Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Analysis

Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of the short story, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, was strongly influenced by the great developments in medical science during the Victorian Age. He was fascinated by its impact on everyday life, and his writings explored the questions and possibilities of going beyond mankind’s current knowledge. Exploring the excitement, doubts and curiosity of the Victorian people, Stevenson chose, as the novel’s protagonist, a scientist who exploits his profound scientific understanding of nature to his own uncertain ends. The norms of late Victorian years shape the fictitious psychological story known as “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”.

In this classic tale, various aspects of psychopathology, morality and sociology are represented through the use of direct and indirect symbolism and dramatic metaphor. Through these symbols, the author portrays the duality of man that hides behind moral standard to expose the social conduct hypocrisy of the Victorian era and the psychological effects of suppressing evil desires. The story highlights how Henry Jekyll, highly respected man and practiced medical doctor, secretly holds desires of murder and chaos within the depths of his inner conscious represented in the form of Mr. Hyde.

The story unfolds with the search for the elusive Mr. Hyde by three men close to Jekyll, Utterson, Poole and Lanyon, to uncover the terrible secret behind their connection. As Dr. Jekyll’s lawyer and the story narrator, Utterson, says, "If he be Mr. Hyde . . . I shall be Mr. Seek" (Stevenson 38). Utterson begins his expedition with a cursory examination inward for his own demons. Utterson scrutinizes his own conscience, "and the lawyer, scared by the thought, br...

... middle of paper ...

... hide him, and Jekyll must ultimately be his own murderer to avoid full disclosure of the duality of his personality.

Stevenson is not only revealing human nature’s deeply intertwined double nature; he is also castigating Victorian hypocrisy. The doctor could not unite his role as a respectable and famous doctor with his passions and secret instincts, so he did not accept the multiple sides of his personality and tried to separate them, without success. The clash becomes the image of the contrast between oppression and pure pleasure, between firm control and too much freedom. Robert Louis Stevenson strives to portray and explore man’s inner dual between the need for evil satisfaction and the rigid moral contract of society. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are one fictional cause of the detrimental effects of subduing one’s innate desires and conforming to the social norm.