The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a captivating novel written by Scottish author, Robert Louis Stevenson. Published in 1886 where psychology and the exploration of the human mind was of growing interest. Stevenson used his fascination with psychology to craft a novel that delves deep into the characteristics of the human mind. The common theme of the book that is present throughout the whole book is duality. This story revolves around an established physician, Dr. Jekyll, who was very interested in the dual nature of humanity: good and evil. Jekyll’s main goal was to separate his good and evil selves, which he accomplished by creating his alter ego, Mr Hyde. Over time, he loses control of his evil side, which eventually leads to …show more content…
Generally, most people can predict an individual's persona from the way that they look. For instance, “Dr Jekyll is described as “ a large well-made, smooth faced man of fifty”. From these descriptions, we picture Jekyll as an embodiment of societal norms and expectations. He is depicted as a “well-made” and “smooth faced” person, suggesting that his physical attributes pair up with the Victorian ideals regarding physical health. In contrast, Mr Hyde is portrayed as “some damned Juggernaut”. This metaphor paints Mr Hyde as an unstoppable force, emphasising that there will be doom surrounding his actions. Reinforcing the notion that Mr Hyde symbolises the darker and sinister side of humanity. Mr Hyde is also described as having “a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness”. Hyde’s smile conveys both an unpleasantness and an unsettling quality. In addition, his demeanour towards the lawyer is characterised with a mixture of timidity and boldness hinting towards a potential danger. This depiction emphasises Mr Hyde’s malevolent nature, setting the tone for his character throughout the rest of the story. Stevenson uses these opposing bodily descriptions to highlight the constant notion that there is a good and evil aspect in human
“Just as we have two eyes and two feet, duality is part of life.” - Carlos Santana. In the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, Jekyll and Hyde are the same person, yet they are completely different. The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886 and was published on december 5, 1886 by Longmans, Green & co. in England. Every person has two faces. In this book Stevenson develops the theme of duality by using characters, dialogue and setting.
Despite being published in 1886, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson remains to be recognized and referred to as one of the initial studies of the duality of human nature and mans struggle between two natural forces – good and evil. The story takes place during the Victorian Era in which society is already somewhat constrained and cruel and explores the human struggle between being civilized and facing the more primitive aspects to our being. According to author Irving S Saposnik, “Henry Jekyll’s experiment to free himself from the burden of duality results in failure because of his moral myopia, because he is a victim of society’s standards even while he would be free of them.” Henry Jekyll, an English doctor faces duality when he comes into battle with his darker side. Creating a personification under the name of Edward Hyde in order to fulfill his desires, Dr. Jekyll feels as if he will be able to control the face that he wants seen to public vs. the one in which he wants to keep more private. “Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection, and began to look round me, and take stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life.” (10.1) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a story about how people are scared to acknowledge personal duality so they keep silent and in this case, create a personification in order to fulfill evil desires without thinking through the consequences of such actions.
Within the text of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson portrays a complex power struggle between Dr. Jekyll, a respected individual within Victorian London society, and Mr. Hyde a villainous man tempted with criminal urges, fighting to take total control of their shared body. While Dr. Jekyll is shown to be well-liked by his colleagues, Mr. Hyde is openly disliked by the grand majority of those who encounter him, terrified of his frightful nature and cruel actions. Throughout Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson portrays the wealthy side of London, including Mr. Utterson and Dr. Jekyll, as respected and well-liked, while showing the impoverish side as either non-existent or cruel.
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...
“Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” written by Robert Louis Stevenson. Is a story that took place in London and mainly focuses about three main charcters named Mr. Utterson, Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll and the murder case which leads to Mr. Hyde a suspect and Dr. Jekyll involved in the murder. Mr.Utterson was avle to save the case and finds a huge secret between Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll. Which Dr. Jekyll’s addiction lead to his fatal end.
“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.
The novel Dr .Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Stevenson is a literary masterpiece that Follows the mysterious connection between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and with that connection, Dr. Jekyll’s internal struggle to control Mr. Hyde. In order to highlight the dichotomy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson expertly uses the duality of light and dark as well as light and dark individually
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, follows the story of good versus evil. In this case, Dr. Henry Jekyll represents the good, with Mr. Hyde representing the evil. Religion is a main theme in this story.
Duality is a recurring theme in literature; both modern and classic works reference in numerous ways. It is the idea that everything, no matter what, is two sided, hence it being called duality. There are two works of literature that are considered the best to represent what duality is and what it can stand for: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. These two discuss the effects of duality and the duality of the human nature.
“It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it ” (69). This is a quote from the book Dr.
The world always has something dark to it. For example, there are deaths every day cause by accidents. In the book " Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde," there are gothic like symbols around the case. Many people can have a shadow, yet it can be good or it can be terrifying. Three symbols that make this book gothic like are the characters, the weather, and also having multiple personalities being in use in actual life.
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, the dual nature of man is a main theme. Jekyll says: "Man is not /truly one, but truly two"(125), meaning all people have both a good and a bad side. Dr. Jekyll creates a potion to fully separate good and evil, but instead it awakens a dormant character, Mr. Hyde. Throughout the novel, Stevenson uses society, control, and symbolism to tell the reader about human nature.
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde a scientist, Dr. Jekyll, creates an alter ego using a draught in order to escape the harsh views of society. As Mr. Hyde, he commits heinous crimes against citizens and becomes addicted to the perception of freedom from Victorian laws. Best stated by Norman Kerr about addiction, “there is an inebriety derangement of the mental faculties, so that the consciousness, perception, reasoning, power, and conscience are impaired” (Kerr 138). The character Dr. Jekyll illustrates the condition of addiction in the Victorian era through the motifs of the obsession with appearance and duality.
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the author Robert Louis Stevenson uses Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to show the human duality. Everyone has a split personality, good and evil. Stevenson presents Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as two separate characters, instead of just one. Dr. Jekyll symbolizes the human composite of a person while Mr. Hyde symbolizes the absolute evil. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, who are indeed the same person, present good and evil throughout the novel.
He looked half dead half the time like it made no difference at all that he was still breathing. I had been constantly ordered to stay away, but there was some kind of feeling deep in my chest that forced me to be drawn to him. It was never my fault that I found myself standing closer than I should, checking up on him to make sure he wasn’t completely gone. Even if he someday despised me with all his heart, I’d still be there. It was my only purpose, in truth. A purpose that he came to regret I’m sure.