Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Analysis

640 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Significance of suspense in literature

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson. This novel was published in 1886. The presumably “gothic” novel was written and set in London, England during the Victorian era. This was a time of high moral stature, pride, wealth and prestige. It is primarily about a lawyer commonly known as Mr. Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Jekyll and the new profound hatred he has towards Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson for the most part had a bland and simple life. Haunted by his past demons, he sticks to a strict regimen to maintain his sanity and/or his stature (presumably). One of these set rituals, was his weekly yet silenced walk with his friend Mr. Enfield. During one of these episodes, Enfield recounts a gruesome tale of an assault involving a little girl and the now infamous Mr. Hyde, who tramples her and then disappears into a door on the street. …show more content…

The plot thickens when one of Utterson’s clients and close friends, Dr. Jekyll, has written a will transferring all of his property to the same Mr. Hyde. Soon, Utterson begins having dreams in which a faceless figure stalks through a nightmarish version of London. Faceless, as no one could possibly describe the fellow. Robert Stevenson avoids having his characters giving a precise description of Mr. Hyde. A simple mind, would deduce that he did so to add to the suspense of the story, or to open one’s imagination of a horrific creature. Or one may even argue that Robert Stevenson himself didn’t know who Mr. Hyde will turn out to be and will figure that out along the

Show More
Related

  • Jekyll And Hyde Comparison Essay

    1491 Words  | 3 Pages

    As specified, descriptions cannot be called descriptions. Moreover, in a extremely important moment, the transformation, when Mr. Hyde should appear in all his glory, words simply avoid his figure. Trying to find a reason for this strange way to proceed Sami Schalk wrote an interesting article: “What Makes Mr. Hyde So Scary?: Disability as a Result of Evil and Cause of Fear”. One of the main ideas of the text is that Stevenson takes advantage of Victorians’ mentality and uses this untraceable disability of Mr. Hyde in order to produce fear:

    Read More

  • Jekyll And Hyde Duality Essay

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Marxist Theory and Class Relations in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll, in grave danger, writes a letter to his good friend Lanyon. With Jekyll’s fate in Lanyon’s hands, he requests the completion of a task, laying out specific directions for Lanyon to address the urgency of the matter. In desperation, Jekyll reveals the possible consequences of not completing this task through the use of emotional appeals, drawing from his longtime friendship with Lanyon, to the fear and guilt he might feel if he fails at succeeding at this task. Through Jekyll’s serious and urgent tone, it is revealed that his situation is a matter of life and death in which only Lanyon can determine the outcome.

    Read More

  • The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many mysterious events occur throughout this novel. Stevenson foreshadows the imminent end of Dr. Jekyll in the very beginning. As Utterson reads the will of Dr. Jekyll, he is perplexed by the statement that “in the case of Dr. Jekyll’s disappearance” (6), all of his money will go to Mr. Hyde. This questionable intent of Dr. Jekyll leads the reader to assume that there is something for complex connecting Mr. Hyde with Dr. Jekyll. Utterson not only tries to protect Dr. Jekyll from Mr. Hyde, but Utterson wishes to solve Jekyll’s entire problem. In the first description of Mr. Utterson, the reader learns that he is “inclined to help rather than to reprove” (1). This simple description implies that Utterson will be helping to solve a problem in this novel, though it is not identified whose problem he will try to solve. This also foreshadows a problem in the book; Utterson leads the reader to believe that a horrid situation will arise between Jekyll and Hyde. Mr. Hyde is driven purely by the temptations of evil; the urges that Dr. Jekyll is unable to act on. This temptation causes Mr. Hyde to murder Sir Carew with the wal...

    Read More

  • Jekyll And Mr Hyde Essay

    1292 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mr. Hyde was pale ad dwarfish; he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering and some what broken voice,—all these were points against him; but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust, loathing and fear with which Mr. Utterson regarded him. (10)

    Read More

  • What Is The Concept Of Dualism In The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

    1663 Words  | 4 Pages

    Stevenson is most known for his many loved novels such as Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, A Child’s Garden of Verses, and Kidnapped (Life-Robert). The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written in English, around the year 1884 and published shortly after in 1886 (Wolf 22). In the first six months, the story sold over forty thousand copies in England (“Robert”). Concerning the popularity of Stevenson’s fiction, "Explanation of: 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ' by Robert Louis Stevenson" informs that when the books were imported to America, many people became disturbed. The American people claimed that the book had blasphemous topics. Besides the controversy that Stevenson’s novel stirred up, today Stevenson is one of the most known and translated authors of our time

    Read More

  • Dr Jekylll And Mr Hyde Analysis

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Robert Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are both set in Victorian London, England. In them, Wilde and Stevenson address many ideas such as honesty, double-lives and duality. However, they approach the area in opposite ways; while Wilde uses comical innuendo and satire to make fun of many issues in Victorian society, Stevenson use death, dark and gothic methods to convey his point to the audience. Additionally, in both works the repressive nature of Victorian society is tested, as the characters cannot express themselves because of the fine line between respectability and inadequate at the time. The Victorian period brought the view that respectability and money was everything

    Read More

  • The Life and Writings of Robert Louis Stevenson

    2652 Words  | 6 Pages

    Stevenson, Robert. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. London: Longman, Green and Co., 1886. Print.

    Read More

  • Dr. Jekyll Vs. Hyde Essay

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    In her article “Hyding Nietzsche in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Gothic of Philosophy,” Harriet Hustis argues that Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde displays an amalgamation of “the fictive and the philosophical” (Hustis 993). Hustis claims that Stevenson’s account of the origins of Jekyll and Hyde in his “A Chapter on Dreams” challenges the distinctions between “fiction and philosophy, the intention and the unintentional,” as well as “the conscious and the unconscious” (Hustis 994). The distinction between self and other is rendered equivocal as well. In addition to Stevenson’s account of its origins, the story of Jekyll and Hyde itself poses philosophical ideas about the breakdown of binaries and supposed opposites. Hustis compares Stevenson’s writings in and about Jekyll and Hyde to Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical statements in Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future—published in 1886, months after the publishing of

    Read More

  • Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Essay

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Robert Louis Stevenson

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stevenson, Robert Louis. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde London: Longmans, Green & co. 1886 Print

    Read More

  • Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Character Analysis

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Mood Analysis

    494 Words  | 1 Pages

    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a very interesting book. It was written by Robert Louis Stevenson after a nightmare he had one night. He wrote and finished the book in three days. In the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses imagery, diction, and details to create a eerie mood.

    Read More

  • Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Quotes Analysis

    587 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance, that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable” I don’t really like the way this quote starts because it is a bad first impression and description for ! r. Utterson. It only says the negative things about Utterson rather than any positive descriptions. "Some day, Utterson, after I am dead, you may perhaps come to learn the right and wrong of this. I cannot tell you."

    Read More

More about Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Analysis

Open Document