Stevenson uses many methods to achieve and sustain an atmosphere of mystery and suspense in the novel of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He does this by using a clever sense of setting, vocabulary, surroundings and the manner of his characters which are used to describe and slowly reveal the appearance of Hyde . Some of these are highlighted in the depiction of the Dr Jekyll’s house, such as Mr. Enfield's story, Henry Jekyll’s will and the meeting with Hyde. From the beginning of the book Stevenson creates an atmosphere of mystery which this chapter is called, Story of the Door. This story is not of any door, but of 'the' door. The novel starts with an introduction to Mr Utterson, a man who was 'never lighted by a smile' yet 'somehow lovable', Utterson …show more content…
Stevenson firstly describes “The maid’s window overlooked, was brilliantly lit by the full moon. It seems she was romantically given”, this is a juxtaposition of a good night, “never had she felt more at peace with all men or thought more kindly of the world. And as she so sat she became aware of an aged beautiful gentlemen with white hair”, at this point we can see that Stevenson is starting to contrast between the murder that the maid is about to witness. Then the maid noticed Mr. Hyde, as she remembered about Hyde visiting her master, which she had “conceived a dislike”, as the old man and Hyde meet, Stevenson described, “And then all of sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger”, this is also a good metaphor as a fire could spread and burn quickly having an immediate effect on the reader. Also, Stevenson uses simile to describe Hyde having an “ape-like fury” and “hailing down a storm of blows”, which states that the blows are so brutal as the metaphor of big pieces of ice falling and this replicates the brevity of the attack. Stevenson then conveys the image of the bones that were “audibly shattered”, creating the image of cruelty and violence which is forcing the reader to actually see the image of the bones shattering and the sound of the bones …show more content…
From reading the last chapter, we can all see that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are easily viewed as a symbol about the good and evil that exists in all men, and about the struggle these two sides in the human personality. Hyde has a short temper and is made to look evil. “I observed that when I wore the semblance of Edward Hyde, none could come near me at first with a visible misgiving of the flesh”. Jekyll is arguing that Hyde is the perfect physical embodiment of the evil inside him, implying that Hyde looks evil. Stevenson has also explored which aspect of human personality is superior, good or evil. Since at the start of the book Hyde seems to be taking over, you might argue that evil is stronger than good. However, Hyde does end up dead at the end of the story, suggesting a failure of the weakness of evil. Since Hyde represents the evil in Jekyll he is therefore symbolically represented being much smaller than Jekyll as “Jekyll’s clothes are far too large for him”. But as the plot progresses Mr. Hyde began to grow and becomes more powerful than Jekyll, and the reason for Hyde to become more powerful is due to the fact that Jekyll enjoys what Hyde does, which allow Hyde to gradually destroy the good in
Stevenson then went on to put a scary touch to the story by telling us
The criticism by Vladimir Nabokov, supports the claim that Stevenson uses symbolisms to express ideas and to create suspense. Finally Stevenson’s certain tone when he describes Hyde or the evil things the Hyde commit allowed him to express Hyde’s evil and created an unusual atmosphere. When Hyde was described he was described as small and the facial expression of his was very odd and hard to explain “Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with some sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering somewhat broken voice” (Stevenson 16). After Utterson’s first encounter with Hyde, he is just amazed and shocked because of Hyde’s physical appearance. Also in their first encounter, the setting was very dark and gloomy which adds to the claim. Also the description of Hyde symbolizes Hyde’s evil. Hyde’s ugliness and his deformed face symbolizes his evil, his small size symbolize Jekyll’s evil side inside him that was repressed for so long along with the dark setting. Another symbolism used in the book is between Jekyll’s laboratory and his house. Jekyll’s house is described as a place of wealth and comfort but his laboratory is described as “a certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the streets” (Stevenson 6). The wealthy house represents the respectable man Jekyll and the laboratory represents the corrupt Hyde. Normal people will not see the two structures as one just like how they won’t be able to see the relationship between Hyde and
The sense of conflict being created through disapproval portrays duality that the Victorians had at the period; it is almost as if they were in a dilemma and confusion in deciding which element of sanity to maintain. Stevenson wrote the story to articulate his idea of the duality of human nature, sharing the mixture good and evil that lies within every human being. In the novel Mr Hyde represents the evil part of a person and of Dr Jekyll.
As specified, descriptions cannot be called descriptions. Moreover, in a extremely important moment, the transformation, when Mr. Hyde should appear in all his glory, words simply avoid his figure. Trying to find a reason for this strange way to proceed Sami Schalk wrote an interesting article: “What Makes Mr. Hyde So Scary?: Disability as a Result of Evil and Cause of Fear”. One of the main ideas of the text is that Stevenson takes advantage of Victorians’ mentality and uses this untraceable disability of Mr. Hyde in order to produce fear:
Stevenson's Depiction of the Murder of Sir Danvers Carew in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Stevenson uses a combination of: horror, supernatural, moral messages, and mysteries. The use of horror captures us because it’s normally shocking and frightening to think about. When you combine that with mystery you get an effect that makes you feel edgy and nervous to read on but you want to read on because if you don’t you’ll never get the answers to your questions. His uses of moral messages is effective in keeping the reader’s interest because it will make the reader question and doubt themselves on things because they might feel more like Hyde than they would like to.
In this essay I am going to look at Mr Hyde and Dr Jekyll, the first
Stevenson can describe the characters really well, with a lot. of detail so that he can really make the reader feel, as if they could. be there, or he will not describe the certain character as well. Therefore there is always something about that person that the reader wants to find out more. This technique is very effective in creating.
Hyde’s bizarre attributes, Stevenson uses the imagery of the door to intensify the creepiness and mystery of the door and what lies behind it. With “neither [a] bell nor [a] knocker,” readers become curious as to why he does not want someone to knock on his door (6). By not having a doorbell or a knocker, Mr. Hyde gives off the feeling that he is hiding something. This makes readers think that Mr. Hyde is keeping secrets from society in his isolation from the rest of the world. Mr. Hyde purposefully does not want anyone inside of his house for some odd reason the readers do not know of. It makes people curious about what he is hiding behind the mysterious door. Mr Enfield also describes the door as “blistered and distained,” like Mr. Hyde (6). Similar to Mr. Hyde, the door appears repulsive and not welcoming. His features directly correspond with the outside appearance of the strange door. From the outside of the house people only see the peculiar door. When Utterson goes to visit Mr. Hyde one morning, he describes his house “as brown as umber” (23). This color of umber conveys something of darkness. Like Mr. Hyde, the house can blend well in the dark nights. Stevenson uses the burnt dark images of the house to relay the message of something dark and mysterious, evilness, and possibly obscure, like the face of Mr. Hyde. From the outside, the dark colored house, looks hostile and unwelcoming, like Hyde. On the inside his house is “furnished with
Stevenson had already created suspense before the chapter had begun through the knowledge we have of Mr Hyde. His character we know of links in to the ideas of Darwin. “And this was more of a dwarf”, Hyde is described as a dwarfish and primitive person, this Links in to the ideas of Darwin of how cave men evolved from apes and how we evolved from cave men. The fear of the Victorians is that since man had evolved from animals he has the same lack of control over emotions as animals.
Stevenson's Use of Technique to Present Character and Atmosphere in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Within the text of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson portrays a complex power struggle between Dr. Jekyll, a respected individual within Victorian London society, and Mr. Hyde a villainous man tempted with criminal urges, fighting to take total control of their shared body. While Dr. Jekyll is shown to be well-liked by his colleagues, Mr. Hyde is openly disliked by the grand majority of those who encounter him, terrified of his frightful nature and cruel actions. Throughout Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson portrays the wealthy side of London, including Mr. Utterson and Dr. Jekyll, as respected and well-liked, while showing the impoverish side as either non-existent or cruel.
When Jekyll first turns into Hyde, he feels delighted at his newfound freedom. He states: "... And yet when I looked upon /that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no repugnance, /rather of a leap of welcome..."(131). Now he could be respected as a scientist and explore his darker passions. Stevenson shows duality of human nature through society.
The reader is drawn to the plot of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde through the literary devices Stevenson employs. Foreshadowing displays the sense of mystery throughout the novel, the foreshadowing of the actions of Mr. Hyde leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. The ironic nature of Dr. Jekyll relates to the reader as a person, no person is completely perfect and Dr. Jekyll exhibits the natural wants and desires of humans. The irony behind Mr. Hyde adds an enigmatic side to the plot. These two devices expose the readers to the complexity of the novel and reveal the inner meaning of the hidden details.
Stevenson’s most prominent character in the story is the mysterious Mr Hyde. Edward Hyde is introduced from the very first chapter when he tramples a young girl in the street, which brings the reader’s attention straight to his character. The reader will instantly know that this person is a very important part of this book and that he plays a key role in the story. This role is the one of a respectable old man named Dr Jekyll’s evil side or a ‘doppelganger’. This links in with the idea of duality. Dr Jekyll is described as being ‘handsome’, ‘well-made’ and ‘smooth-faced’. On the other hand, Mr Hyde is described as being ‘hardly human’, ‘pale and dwarfish’, giving of an impression of deformity and ‘so ugly that it brought out the sweat on (Mr Enfield) like running’! These words all go together to conjure up an image in the mind of an animal, beast or monster. During the novel...