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Recommended: Discuss human nature as depicted through the characters in the novel Dr.Jekyll and Mr.hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Good and evil are in every man, but most keep it hidden. Good and evil are still around today. From Victorian times to twenty-first century, evil is still coming out. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, physical descriptions are used to reflect good and evil in Jekyll and Hyde. When Hyde is described he is always said to be like a monster or have some deformity, as soon as people look at Hyde they get a burning hatred for him. In our first introduction of Hyde when Enfield tells his story and Hyde tramples the little girl, Enfield describes Hyde as “It wasn’t like a man, it was like some damned Juggernaut”(Stevenson 4). Stevenson is describing
This essay will focus on how Robert Louis Stevenson presents the nature of evil through his novel ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. Using ideas such as duality, the technique used to highlight the two different sides of a character or scene, allegories, an extended metaphor which has an underlying moral significance, and hypocrisy; in this book the Victorians being against all things evil but regularly taking part in frown able deeds that would not be approved of in a ‘respectable’ society. This links in with the idea of secrecy among people and also that evil is present in everyone. The novel also has strong ties and is heavily influenced by religion. Stevenson, being brought up following strong Calvinist beliefs, portrays his thoughts and opinion throughout the story in his characters; good and evil.
Innocence is a trap. It is strangled with the ideals of perfection and suffocates the cravings of curiosity. Goodness is expectant and evil is poisonous. However, good and evil resides in even the most innocent of people. Both are nefarious and pestilent to easily corrupt targeted souls in sinister actions. Both equate to uncontrollable factors. Goodness tends to covet the sensations of evil since it depreciates its own purity. In the oscillating novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, goodness was trapped by evil just as Jekyll was trapped as Hyde. Jekyll’s pure spirituality desired the holy richness of evil and all its wrongdoings. His laboratory experiments discovered his desire to feel the sensation of evil without truly being evil. His laboratory experiments discovered a way for him to escape. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde fought the battle between good and evil proving the apparent strengths and weaknesses that overall transformed two souls into a single corpse.
Good and Evil in Human Nature in Lord of the Flies and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Mr. Hyde is the monstrous side of Dr. Jekyll from their book “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” In their story, Dr. Jekyll is a brilliant scientist who has created a formula that turns him into Mr. Hyde. It is stated that, at some point, Dr. Jekyll became addicted to the potion. Though it is unclear what would cause the addiction, since it would be Hyde who would experience the “high” and not Jekyll himself. Hyde is the contrast to Dr. Jekyll, and is considerably more brutal and immoral. Modern incarnations depict him as becoming incredibly muscular after the transformation, though in the original work it is only implied that Hyde is stronger, retaining his previous physique. It is consistent that Hyde is shown to be ugly, perhaps even deformed.
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.
How Stevenson Explores the Nature of Good and Evil in the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Some believe that every individual has an evil persona trapped inside that is just waiting to get out! This may be true for some but it may also just be another excuse for one to commit evil deeds. In the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, a prominent doctor (Dr. Jekyll) conducts a scientific experiment in which he compounds a certain mixture he consumes and transforms into an ugly, repulsive creature (Mr. Hyde), representing the pure evil that exists within him. This novel is truly an astonishing piece of literature that consists of many components that make it a marvelous piece of literature. Not only is the symbolism fascinating and intriguing, the literary word puns are very ironic and makes the novel interesting.
Good vs. evil is the novella’s biggest theme. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are easily viewed as a metaphor about the good and evil that exist in all people and about our struggle with these two sides of the human personality. “I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man . . . if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both” (Stevenson 41). There are two personalities struggling within Dr. Jekyll. In this book, the battle between good and evil rages within Dr. Jekyll and focuses on his duel personalities. Dr. Jekyll is Mr. Hyde; Mr. Hyde is just a ruse to hide behind. Jekyll’s letter to Utterson stated, “that man is not truly one but truly two.” (Steve...
These two personalities are widely set apart on the spectrum, yet it is revealed in the end that they are intertwined in one body, specifically Dr Jekyll’s. The existence of Dr. Jekyll’s alter ego, Mr Hyde, suggests that humans are all composed of good and evil elements. People can never be pure or innocent as a whole because the truth is that everyone has desires to do bad; However, some have the ability to hide it and control it better than others.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde show the two sides of a man. The character in the book shows a man with a good side and an evil side. The good side is Dr. Jekyll who is shown as the person that they wanted in the Victorian society. Because he is the person that is doing good and doing everything by the book, he represents good. Every time he drinks the potion, the good and evil in the person separates. This means that the caring side of a person and remorseful side are separated from the evil side of him which is all the things that there society perceives as evil. The evils is shown when, “the man trampled calmly over the body and left her on the ground” (Robert Louis Stevenson 3). This shows that when Hyde was walking he trampled over this girl who was just a child in order to run around and he didn’t care. The nature of Hyde is evil because he was made out evil. They show him as evil in every action that he does. The evil shown in the text is evil like in the trampling part. There was no remorse for trampling of this girl that shows how his nature is to do evil and how he does not know any better but to do evil. The good in the book is the good in Jekyll because he meet up to their society’s expectations. Dr. Jekyll was consider an upstanding person with a good reputation. He was considered a good friend and man in everybody’s mind and this was represented in the way he was acting and how he has friends. The book states, “Henry Jekyll shoes without further delay, and free from any burthen or obligation, beyond the payment of a of a few small sums to the member of the doctors household” (Robert Louis Stevenson 6). This explains how as a person he shows values that hold up to the values they had and they thought were good. He went to all the meetings and was respected. Mr. Hyde did not have this respect. Because he was not respected in the same way, they would not have him at the meeting. This shows that if you are good it leads to a man being
Physical descriptors to express good and evil have been displayed in many ways throughout time. In Robert Lewis Stevensons mystery novella, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, physical descriptions of Jekyll and Hyde are used to reflect good and evil.
In the book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll creates a potion that separates good from evil. The potion evidently creates a whole counterpart of Jekyll, who is Mr. Hyde. Hyde overpowers Jekyll in a way, basically winning control over their body. Mr. Hyde was nothing but pure evil. Hyde only turns back into Jekyll, for fear of being captured after he kills someone. The quote “It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to his evil ways.” comes to mind when thinking about this book. Especially at the end of the book when Hyde decides to take his own life, instead of facing the music. Jekyll knew what he was doing when he created Hyde, instead of focusing on what the outcome would be of bringing a being of pure evil into the world.
According to Ruwe the novel has a great psychoanalytic value he explains that it contains two personalities who clash and are exact opposites (Ruwe). Human nature is given exposure according to Stevenson's view. Back then more things were thought to be grotesque and horrible pertaining to the acts of human beings which still apply sometimes to human nature now. There is that person that once in a while recognize the dark truth of human nature, the good and the bad are exposed, in truth there is a part of both sides in all people but some choose to not recognize it, Dr. Jekyll blurs the lines between good and evil leaving behind his conscience . According to May the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the best example in English literature that uses a double meaning or personality to represent both sides of human nature (May).
The human mind is composed of two separate identities engaged in a constant war for superiority. Good and evil exist in all men, and each man must choose which side overcomes him. In the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll experiences this struggle between good and evil. Dr. Jekyll’s home is a building with two very different components— a dank and decaying laboratory, and an affluent and comfortable main house. Although these two buildings are part of the same whole, they appear to be unconnected. The contrast between these separate but united buildings reflects Dr. Jekyll’s dual nature.
Good and evil have the same face; however, the difference in degree greatly depends on when these two abstracts cross the path of each individual human being. In a book highlighting highly acclaimed author Robert Louis Stevenson’s ability to relate this to literature, the writer states that Stevenson successfully developed a mystifying plot in which introduced the phenomenon of a single human entity occupying two distinct identities (Lazar, Karlan, and Salter 160-161). Ultimately, by painting an image of the malevolent and amoral Mr Hyde, Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde not only provided scientists with a backbone for which to base significant advancements in the scientific sectors