Romeo and Juliet and Jekyl and Hyde both show duality. One example is how Jekyl and Hyde are the same person just living a double life. He wanted to be able to live a life where he was able to let loose and still be respected at the same time. So he found a way to do that by making a potion that could make him someone else. However he could change back to the other person when it was necessary. An example in Romeo and Juliet is how their deaths were tragic but without them the families aren’t fighting anymore. Duality is a huge aspect in both of these works of literature. In Jekyll and Hyde Jekyll wanted to be able to cut loose and be able to be like someone who wouldn’t have been respected. He also wanted to be someone who was respected so he made a potion where he could be both; no one would disrespect Jekyll but …show more content…
And both of the book’s main themes is duality. In Romeo and Juliet the plot of the story is how two star crossed lovers meet but their families hate each other and they love one another. The Families have been feuding for a long time. However they love each other and they end up getting married. After that they kill themselves. It is tragic but that was the only way the families feud would end because Romeo and Juliet were their only children, Lady Montague died and the Capulets are too old to have another child. In Jekyll and Hyde Jekyll wants to live a life where he can have fun and mess around but still be a respected scientist. However the Victorian society won't allow that so he created Hyde. Hyde is his fun side but it is also the evil side and so he just keeps going over to the evil side. Hyde becomes stronger than Jekyll and he overtakes Jekyll; that shows the duality of human nature and also that both of these books are based around the theme of duality. These books are both about duality, obsession and many other things but they are a lot alike. However they are also very
In both The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the 1941 movie adaptation, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a strong representation of evil is present. Both the film and the novel are surrounded with sense of immorality and sin. The text and the film have economical and historical characteristics that help define evil. While the film alone has a strong representation of evil surrounding gender and relationships.
Robert Louis Stevenson shows a marvelous ability to portray. He depicts the surroundings, architectural details of the dwellings, the inside of the houses, the instruments and each part of the environment in detail. He even specifies that the laboratory door is “covered with red baize” (p.24). Not only does he offer a precise picture of the setting, but also he draws accurately the characters. About 200 words are used in order to describe Mr. Utterson the lawyer (p.5). Dr.Lanyon, the gentleman who befriends Mr. Utterson and Dr. Jekyll, is described as “a healthy, dapper, red-faced gentleman, with a shock of hair prematurely white.” (p.12). Each of the characters are described according to their importance in the novella. Each of them except
The character, Jekyll/Hyde, from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Lewis Stevenson, and the characters Bartholomew and Thaddeus Sholto from A Study in Scarlet and Sign of Four, written by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle, exhibit dual-self characteristics. The Jekyll/Hyde and Sholto twin characters have many strong similarities as well as distinct but related differences. Interestingly, many of the areas of differences are ultimately the most vital aspects of the characters.
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll’s struggle between two personalities is the cause of tragedy and violence. Dr. Jekyll takes his friends loyalty and unknowingly abuses it. In this novella, Stevenson shows attributes of loyalty, how friendship contributes to loyalty, and how his own life affected his writing on loyalty.
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 story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a confusing and perplexing one. R.L. Stevenson uses the devices of foreshadow and irony to subtly cast hints to the reader as to who Mr. Hyde is and where the plot will move. Stevenson foreshadows the events of the book through his delicate hints with objects and words. Irony is demonstrated through the names of characters, the names display to the reader how the character will fit into the novel. These two literary devices engage the readers; they employ a sense of mystery while leading the readers to the answer without them realizing the depth of each indirect detail.
Addiction is a behavior that leads to actions that not only hurt others but is ultimately a path to one’s own self-destruction. From the beginning of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, it is clear that Dr. Jekyll never had complete control over the drug or Mr. Hyde; however, once Hyde commits suicide in order to dodge punishment, we know how awful Jekyll’s addiction to Hyde had been. Jekyll was so far out of control of Hyde that Mr. Hyde had the ability to end both of their lives simply because Hyde did not wish to be punished.
Duality are opposites being evil or good, love or hate, life or death. In the story of Romeo and Juliet one of the Friars makes a connection between man and a plant. The Friar states “In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will” ( Act II Scene III Line 35-6 ) this comparison is conveying how closely human's nature is related to those of plants. Both have power to be used as medicine but have enough potential to be used as something harmful. The story of Romeo and Juliet is full of opposites, including the two main families: the Montagues and the Capulets they have been sworn to hate each other. The two main characters that fall in love with each other are from different families. Romeo and Juliet are suppose to feel loathe against each other, but on the contrary they fall in love. When Juliet finds out of the devastating news that Romeo is a Montague, she states “My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, that i must love a loathed enemy”(Act I Scene V Line 53-4). The hatred between the families caused the deaths of Juliet and Romeo. The deaths are a used as pathway for both families to live in peace. Prince Escalus sums it up by saying “a glooming peace this morning with it brings. The sun for shadow will not show his head (Act V Scene III Line 309-310 )”. By saying this he is trying to tell us that out of misery and woe
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde both suffer; however, one from illness and the other from insanity. Mr. Hyde is a sociopath, and lives in it to the full extent as well as Jekyll being a psychopath. However, Hyde was created the way he was to portray a sinful side of Jekyll, while Jekyll was himself throughout, good and bad, to manipulate and gain in the harm of
“People couldn’t become truly holy...unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked” -Terry Pratchett. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson clearly represents the quote by Terry Pratchett because of how the author portrays Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde throughout the novel. With the use of a door, Stevenson brings this idea into full effect. The purpose of the door in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is to display the dualism and transformation of Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde and vice versa.
In conclusion, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, represents many themes of duality in human nature. This is represented by the characters of Henry Jekyll, Edward Hyde, Hastie Lanyon, and John Utterson. Some themes represented are the duality in conforming to societal conventions, curiosity, and temptation. Stevenson utilizes significant events including the deaths of Lanyon and Jekyll, and the transformations of Jekyll into Hyde to prove “that man is not truly one, but two” (125)
... man. Society in the Victorian era was consisted of two classes, trashy and wealthy. Jekyll was expected to be a gentleman, but he wanted to have fun. This was the reason he created Hyde, so he could both be respected and have fun. He was delighted at the freedom he now had. Lanyon was overly contolled, but Utterson knew all men had both good and bad within them and could control it. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, the dual nature of man is a main theme.
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.
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.
One of the major themes of these novels is the double personality that Dr Jekyll suffers from. When Dr Jekyll takes his metamorphosis potion, he becomes Mr Hyde who is pure evil, which is clearly shown in the extract of the novel. Mr Hyde is very impolite towards his old fellow colleague Dr Lanyon even though he willingly agrees to help Dr Jekyll by giving the potion to Mr Hyde.