To what extent can The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde be viewed as a gothic novel? Jekyll and Hyde is a gothic novel. It was written by Robert Louis Stevenson, he got the idea for the story after a dream he had. The word ‘Goth’ is originally from a German tribe and has come to mean ‘barbarian’ and later know as ‘Gothic’. In Gothic Literature certain features are expected. These are supernatural events, have villains and hero characters, strange weather, horror, mystery and deaths. Older Gothic literature was in castles and deserted buildings. Modern Gothic novels were written is more populated areas. Another text that can be classed as ‘Gothic’ is the novel ‘Frankenstein’. The reason for it being a ‘Gothic’ novel is the way it has a mutant character. Frankenstein is a mutant and is made by a crazy scientist ‘I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion. Frightful must it be, for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavor to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world.’ Here the crazed scientist is describing his creation coming to life. This quote describes the vision of the scientist looking at the monster he created. The images in this quote evokes some of the key gothic themes, such as the horrific unnaturalness of the monster. Jekyll and Hyde match most of the criteria needed to produce and traditional gothic novel, Stevenson builds up tension and keeps the reader gripped by including certain things in the novel. Firstly mysterious violence keep the readers well gripped. “the man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming o... ... middle of paper ... ...ollow true to gothic conventions because they contain an epic battle between a man and his evil ‘other half’. To conclude this essay, I believe Jekyll and Hyde is a gothic novel, my reasons for this are; Jekyll and Hyde follow the patterns of tradition gothic novels but even though there are a lot of connections there are some differences; the setting of the novel does not follow the elements of a gothic novel as it is not set in a remote place or a castle, also there is no ancient prophecy or a promethean hero in this novel. On a whole I believe Jekyll and Hyde is a gothic novel as it follows many elements that are used in gothic novels. I believe it was a successful gothic novel and it would be well received by people today but more so by Victorian readers as it would have been seen as more frightening then, as it was set around the Victorian times.
Stevenson uses many literary techniques to create suspense and amuses the readers. He uses the literary symbolisms such as paradox and symbolism. However the most important technique is point of view and the changing of narrators throughout the book. Many critics such as Alice D. Snyder, Peter K. Garett, and Vladimir Nabokov wrote literary criticisms about Stevenson’s use of language. Lots of the evidences come from the book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in order to support the critics’ claim. Peter K. Garett’s claim of Stevenson’s use of language is that the relation between Jekyll and Hyde is played out in terms of grammatical and narrative positions. Vladimir Nabokov’s claim was that Stevenson creates suspense and mystery by
Stevenson's Use of Literary Techniques in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
popular at the time. The elements of a Gothic novel are, it is set at
Due to the conventions included in the novel, this is a perfect example of a gothic novel. The novel evokes in the audience fear and anticipation of the novels plot. The 19th century audience would have been overwhelmed with terror whilst reading the novel as the atmosphere creates suspense and the pace of the novel is fast.
The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde by Robert Stevenson In this assignment, I will be reading through the opening chapter of this novel and trying to explain to what extent the characters reveal things about themselves and what they keep to themselves. Also I will illustrate the way people’s reputation is presented. I will use examples from the text itself to back up my explanations and focus on the four main characters which are Utterson, Enfield, Jekyll and Hyde. I feel that privacy and reputation is very important to the plot of this story. Mr. Utterson is a lawyer, he is described as a man of ‘rugged countenance’, that was never lightened by a smile; cold, scanty and ‘embarrassed in discourse’; ‘backward in sentiment’; lean, long, dusty, dreary, ‘and yet somehow lovable’.
Innocence is a trap. It is strangled with the ideals of perfection and suffocates the cravings of curiosity. Goodness is expectant and evil is poisonous. However, good and evil resides in even the most innocent of people. Both are nefarious and pestilent to easily corrupt targeted souls in sinister actions. Both equate to uncontrollable factors. Goodness tends to covet the sensations of evil since it depreciates its own purity. In the oscillating novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, goodness was trapped by evil just as Jekyll was trapped as Hyde. Jekyll’s pure spirituality desired the holy richness of evil and all its wrongdoings. His laboratory experiments discovered his desire to feel the sensation of evil without truly being evil. His laboratory experiments discovered a way for him to escape. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde fought the battle between good and evil proving the apparent strengths and weaknesses that overall transformed two souls into a single corpse.
The symbolism of the light and dark in his nightmare represent the internal struggle Utterson is having with himself on the subject of Mr. Hyde. As a lawyer Utterson wants to uphold the law, however as a friend his loyalty demands that he protect Dr. Jekyll in any way that he can. This causes his mental state of separation where his mind will not show Mr. Hyde’s face because of the possible relations to Dr. Jekyll. This mental separation echoes Dr. Jekyll and Hyde’s duality by foreshadowing the later realization that they are in fact the same person. This notion of foreshadowing duality with duality is strengthened even more with Utterson’s physical doubles in his actions and words culminating inside one person as the thoughts, images and emotions from his dreams translate into his waking life. Utterson’s duality is embodied in one person, as is Dr. Jeykll’s duality which Stevenson has purposefully made echo in his novel about human nature and the duality of it. Stevenson was a foreword thinker of his time using gothic vocabulary to try to fill the void of imprecise language to discuss physiological implications. This concept has helped influence literature o help create the science fiction any mystery genre that uses supernatural devices and remnants of gothic language to address morality and human
The term ‘Gothic’ conjures a range of possible meanings, definitions and associations. It explicitly denotes certain historical and cultural phenomena. Gothicism was part of the Romantic Movement that started in the eighteenth century and lasted about three decades into the nineteenth century. For this essay, the definition of Gothic that is applicable is: An 18th century literary style characterized by gloom and the supernatural. In the Gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, a wide range of issues are explored. Frankenstein represents an entirely new vision of the female Gothic, along with many other traditional themes such as religion, science, colonialism and myth.
Throughout the thriller-mystery story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, the friendly lawyer, tries to figure out the reason behind why Dr. Jekyll, his friend and client, gives all his money to a strange man and murderer named Mr. Hyde in his will. Readers learn from the ominous third person point of view the worries of Mr. Utterson and ride along in his search for Mr. Hyde. In R. L. Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, he employs characterization, imagery, and weather motifs to construct complex characters and create eerie settings, which parallel the mood of the characters. Throughout the story, Stevenson characterizes Mr. Hyde as a strange man with odd features who nobody seems to like.
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 uses many methods to achieve and sustain an atmosphere of mystery and suspense in the novel of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He does this by using a clever sense of setting, vocabulary, surroundings and the manner of his characters which are used to describe and slowly reveal the appearance of Hyde . Some of these are highlighted in the depiction of the Dr Jekyll’s house, such as Mr. Enfield's story, Henry Jekyll’s will and the meeting with Hyde.
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...
Gothic writing was usually written in mysterious and ominous tine. Most Gothic novels were filled with death and terror. The authors of Gothic novels most commonly filled their books with omens and foreshadows, showing the dark side of mankind.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a tale that everyone is familiar with, or at least heard of; one of the earliest fictions of a character with a split personality. Based on the 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the 2015 adaptation Jekyll and Hyde produced by ITV in the UK alters the main tale while retaining the theme of dual personalities.
The novel Frankenstein is a one of the first Gothic novels that entails both gothic and romantic elements in its plot. The novel explains how Victor creates Frankenstein, the process by which he collects body parts and how life is given to Frankenstein. Its plot is in old scary European buildings and is filled with war between good and evil. It also shows how the characters are able to connect both the mortal and supernatural world. This novel is about the war between good and evil that will eventually get to have Frankenstein on their side (Donawerth). On the other hand, the novel on Jane Eyre is a gothic novel that takes place in Europe. It is filled with old buildings and shows how a young orphaned Jane Eyre is neglected by her adopted family especially after her adopted father dies. She undergoes through periods of success and hurting in her life until she meets a man by the name Edward who later breaks her heart. This leads her to the quest of finding her spirituality (Adams). This novel shows how one gets to know their spirituality and how it leads to their strengths and succe...