Similarities Between Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

1039 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The industrial revolution on British society

Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson are two classic pieces of literature from the 19th century. These works were created within vastly different genres of adventure fiction and suspenseful gothic horror respectively. Upon considering these seemingly contrasting novels, an interest has been developed in whether or not Stevenson has utilized similar techniques or styles in the two novels. Thus, as a part of English A: Language and Literature Part 3 and 4, the novels will be explored through close reading analysis, based on the following research question: what similarities in stylistic techniques do the two novels, Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis …show more content…

The British society in the 19th century was significantly based on the values of the Christian religion, such as the advocacy of “sexual restraint, low tolerance of crime, and a strict social code of conduct” (Kleckner, n.d.). On the other hand, the 19th century was an era of expansion for the British Empire, and a desire for exploration bloomed within the society. Additionally, the Industrial Revolution accelerated urbanization and influenced the overall development of British society. (Pereira and Vilar, 2006) Stevenson was also highly influenced by his personal background of a Presbyterian upbringing, as according to G.K. Chesterton (1928), “Stevenson was born of a Puritan tradition”. Dr. Kerr (2006) has also mentioned that religion, specifically Calvinism, had influenced Stevenson in that his “fascination concerned what happened when evil adopted a human …show more content…

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Religion, specifically Chistianism, is referenced to in various areas of either text. In the fifteenth chapter of Treasure Island, Ben Gunn, a man who was marooned on the uninhibited island three years prior to Jim's arrival, makes a startling appearance. Ben Gunn refers to Christinanity several times, as he tells Jim that, "I haven't spoken with a Christian these three years" and that "my heart is sore for a Christian diet". Within his speech, the term 'Christian' is synonymous to 'civilized society', as emphasis was placed on the devout following of Christinanity in the socio-historical context of British society in the 18th to 19th centuries. Despite the setting of an uninhibited island, far from the contraints of society, the constant appearance of societal rules in the form of conformation to religion emphasizes the power of 'good' society holds and the savagery of 'evil' as the pirates muniteer and commit acts of

Show More
Related

  • The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dual nature of man is a recurring theme. Jekyll constantly struggles with good and evil, the expectations of Victorian society, and the differences between Lanyon and Jekyll.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll, in grave danger, writes a letter to his good friend Lanyon. With Jekyll’s fate in Lanyon’s hands, he requests the completion of a task, laying out specific directions for Lanyon to address the urgency of the matter. In desperation, Jekyll reveals the possible consequences of not completing this task through the use of emotional appeals, drawing from his longtime friendship with Lanyon, to the fear and guilt he might feel if he fails at succeeding at this task. Through Jekyll’s serious and urgent tone, it is revealed that his situation is a matter of life and death in which only Lanyon can determine the outcome.

    Read More

  • dr jekyll and mr hyde

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ources of human nature, more faith, more sympathy with our frailty than you have done.... The scientific cast of the allegory will act as an incentive to moral self-murder with those who perceive the allegory's profundity." (qtd. in Steuart, II, 83) But Stevenson was nonetheless acting as a moralist. His "shilling shocker," conceived in a dream and written in a white heat, captured both his own deepest divisions and insights into the callous folly of late-Victorian hypocrisy. Stevenson had himself considered suicide at least three times and yet persisted through ill health to natural death.;(34) Far from counselling "moral self-murder," his dark story of monstrous alter egos was counselling integration. Far from starting another Werther-craze, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde pioneered as a modern admonition of blind, self-destructive behavior. Stevenson's fictional lawyers and scientists show dangerous second sides because they have not persisted in self-knowledge. His fictional workers, like the butler, Poole, see masks in place of the "horrors" that their presumed betters have become because they have opted for distorted vision over clear-sightedness.

    Read More

  • The Similarities Between Dr Jekyll And Hyde And War Of The Worlds

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    In many different types of stories, authors use their writing to critique stereotypes of their own countries, whether it be fiction or nonfiction. In both Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, they show the demise of a person and humanity. They both have prevalent themes of the struggle of power. Except, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are in a power struggle of self-control, while in War of the Worlds the struggle is of humanity and the outside world. Both worlds, personal and humanity-wise, are overcome by other forces also trying to gain power. Both are forced to succumb and give in to the struggles they face. For example, in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll struggles constantly with not allowing for Hyde to take over his life. He wants to keep his reputation clean, and he wants to be seen as a respectable man.

    Read More

  • Stevenson's Use of Literary Techniques to Portray Evil in Jekyll and Hyde

    3971 Words  | 8 Pages

    In his characters, he used powerful imagery and interesting language to draw a picture of what people in those days were really like. The novel's impact is so great that it has become a part of common language, with the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" meaning a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next.

    Read More

  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jekyll does deserve his final miserable fate because he commits several selfish deeds to the point where he brings his miserable fate upon himself. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses Jekyll to represent how man prioritizes by putting himself over others. Throughout the book, Jekyll’s two different sides are used to show that man is consistently selfish and will usually think of himself before others. Even though Jekyll has a good side and an evil side, both sides of him are selfish. Jekyll originally takes the potion for selfish reasons, Jekyll uses Hyde to conquer his own evil temptations, and in the end Jekyll gives into Hyde and completely gives up.

    Read More

  • The Similarities of Characters in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    790 Words  | 2 Pages

    wrong, a lot like the way Mr Hyde was thought of. So to Mr Utterson,

    Read More

  • Repression and Hypocrisy in the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

    1911 Words  | 4 Pages

    Penny Fielding highlights his point of view on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that the novel paints ‘a damning portrait of society defined by repression and its inevitable twin, hypocrisy’. Fielding also insists later that the relation between repression and hypocrisy is one theme of this novel that cannot be overlooked. This opinion can be approved of a truth after reading the novel. Repression and hypocrisy run through the whole story which reflect on descriptions of every character. In this essay, I will focus on the repression and hypocrisy that appear to be connected in the novel by analyzing the background and main characters. Especially, I will quote some fragments from the novel to discuss in details.

    Read More

  • Characteristics Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    ​Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a highly acclaimed novel, in which Jekyll is painted as the loving victim while Hyde is the murderous villain. In the case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the fact of the matter is one is a psychopath born cold-hearted, while the other is a sociopath created by society. Anti-social disorder is at the crux of the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, which reveals the psychotic characteristics, deprived social relations, and *** of the psychopath, Dr. Jekyll, and the sociopath, Mr. Hyde.

    Read More

  • Jekyll And Mr Hyde Religion

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jekyll and Mr. Hyde cannot be understood without first studying the cultural views of the period in which the story occurs. The obsession with morality in Victorian England was a reactionary response to the rise of secularism and atheism, and the newly popular philosophy of utilitarianism significantly influenced the attitudes of the times. When Henry VIII split from the papacy in the sixteenth century and created the Anglican Church, subsequently resulting in civil wars between Protestant and Catholic monarchs, like Edward VI and Mary I (Bloody Mary), he created a longstanding tradition of tying the country’s national identity to its religion. Therefore, when the world was increasingly turning away from religion, Queen Victoria reacted strongly against this and reinforced the importance of religion in Britain. Furthermore, utilitarianism greatly shaped the Victorian elites’ views on morality and the role of mystery in society. Ironically, many famous Victorians like “Carlyle, Tennyson, Macaulay, Thomas Arnold…and [Charles] Dickens” actively opposed utilitarianism, yet the moral views of the philosophy permeated their worldview and shaped their outlook on life (Madden 460). These thinkers and Queen Victoria viewed “mystery” with “widespread hostility,” viewing it as “daemonic,” sharing a strikingly similar view on the issue with their Utilitarian counterparts (Madden 460). Therefore, when Jekyll was secretly attempting to create a potion to separate himself from Mr. Hyde, his “scientific studies” were leading towards “the mystic and transcendental,” two things vehemently opposed by Victorian England (Stevenson 42). Jekyll was operating on the fringes of society and took great lengths to conceal his works because he knew the dire consequences if others were to discover his mystic experiments. Dr. Lanyon, one of Jekyll’s closest friends, represents the traditional rational, moral, and honorable Victorian man. Upon witnessing

    Read More

  • Jekyll and Hyde: Duality of Human Nature

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story takes place during the Victorian age, a time when there were only two categories of people: good people and bad people. There was no way that one man could be considered acceptable without suppressing his evil side almost entirely. The reason that Jekyll restrained his evil side for so long was because of this dichotomous Victorian society. Most people, including Jekyll’s friends, Lanyon and Utterson, are content to stay molded in this ideal. However, Dr. Jekyll soon became tired of this hypocritical mindset and stated that he “it was rather the exacting nature of my aspirations.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Jekyll And Hyde

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    While working for personal gain, it is critical for a character to recognize the potential effects their desires and determine when actions becomes too selfish. Even though Jekyll intended to use Hyde to eliminate the negative aspects of his personality, his selfish interests ultimately caused the experiment to backfire, leading to his downfall. By creating Hyde, Jekyll “…began to profit by the strange immunities of my position. Men have before hired bravos to transact their crimes, while their own person and reputation sat under shelter...

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

    632 Words  | 2 Pages

    American Psycho and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, although written 105 years apart, convey a protagonist that ostensibly appears benign, yet internally both are morally degenerate characters. Whilst in ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ Stevenson presents a morality tale in which Hyde is an escape from society for Dr Jekyll. Easton-Ellis in his post-modern novel ‘American Psycho’ instead, portrays the superficial tendency of society through the protagonist Patrick Bateman. In an interview with the New York Times in 1991 Easton-Ellis said he was ‘writing about a society in which the surface became the only thing.

    Read More

  • Paranoia In Frankenstein

    1690 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that depict religion in a more thematically controversial way to reveal the effects of crumbling modern theories regarding mans existence. References to religion and the Bible are prevalent throughout The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein, but not in the most traditionally reverent ways. As the monster struggles with rejection he reflects, “ Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence… Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition for …when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (Shelley 98). He, like many other literary figures, is stuck between the pull of good verses evil, but appears to choose the side of evil by relating himself to the Satan of Milton’s Paradise Lost, by declaring “I, like the arch fiend, bore a hell within me, and finding myself sympathized with, wished to tear the trees, spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have sat down an enjoyed the ruin”(Shelley 104).

    Read More

  • Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

    1561 Words  | 4 Pages

    Introduction There are many ways to read literary works in literature in order to find meaning(s), one of which is deconstructive reading. Deconstructive reading is always become an interesting approach on literary works due to the nature of this method that considers meaning is not stable but rather the meaning is created by the reader in the act of reading. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (or Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) is a novel that tells a story about a doctor in pursuit on separating the good and evil nature of human that eventually leads to his own destruction. Many literature aspects can be analysed in this novel but this paper will focus only the reading approach, namely the deconstructive reading of the novel for seeking other

    Read More

More about Similarities Between Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

Open Document