A New Moster in Town

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Recommended: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Essays

A New Monster In Town In Robert Louis Stevenson’s nineteenth century novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Hyde has all of the characteristics of being a monster. What makes a monster? According to the free dictionary dot com, a monster is a person of unnatural ugliness, deformity, wickedness or cruelness. Mr. Hyde is a wicked looking man and has the character to match his appearance. Originally created by Jekyll, Hyde leaves a path of devastation wherever he goes. “Monster Culture” is an article written by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen. In his article, he writes that monsters provide an understanding of the culture in which they were created. Mr. Hyde is similar to the monsters that Cohen refers to in his article. Mr. Hyde is a monster because he is difficult to classify, is different and lacks human characteristics and because he has no regard for the law or moral codes of society. These characteristics and his physical strength show that Mr. Hyde is a monster of the worst kind. Everyone who observes Mr. Hyde has a very difficult time at putting him into a category. In Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Enfield states: “It wasn’t like a man; it was like some damned juggernaut” (Stevenson 40). This quote demonstrates Enfield struggling to find the words to describe Hyde. Ultimately he settles on calling Hyde a juggernaut. To put it bluntly, a juggernaut is an overwhelming force that crushes everything in its path. This term makes Hyde seem uncontrollable and vicious. The inability of Enfield to describe Hyde shows that he is very difficult to classify. In “Monster Culture” Cohen himself writes: “This refusal to participate in the classificatory ‘order of things’ is true of monsters generally: they are disturbing hybrids whose externally incoher... ... middle of paper ... ...nd creates tremendous anxiety for the respectable people of his Victorian society. Hyde fits the definition of the word monster not because of how he looks but because of his behavior. Mr. Hyde is a monster because he is difficult to classify, lacks human characteristics and feels as though he is above the law. He uses his physical strength to hurt others. This is why Hyde is a monster of the worst kind. To conclude, Mr. Hyde is certainly a monster. Works Cited Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. “Monster Culture (seven Theses).” Monster Theory: Reading Culture. Ed. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen. London: U of Minnesota P, 1996. 3-25. Print. The Free Dictionary. 2010. Falex, Inc. 10 June. 2010. http://www.the freedictionary.com/ Stevenson, Robert Louis. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 1886. Introduction Vladamir Nalokaov. Afterword Don Chaon. New York: Signet, 2003.

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