Of Science And Technology In The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

2193 Words5 Pages

Science and medicine in the eighteenth-century began to make incredible progress (Gingras and Guay 157). For example, diseases began to prolong the average lifespan (Olsen 275) and most industrial sectors developed more reliable technologies (Olsen 301). While at the beginning of the eighteenth-century, when science and technology began to improve, many believed if they led a virtuous life, then their death would result in living in Heaven for eternity (Olsen 288). In the later part of the eighteenth-century the rapid advancements in science and technology allowed for religious beliefs to be questioned, as science seemed to become more reliable than God (Olsen 280). This, in turn, may have caused a fear of one’s own death and the afterlife. It also may have separated society as a whole, those that believed in God and those that trusted in newer …show more content…

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a story based in the eighteenth-century, displays the tension of science vs. religion and the fear of technology spiralling out of control. Dr. Jekyll throughout the novel combines science and the supernatural, which is regarded by those of traditional science as nonsense (Stevenson 12). An example of this is highlighted within a conversation between Mr. Utterson and Mr. Lanyon over the types of radical science Dr. Jekyll was pursuing. Lanyon calls Jekyll’s scientific methods “unscientific balderdash” (Stevenson 12) revealing that there is a divide between the two scientists. Lanyon is the embodiment of the traditional, as he places extreme importance on honesty and truth, whereas Dr. Jekyll can be looked at as the supernatural, someone who experiments with what is uncanny. This is important when understanding the fear of one’s morality or of one’s self as we see newer science separating from traditional science. However, the outcome of this is that Jekyll is unable to control the darker, supernatural side of his modern scientific methods, leading to death and

Open Document