Similarities Between Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

In “Macbeth”, the supernatural is linked to the superstitious beliefs of the period. It is by receiving knowledge associated with what only God should know, not man. Macbeth learns the prophecy from the witches making him create his own assumptions in how to become king causing him to commit murder eventually. The Jacobean audience would believe that Macbeth will get punished as he committed regicide. After Macbeth committed regicide, he was in so much shock that he brought the daggers with him and refused to put them back because he regretted what he had done. Macbeth says “I’ll go no more:” Shakespeare is trying to show that committing regicide caused Macbeth to be affected negatively that he is unable to even cover his tracks. He is in so

much shock. The word “go” can be interpreted to in different ways. Macbeth might have meant to say that he will never commit a crime again, which is later found to be a lie. Another interpretation could be that he has given up and does not mind if he gets caught. Shakespeare is showing that the crimes committed due to the witches and the ghostly dagger caused him to mentally disintegrate due to Macbeth remembering the consequences of his acts. The Jacobean era could believe that as Macbeth committed regicide, he would be terrified of the punishment making him mentally affected. Shakespeare linked his fear to religion because the era he lived in was god-fearing causing his ideas to be shaped in this way. In Act One Scene Four, Duncan says “There is no art to find the mind construction”. Shakespeare is trying to say that we cannot tell what a person is thinking, simply by looking at their face and Shakespeare uses Macbeth as an example. The word “art” suggests that understanding what someone is thinking will be something seen as good. The use of this quote makes the reader understand that people believed that God was the only being who had power like that. The witches which Macbeth encountered gave him knowledge he was not meant to know and Duncan believed that god should only know the future, or what someone is thinking and that could mean that the Jacobean audience could believe that the supernatural is linked to religion because this quote shows that no man can tell something which God could only know but the supernatural causing him to feel that way. In Act One Scene Five, Lady Macbeth says “Pale thee in the dunnest smoke of hell”. Shakespeare is showing that people rely on god to protect them; however Lady Macbeth uses it for dark thoughts by the use of the word “hell”. “Hell” is something which most religious believers are scared off as it is where you go if you do bad deeds, and it shows that Lady Macbeth is relying on god to help her even if it is for murder. In Act Four Scene Three, Macduff says “Did heaven look on”. Shakespeare is showing that people had a strong faith linking to god. Shakespeare shows that even though people in his era believed in the supernatural, they were still god fearing making them not always result to that the supernatural is the one causing people sorrow.
In contrast to those more superstitious elements in “Macbeth”, the supernatural in “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” is given a rational explanation by creating a supernatural potion.

In the Victoria era people used to believe an idea called physiognomy. If there is evil internal, it will be shown external. Stevenson uses this idea through contrasting appearances of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Hyde is seen as someone deformed while Jekyll is seen as someone well respected and handsome. The use of the supernatural allowed Jekyll to split his evil and good side, therefore creating My Hyde. When Lanyon had to bring the potion to Hyde, his world view was destroyed by Jekyll causing him to die. This is because when he watched the transformation, it caused his beliefs to be shattered, which caused his mental disintegration and then causing suicide. In the text Lanyon says “My mind submerged in terror”. The verb “submerged” suggests that Lanyon is in complete ‘terror’. Stevenson uses this quote to show how when people find out that the supernatural is true, they mentally disintegrate to a point where they die from the shock. In chapter 4 people described Hyde as “the haunting sense of unexpressed deformity”. The Victorian era could not assume that this was the work of a supernatural potion, so they assume that Hyde is human”. The use of the adjective “haunting” could make the reader feel that Hyde is dangerous as he is being associated with ghosts which links to the supernatural. This could mean the Victorian era is refusing to believe that this is the work of something beyond nature so they link it to science. Also Lanyon says “I ask myself if I believe it, and I cannot answer.” Stevenson is trying to show that the supernatural is so difficult to believe in and so people have views related to science. The word “ask” is rhetorical, suggesting the reader understand that Lanyon knows that there is something beyond nature, but he is so affected by it causing him to mentally disintegrate.

Poole goes to Utterson saying that there is someone else in Jekyll’s room. Poole says "do you think I do not know my master after twenty years?” This suggests that people did not think that the concept of the supernatural could be true and that it is a completely different person. Stevenson uses these words as they are blunt making the reader understand that the Victorian era is unable to understand that the supernatural is the cause, so they rely on a rational explanation making them assume it is a work of science or it was a different person. This caused Lanyon to die after the shock he received.