The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Louis Stevenson

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Louis Stevenson

In the strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson

makes the reader question the extent to which Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

are in fact a single character. Until the end of the novel, the two

personas seem nothing alike-the well-liked, respectable doctor and the

hideous, depraved Hyde are almost opposite in type and personality.

Stevenson uses this marked contrast to make his point: every human

being contains opposite forces within him or her, an alter ego that

hides behind one's polite facade. For us, the reader, to understand

fully the characters of either Jekyll or Hyde, we must consider the

two physical and mental appearances as one single character. Although

the respected Dr Jekyll and the deformed Mr Hyde charecters are mainly

based around good and evil, the presence of other characters such as

Utterson, Enfield and the minor parts of the maid and police man tell

us that there is more to human nature than just good and evil.

Stevenson uses Dr Jekyll to show the good and admired side of a

person's human nature. It is true that Jekyll largely appears as moral

and decent, engaging in charity work and enjoying a reputation as a

courteous and genial man. Jekyll undertakes his experiments with the

intent of purifying his good side from his bad and vice versa. He is a

highly respected man amongst the London community and his gentleman

piers. As Dr Jekyll is a doctor he takes on a high role of

responsibility and he meets the responsibility with the up most

professionalism treating his patients with deference and care, while

he is Dr Henry Jekyll. A quote which c...

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characters for instance Hyde's reckless behaviour which contrasts

jekyll's calm and gratifying behaviour of which we expect of a man or

women of that time. The complexity of human nature consists of the

biological, social, and environmental factors which underlie human

behaviour. It focuses primarily on the functional unity in which these

factors are continuously and mutually interactive. This is why human

beings will never be able to control human nature the man factor is

that all humans have a several sides to their human nature so how

could we investigate it with this in our minds. Stevenson uses the

same idea in the suicide note from Dr Jekyll where it says

"All human beings are commingled out of good and evil." This confirms

that all humans are capable of taking emotions or behaviour to the

extreme.