Society Pressure in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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Society is a community of people who share the same government, religion, environment, or culture. Society creates a set of unspoken rules that the community blindly follows. Without society, there would be no morality codes to live by, no standards that people should live to. These “unspoken” rules are altered when going to different societies. One of the most popular societies is the Victorian society which is known for its rapid development in science and also its oppressive restrictions. There were many restrictions in Victorian society, and many were out casted for rebelling against the standards. Some people are not able to hold themselves to these strict standards and slowly decline themselves into insanity because the pressure from society. Robert Louis Stevenson is a prime example of someone who rebelled against the societal pressures. Dr. Jekyll in the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydeis not able to hold himself to the strict Victorian standards, and evidently throws himself into insanity attempting to keep the standards. Stevenson manifests his opinion of Victorian Society in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde through Jekyll’s decline into insanity as a result of the pressures of society.

The Victorian era is considered an era of rapid change and development in almost every field of science and politics. However, it is also known for being an era of contradictions. The era is known for its growth and prosperity, one of great political change and economic wealth. Major advancements were being made across all of the fields of science, technology, and medicine. As all of these were changing for the better, society and moral codes remained strict and outdated. Women were not allowed to wear revealing cloth...

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...ian Era was an era of progress and judgment. Stevenson tries to show the harshness of society during this time. It just shows that what other people think of another can affect the way someone lives. “Of course, Stevenson wishes in his life and in Jekyll and Hyde that society were less hypocritical about pleasures natural and healthy. But the companionable pleasure in Jekyll and Hyde function less by implicit contrast with outre desires than as emblems of promise tragically unfulfilled.” (Veeder 105) Even though Stevenson wished that society was not so judgmental, it sadly still is. Society has changed dramatically since the Victorian Era in Britain, but it is still a long ways away from truly accepting an individual for who they are, and what they have accomplished.

Works Cited

Robert Louis Stevenson

Wendy Perkins

Joyce Moss

Laura Cenicola

William Veeder

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