And Contrast Jekyll And Mr Hyde And The Victorian Era

The Victorian Era and Jekyll and Hyde

In this novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde written by Robert Louis Stevenson, we see throughout the story the different class rankings and how life was for them in the Victorian period. Utterson, Jekyll and the maid all portray some of the rankings that took place in the Victorian era. Life in the Victorian London era portrayed many unique characters such as Utterson, the maid and Jekyll. They are all seen as representations of the different elements that occur in the era.

The Victorian era was a period that sourly revolved around Queen Victoria and her reign at the time. There was an excessive amount of change that also occurred throughout the Victorian era, "from advances in medical programs, to technological and scientific knowledge to changes in population growth and location" (Goodlad). All this change was starting to affect the mood of the population, what was once a confident and optimistic time led to economic downfall growth and wealth which soon plummeted into doubt and disbelief. In the social class ranking there is the working class, middle class and upper class. The working class are men and women who perform physical labor and they get paid daily or weekly wages. The men and women of the middle class perform mental or "clean" work and are paid monthly or annually. The upper class, on the other hand, do not work, but their income in fact came from inherited land and investments.

Utterson is a man of the middle class because he performs mental and fair work. He is known as an illustrious and trustworthy lawyer and he is extremely respected all through the London area. "Utterson is the textbook definition for a perfect Victorian gentlemen" (The Public Cultu...

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...e characters such as Utterson, the maid and Jekyll. They are all seen as representations of the different elements that occur in the era. Utterson was a well-respected man of the middle class, the maid was a women of the working class and Dr. Jekyll was a polite and genial man who worked in the middle class just like his old pal Utterson.

Works Cited:

Picard, Liza. Victorian Life: The Life of a City 1840-1870. London: Phoenix, 2006.

Goodlad, Lauren M. E. Victorian literature and the Victorian State: Character and Governance in a Liberal Society. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2003.

Stevenson, Robert Louis, and Richard Dury. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2004. Print.

The Public Culture of the Victorian Middle Class. Ritual and Authority in the English Industrial City, 1840-1914 by Simon Gunn, (Manchester University Press, 2000)