The Extraordinary Duality in Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde The novella Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde is an exquisite piece of Victorian literature written by Robert Louis Stevenson that delves into the complexities of human nature and the duality of good and evil. The Victorian mystery follows the plot of two characters that display the concepts of good and evil by creating them to be exact polar opposites. The two characters who are revealed to be one, utilize the concepts of good and evil to draw a story that shows a civilized Victorian man by day who is secretly a primal and violent human by night. The story uses the character's actions, the duality of human nature, and societal impact to display concepts of good and evil. The first concept of good and …show more content…
Compared to Mr. Hyde, he is a civilized man with no irrational actions in public throughout the novella. Meanwhile, his primal counterpart is the polar opposite. Right from the beginning it is revealed that Mr. Hyde trampled calmly over a child's body and “Left her screaming on the ground” (Stevenson p.4). Though this is an action that Dr. Jekyl wouldn't dare attempt, it indeed is him committing such evil. An even more horrendous act is seen when Dr. Jekyl beats a man in parliament with his cane. This scene in itself is out of the norm for the time being. Considering that the man that he beat was of a higher class, this would have been seen as a heinous act. Furthermore, human nature plays a huge role in showcasing good and evil. Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde encapsulate the duality perfectly; Dr. Jekyl represents the societal normal of a person at the time while his alter ego, Hyde, displays the opposite. By physically separating his good and evil side, Dr. Jekyl can suppress his urges by switching at night. By physically separating his two personalities, Jekyl hoped to fulfill his dark desires; this however led to his demise. Human nature eventually overruns the civilized Victorian man that Jekyl
“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.
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dual nature of man is a recurring theme. Jekyll constantly struggles with good and evil, the expectations of Victorian society, and the differences between Lanyon and Jekyll.
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.
The definition of a hero is subjective. Accordingly, Robert Ray believes the hero is able to be divided into three categories: the outlaw, official and composite hero. In most cases, a hero can be categorized into one of these categories. Through the examination of Jekyll and Hyde, the Batman movie from 1943, and film of Batman in 1989, qualities of the hero will be depicted as a function of time.
Stevenson’s Portrayal of Good an Evil and the Dual Nature of Men in Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde
Duality has an impact on everyday life. Every action one takes could be intended to be a good action, but others might think of it differently Duality means things that appear to be purely good have a dark side. It could be good or evil, black and white.
“It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it ” (69). This is a quote from the book Dr.
Many human beings contain opposite forces within him or herself; an alter ego that hides behind one’s polite facade. In the novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are in fact a single character. It is not until towards the end of the novel that the two personas seem nothing alike. Dr. Jekyll is the well-established, moral, doctor and Mr. Hyde is a nefarious weird looking man whose appearance looks so strange that it is hard to explain. Their relationship involves a complicated dilemma. While it is true dr. Jekyll appears to us as a moral and courteous man, he does not exemplify honor and integrity the way that Hyde exemplifies evil. Although Jekyll engages in in the experiment to attempt to isolate the good
From the beginning of time, humans have questioned the validity of the intrinsic duality of man. Are humans born with both pure goodness and pure evilness or is the latter cultivated? Or simply altogether is man an existence embodied with both? In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, one man, a scientist named Henry Jekyll, concludes that all men are both good and evil. Through his own understanding of human nature, Henry Jekyll transforms and reveals himself to become and show the characteristics of both the protagonist and antagonist of the story.
Stevenson creates in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, to coexistent to make up a “normal” individual (Singh). Seeing things as Jekyll did, “Humans are half-good, half-evil” Stevenson separated the two, making one pure good (Jekyll) and one pure evil, as Jekyll says, “Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil” (Stevenson 88). After all, good and evil are independent objects, people; they possess distinctive psychological characteristics and consistently fight with each
The archetypal theme that evil exists in all humans is exemplified in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In all humans there are prominent examples of good and evil, depending on the way in which they are viewed in society. The stereotypical perfect fairy tale expresses that perfection is attainable and permits people to enhance their physical features through magic or witchcraft, which in reality is inaccurate. Humans also naturally posses a duplet identity that suggests that one is evil while the other is pure. For example, Dr. Jekyll is perfect while Mr. Hyde is pure evil. Furthermore, mortals occupy a trigger that is within them that wants to manifest into a monster to relinquish their inner demons
society. Rose writes, “Through serial adaptation, the story of Jekyll and Hyde yields a paratragic, predictive investigation into frightening themes; the process of adaptation reveals itself to be a cultural too, used to retain and refurbish images that contain too much anxiety, or hit too close to home, to be allowed to languish” (Rose 156).
The late eighteen hundreds was a time of abundant scientific discoveries, medical advances, and drug outbreaks (Wolf). Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson united all three happenings into a single novel. Stevenson grasped the fear of the Victorian people and the unfamiliar concepts and findings of scientific advances to create the novel as a horror (Wolf). Robert Louis Stevenson was one of the first authors to truly explore and inquire in the concept of the duality of man and how it affects us and our society Wolf. Stevenson’s mystery evolving into science fiction novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, fully elaborated on the deep dark side a person could conceal: “Poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is that of [Mr. Hyde] your new friend” (Stevenson 30). Wishing to rid the world of evil is a complex concept which in the end has shown to miscarry (Wolf).
The theme of duality is found in the world’s most famous works of literature. Duality is described as the relationships between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, etcetera. It is ultimately the relation between two opposites that is shown and expressed throughout something. One can find duality in everything they come into contact with, for anything could be used to cause two different outcomes. It is found not only in works of the past, but it is very common in today’s works as well. The Novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde exhibits examples of duality such as Dr. Jekyll battling his other self, Mr. Hyde. Romeo and Juliet and To Kill a Mockingbird are two other examples of great works of literature that explore 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.