“It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it ” (69). This is a quote from the book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the topic of duality in human nature is thoroughly expressed in a few different ways. The story is about a man named Dr. Jekyll who concocted a potion that would divide his good side, Dr. Jekyll, and his evil side, Mr. Hyde, in order to escape the restrictions and limitations of Victorian society. However, this plan backfired when Hyde became too strong for Dr. Jekyll to control. Dr. Jekyll desperately attempted to replicate the potion he had previously used to transform into Mr. Hyde to keep himself from turning, but there was a crucial impurity, that of which he could not replicate. In Victorian society there is a rift between the extravagant upperclass, doctors, lawyers, and rich people, and the impecunious lower class, the poor people. Dr. Jekyll wanted people to see him as an elegant and sophisticated person who was respectable and followed Victorian guidelines, but he also wanted to let his frustration out and do things people of his stature normally would not do, so he made a potion. This potion split his personalty into Mr. Hyde and he could use his evil side to do the malevolent things he wanted to do. The quote, “Man is not truly one, but truly two” (143) is another quote from Dr. Jekyll that demonstrates the theme of duality in human nature. Dr. Jekyll is respected, well mannered, and has a benevolent way, he seeks to help his friends and help other people as well. In contrast, Mr. Hyde is evil and angry. Dr. Jekyll is not the only character with duality, another used is Mr. Utterson. Robert Lou... ... middle of paper ... ...(143) is a good example of duality in human nature. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the same person, but even though they are both part of the same mind they think immensely different. Dr. Jekyll thinks of Mr. Hyde as a son and wants to protect him, however, in Mr. Hyde’s eyes Dr. Jekyll is nothing but a way to escape punishment from the evil crimes that he has committed. “Even as good shone upon the countenance of the one, evil was written broadly and plainly on the face of the other”(131). In conclusion, in the end Dr. Jekyll’s attempts to suppress the evil Mr. Hyde were in vain. He tried to use the potion to bring himself back to his original self, but it failed. Robert Louis Stevenson uses the ideas in his book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to explain the concept of duality of good and evil, not only in human nature, but also in society itself.
Unfortunately, Dr. Jekyll had a strong desire to "perfect" himself by splitting his good qualities from his bad by separating himself into two separate identities:
Mr Hyde is the evil side of Dr Jekyll, but he is restrained from being
Stevenson focuses on two different characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but in reality these are not separate men, they are two different aspects of one man’s reality. In the story, Dr. Je...
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hyde was an evil being it was slowly starting to take over and Dr. Jekyll knew that was happening. By shutting him out self off more and more he was helping everyone around him. Since he did not have any control over Mr. Hyde he had to stop Mr. Hyde from hurting anyone else and couldn’t tell anyone of these issues. In the book where Hyde and Jekyll are struggling, it says “ I was so far in my reflections” (53). This was Dr. Jekylls note for his struggles when he was finally telling people. He was deep in reflection and hiding them self off because he knew it was too late. It also states in this section of the book: “When Jekyll locks himself in his library” (61). Everyone was worried about him even though sometimes he does do this like in the beginning when he’s in solitude to work on his research. Dr. Jekyll had finally shut himself off from the word completely due to him knowing it was his final moments. He knew that since his potion was out and he could not find more materials it was over so he made a backup plan for when Hyde has taken over. This brutal plan was to kill himself and ultimately this is what he did. He had put all the other parts of the plan into effect and left a note to explain what truly happened, thus signifying the end of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, helping others but only helping him at the
Benjamin Franklin once said, “It is much easier to suppress a first desire than it is to satisfy those that follow.” This is certainly true in the situation of Dr. Jekyll, as the temptation of becoming Mr. Hyde becomes stronger as he continually surrenders to the wickedness that is constantly misleading him. Mr. Hyde is never contented, even after murdering numerous innocents, but on the contrary, his depravity is further intensified. The significance of the repression of a desire is a prevalent theme throughout the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, as the inability to repress one’s curiosity can lead to a fatal end, whereas the repression of a desire that can no longer contain itself, or the repression of confronting a guilty conscience, will conclude in a tragic ending and in this case specifically,
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
Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 “shilling shocker”, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, has been subjected to various interpretations over the years. While some have assessed the trope of duality in the light of racism, colonization and cultural ‘other’, others have drawn on psychological references of split personality or ‘dissociative identity disorder’(i.e. existence of more than one personality in one body). The popularity of the novella and the idea of binaries existing in one being, has given birth to the phrase ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ which associates itself to a person whose attitude is vastly different from situation to situation. The respectable Dr. Jekyll, in his
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a riveting tale of how one man uncovers, through scientific experiments, the dual nature within himself. Robert Louis Stevenson uses the story to suggest that this human duality is housed inside everyone. The story reveals “that man is not truly one, but two” (Robert Louis Stevenson 125). He uses the characters of Henry Jekyll, Edward Hyde, Dr. Lanyon, and Mr. Utterson to portray this concept. He also utilizes important events, such as the death of Dr. Jekyll and the death of Mr. Lanyon in his exploration of the topic.
Jekyll is given as a respected man raised in a wealthy family. During the era, people are meant to be well-mannered and polite without any sign or thinking of violence and crime; however, Dr. Jekyll secretly has a desire to perform evil. Conflicted with the ideal of society, he has repressed his emotion through many years and eventually he decided to conceal his pressure as he said, “And indeed the worst of my faults was a certain impatient gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happiness of many, but such as I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the public. 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.” (48) From this quote, Dr. Jekyll discloses that he’s not desired to be cheerful, as many do, and decides to fake his pressure in front of the public eyes. After many years, he then realizes he was only hiding his true emotion. Eventually, to resolve his situation, he is inspired to create a potion that could transform himself to Mr. Hyde that could free him from the struggle between protecting his reputation and following his emotion and
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.
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll has a desire for splitting his personalities and taking pleasure in two different lives. A sinister, malicious, abnormal, small man would control one life while; an honorable, wise doctor would control the other life. Dr. Jekyll produces a potion, which allows
Jekyll was originally more evil than good because when he created the potion he was concerned about pleasing himself than actually thinking the consequences that would happen by the creation of his experiment. The argument of reputation dealing with the novel of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde it is able to bring pros to it because would be able to describe the characters and show what they are good at. Based on the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde centers upon a conception of humanity as the deal of nature. Later on, Dr. Jekyll states that "men is not the truly one, but truly two", he also imagines that the human soul as the battleground for an angel and the fiend struggling for their own mastery. (Sparknotes Editors "Sparknote on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" Sparknotes.com LLL.2003 Web 03 May 2016) Maria M Struzziero states that Dr. Jekyll is hiding a dark mysterious for emerging for the first time in Enfield 's words. It also shows that he admits that is not easy to describe adding that there is something wrong with his appearance something displeasing, downright and detestable. (Struzziero, Maria M "Dualism and Dualities- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Themes." Dualism and Dualities – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Themes N.P ND wed 04 May 2016) Another description could be that Mike Arnzen said A lot of emphases was put on "credit" or the reputation of the characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Also said that "If each, I told myself, could but be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all the unbearable, and the unjust might go away" (Arnzen, Mike "The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" Swe nightingale. N.P...11 Aug 2009. Web 04 May 2016) The analysis of data its ability to describe how the reputation of Jekyll and Hyde is. Shows that it 's allowing the readers to understand the insides of what they as being the protagonist and the antagonist. They are differing opinions that say that the angel gives ways permanently to Dr. Jekyll 's
middle of paper ... ... As Dr. Jekyll says, “With every day and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and intellectual, I thus drew steadily to that truth by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two”(Stevenson 78). He further adds,”. that 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” (Stevenson79).
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by author Robert Louis Stevenson is a novel about a man who
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.