusion, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, represents many themes of duality in human nature. This is represented by the characters of Henry Jekyll, Edward Hyde, Hastie Lanyon, and John Utterson. Some themes represented are the duality in conforming to societal conventions, curiosity, and temptation. Stevenson utilizes significant events including the deaths of Lanyon and Jekyll, and the transformations of Jekyll into Hyde to prove “that man is not truly one, but two” (125)
This guilt drives him to have “clasped hands to God…tears and prayers to smother down the crowd of hideous images and sounds that his memory swarmed against him” (Stevenson 57). As a whole, the text demonstrates that Dr. Jekyll’s alter ego, Mr. Hyde, is the mastermind of pure malevolence who participates in activities that Dr. Jekyll cannot Jekyll experiences. For instance, Dr. Jekyll’s physical appearance begins to decline as he stops taking the draught. The text describes Dr. Jekyll’s physical characteristics as “looking deadly sick” when his is usually a “large well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness” (Stevenson 19-25). Not only does Dr. Jekyll’s health begin to decline, but also his behavior changes as well.