How Stevenson Explores the Nature of Good and Evil in the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

How Stevenson Explores the Nature of Good and Evil in the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The story is about a doctor called Jekyll who has an alternate

identity called Hyde. Until the last two chapters it is told from the

view point of Mr Utterson; a friend of Jekyll’s who is trying to piece

together the story. It uses features of gothic novels such as

doppelganger which is an alternate identity. It also uses multiple

narratives to make the reader think, it also helps the reader solve

the case themselves, and piece the story together, from the evidence

given. To a certain extent Stevenson also uses the monster feature in

the form of Edward Hyde. In this novel, Stevenson was trying to show

that good and evil are not separate within us but are a combined part

of us so instead of trying to split them we should except the unity

and only then will we be able to make our good side prevail in the

struggle of good and evil.

One of the features of a gothic novel used is the haunted house.

Authors of gothic novels use a character’s house to reflect the

characters psychological manner.

In this story Jekyll’s house is described as being “grand and having

an air of wealth and comfort”. This mimics Jekyll’s personality as he

is portrayed for the reader,” a large, well-made, smooth-faced man”.

The description “smooth-faced man” gives the impression that he is not

only hiding his age but also the secrets that come with age. We get

the impression that he has something to hide right at the beginning of

the story; I believe that through this Stevenson gives us a hint that

Jekyll has some thing that he wants to keep hidden. His house however

has a backdoor which is described as “blistered and distained”. This,
...

... middle of paper ...

...mic society by using the

split personality of Jekyll and Hyde, which is emphasized by the two

entrances to his house, to show the mixed views of people from that

time period. He also voiced the fear of most of the society through

his monster Hyde, who is created through science but cannot be

controlled. I believe not only does he express the fear of science

going wrong, he also expresses the view of not playing God, by showing

that man might not be able to permanently control what he creates,

which is shown by Jekyll loosing control of the transformation to

Hyde. He also tries to explain that the good and evil parts of us are

what make us who we are and instead of trying to separate them and

risk losing control we should embrace them and try through our

actions, to let the good side prevail instead of using science to

destroy us while trying to do well.