Robert Louis Stevenson

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Appearances play an important role in how Stevenson depicts characters and settings in The Strange Case of Dr .Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hyde and everything surrounding him is described in a negative way.
“Two doors from one corner, on the left hand going east the line was broken by the entry of a court; and just at that point a certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street. It was two stories high; showed no window, nothing but a door on the lower storey and a blind forehead of discolored wall on the upper; and bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence.” (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 4)
Stevenson describes Hyde’s abode to be dark, uninviting, secluded and worn out. It clearly does not having the characteristics of a place where someone decent would live.
“…Evil besides (which I must still believe to be the lethal side of man) had left on that body an imprint of deformity and decay… It seemed natural and human. This, as I take it, was because all human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.”(Stevenson 80)
In the previous quote, Stevenson simply states that Hyde just looks evil. His evil insides had bleed through his skin and left visible marks upon his skin. It is apparent from the first glance upon Hyde that he is man of malevolent duty. “O, my poor my Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend.” (Stevenson 18) (Friend) is wary of Hyde from his first encounter with him. He even goes as far as to compare Hyde to Satan just by judging his appearance. In Treasure Island, Stevenson once again uses appearances to create distinction in the importan...

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...f impulsiveness and youth as a conduit to freedom. It can be inferred that characters Edward Hyde and Long John Silver can be compared, as both share a morally ambiguous background and are quick to gain pleasure from acts of impulsion. Overall Robert Louis Stevenson’s most popular novels showcase his stance on a number of concepts and ideas that are closely related with human psychology and the norms of society.

Works Cited

• Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. London: Cassell and Company. 1883. Print
• Stevenson, Robert Louis. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde London: Longmans, Green & co. 1886 Print
• Saposnik, Irving Robert Louis Stevenson Twayne's English Authors Series, Teas 167 p88-101 .Twayne Publishers, Inc. 1974. Print
• Germanà, Monica Gothic Studies Vol. 13 Issue 2, p98-115, Manchester: Manchester University Press 2012. Academic Journal

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