Literary Analysis of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson

The city of London proved to be the sole dominant location in the 1800’s during the Victorian era in this novel. As the story unfolds in the classic literature novel, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” written by Robert Louis Stevenson, the magnificent city of London becomes a darker and mysterious location. The powerful city of London embodied the freedom and solitude required for the antagonist of the story, Mr. Hyde to hide his wicked behavior from the society as a whole. According to the history of the Victorian age, “Traditional ways of life were fast being transformed into something perilously unstable and astonishingly new” (1049). The population in England was growing at an astounding rate, illustrating the transition that the country of England was enduring. Instead of being strictly set in one specific location for the duration of the novel, the city of London was divided into two distinct societies consisting of both east and west London. East London, which is where most of the actions are taken place in the novel, was inhabited with the more poor people facing great poverty. On the other hand, west London was inhabited with the wealthier and they were exposed to more opportunities for the well-educated individuals. According to Darwin’s findings, “These two highly distinct societies were challenged by Darwin’s beliefs in the survival of the fittest” (1057). Darwin emphasized that only the fittest individuals regarding their wealth, intelligence, and reputation will survive within the British Empire during the Victorian era. The others living during this time will likely fade and not survive within the society. In Robert Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Hyde embodies what happens to...

... middle of paper ...

...of bettering the Victorian society, although it went entirely wrong. The falling action toward the denouement occurred when Dr. Jekyll was unable to create anymore of the potion needed to keep Dr Jekyll intact; resulting in Hyde completely taking over the body of Dr. Jekyll.

The letter Henry Jekyll addressed to Lanyon showed an interesting double meaning relating to the cabinet. “The door of my cabinet is then to be forced; and you are to go in alone; to open the grazed press (letter E) on the left hand, breaking the lock of it be shut; (1805). The password to open the cabinet was indeed the letter “E”. The author uses the letter “E” to engage the reader in interpreting what this could potentially come to mean. Could it translate into evil? Or could it possibly mean Edward, regarding Edward Hyde? Stevenson intended to keep this a complete mystery to the readers.