Similarities Between Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare both share the same theme of duality. They show that everything has two sides: good and evil. Both are great works of literature and even though two different authors write them, the themes intertwine. They are unique in their own ways but are similar in some aspects aswell. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson takes place in a Victorian culture. Stevenson probably chose this time period because it helped add to the theme of the story. Dr. Jekyll was a respected doctor with a lighthearted side. Because of this, he set out to find a way to create an opposite side that never got in the way. After continuously …show more content…

Shakespeare says, “O heavy lightness, serious vanity/ Misshapen chaos of well seeming forms/ Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health/ Still waking sleep” (I, i, 178-181). Shakespeare uses this series of oxymorons to display the love of the elusive Juliet. He uses highlights to array the emotional effect that is produced with the words such as “heavy lightness”, “hating love”, “bright smoke”, “cold fire”, and “sick health”. Friar Lawrence says, “The earth that’s nature’s mother in her tomb/ What is her burying grave that is her womb/ And from her womb children of drivers kind/ We sucking on her natural bosom find/ many virtues excellent/ None but for some and yet different” (III, iii, 9-14). With this quote, we see the qualities of both humankind and plants that composes of positive and negative or medicine and poison. Stevenson mentions in his book, “Evil besides (which I must still believe to be the lethal side of man) had left on that body in imprint of deformity and decay” (pg. 131). With this being said, it is suggesting that mankind’s evil side never truly leaves and it will always affect humankind’s soul. “It leaves an imprint of deformity” means that if and when the evil side abates, there will always be a piece that

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