More handpicked essays just for you.
Free analytical essay on the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hydeby robert louis stevenson
Free analytical essay on the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hydeby robert louis stevenson
Literary tendencies of the Victorian age
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by R.L. Stevenson
'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' was written in the late 19th century by an
English author named R.L.Stevenson. Victorians were interested in
Darwin's theory of evolution and Stevenson took advantage of this. Not
all classes were educated, so Stevenson had to aim for higher-class
people. Jekyll would be the same class as the readers, whereas Hyde
would be unknown to such people because he was associated with the
lower classes.
Stevenson was influenced by Darwinism in the novella to involve
Victorian Society. When "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" was released, Charles
Darwin had just revealed his theory of man evolving from apes. When
the Victorians read this book, Hyde was referred to as evidence of
Darwin's theory by the use of phrases such as: "With ape-like fury"
and "Like a monkey, jumped", which gives you an image of primate
characteristics.
Another thing that Stevenson referred to is the Faust legend from the
fifteenth century. Dr Jekyll gives Dr Lanyon a choice, very much
similar to Faust's. Faust drove himself so hard that the Devil
appeared and gave him the choice, to stay normal and behold the
restrictions of humanity, or he could have all the power and knowledge
that he ever wanted, but at a price. At the end of twenty-four years
Faust would lose his soul to the Devil. In Jekyll and Hyde, Lanyon is
given the choice of wealth and wisdom, or to be none the wiser. They
both made the same choice. Faust went to Hell, unable to go back on
his promise, and Lanyon died a few weeks later through shock from what
he saw.
Most of the themes in 'Jekyll and Hyde' can also be found in many
traditional narratives ie: Good versus Evil, Good and Bad guys and
monsters. Further themes are the Fear of science and the
transformation of the main character from good to evil.
At the time that 'Jekyll and Hyde' was released, science was not that
advanced. People were afraid of the unknown.
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.
The focal point of this essay is to define the life of Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the transformation he went through in becoming Edward Hyde. Dr. Henry Jekyll is a physician in London. He is very well respected and is currently experimenting the dual nature of mankind. Edward Hyde is a manifestation of Dr. Jekyll's personality. He is accused of committing evil acts throughout the novel.
“There is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line” (“Oscar Levant Quotes”).
The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde by Robert Stevenson In this assignment, I will be reading through the opening chapter of this novel and trying to explain to what extent the characters reveal things about themselves and what they keep to themselves. Also I will illustrate the way people’s reputation is presented. I will use examples from the text itself to back up my explanations and focus on the four main characters which are Utterson, Enfield, Jekyll and Hyde. I feel that privacy and reputation is very important to the plot of this story. Mr. Utterson is a lawyer, he is described as a man of ‘rugged countenance’, that was never lightened by a smile; cold, scanty and ‘embarrassed in discourse’; ‘backward in sentiment’; lean, long, dusty, dreary, ‘and yet somehow lovable’.
Innocence is a trap. It is strangled with the ideals of perfection and suffocates the cravings of curiosity. Goodness is expectant and evil is poisonous. However, good and evil resides in even the most innocent of people. Both are nefarious and pestilent to easily corrupt targeted souls in sinister actions. Both equate to uncontrollable factors. Goodness tends to covet the sensations of evil since it depreciates its own purity. In the oscillating novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, goodness was trapped by evil just as Jekyll was trapped as Hyde. Jekyll’s pure spirituality desired the holy richness of evil and all its wrongdoings. His laboratory experiments discovered his desire to feel the sensation of evil without truly being evil. His laboratory experiments discovered a way for him to escape. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde fought the battle between good and evil proving the apparent strengths and weaknesses that overall transformed two souls into a single corpse.
Jekyll says, “With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two” (Stevenson 83). Jekyll believes he will get pleasure from both alters without any backlash; however, Hyde soon becomes more powerful than his ‘good’ alter and ultimately leads Dr. Jekyll to his doom (Singh). Stevenson creates in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, to coexistent to make up a “normal” individual (Singh). Seeing things as Jekyll did, “Humans are half-good, half-evil” Stevenson separated the two, making one pure good (Jekyll) and one pure evil, as Jekyll says, “Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil” (Stevenson 88). After all, good and evil are independent objects, people; they possess distinctive psychological characteristics and consistently fight with each
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous novel about dual identity, Dr. Henry Jekyll, an affluent surgeon, creates a potion by which he can transform into Edward Hyde, the physical manifestation of his evil side. After many months of thrilling nighttime criminal escapades through the streets of London, his antics under the cloak of Hyde get him in trouble when he slays prominent public figure Danvers Carew. Jekyll is so shocked by this deed of evil that he decides an end will be put to his transformations, a science he calls transcendental medicine. Much to his alarm, Jekyll finds that he now turns into Hyde without his wanting it, undeniably a side effect of the drug. After locking himself into his cabinet, in order to facilitate his use of the drug in case of spontaneous transformations, his concerned butler Poole alerts good friend Gabriel Utterson, a lawyer. Together, they break into the cabinet, only to find they body of Hyde, lifeless on the floor. The pair finds an envelope addressed to Utterson which shall supposedly explain why they cannot find the body of Henry Jekyll.
The functioning of the average human mind has intrigued and plagued philosophers and thinkers over centuries, one of the most curious and fascinating studies have been made into personages with dual personalities, schizophrenia being one of the factors. Similarly, in the book, The Strange Case, as well as in the film, Psycho, the books are taken place in late Victorian London, but Psycho is in late 60’s in the USA. The respective authors in these two texts portray that duality of human nature exists in society and humanity through the use of characterization and setting.
my true hour of death, and then as I lay down my en, and proceed to
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.
The Dominion of Evil The term “Jekyll and Hyde”, now a part of our common language, can be found in most dictionaries. Random dictionary definitions of “Jekyll and Hyde” include: 1) “One who has quasi-schizophrenic, alternating phases of pleasantness an unpleasantness.” 2) “A person having a split personality, one side of which is good and the other evil.” 3) “This phrase refers to a person who alternates between charming demeanor and extremely unpleasant behavior.” This concept revolves around the experience of Dr. Jekyll, enabled by drinking a potion, into living as his own living side, whom he names Hyde. Stevenson intended Jekyll’s character to be pronounced Je (French word for “I”) Kill (Je-Kill = I kill), as an indication that the doctor wanted to isolate the evil portion of himself, appropriately named “Hyde,” meaning low and vulgar hide or flesh which must hide from civilization. When Robert Louis Stevenson wrote the story Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, he portrayed man’s evil nature as a portion of his total makeup, and showed that the evil portion will often express itself more forcefully and powerfully than do the other aspects. Throughout life, a person can develop a sense of the conflict that actually involves one’s good and evil natures. Often a person’s current actions reflect their childhood experiences. Jekyll, described by Stevenson, born wealthy, grew up handsome, honorable, and distinguished. Yet, throughout much of his life, he commits secret acts which he thoroughly regrets. Early in Jekyll’s development, Stevenson had him recognize a “profound duplicity of life...so profound a double dealer” and “that man is not truly one, but truly two.” Intellectually, he evaluates the differences between his private life and his public life and, ultimately, he becomes obsessed with the idea that at least two different entities, maybe even more, occupy a person. Jekyll’s reflections and his scientific knowledge lead him to contemplate the possibility of scientifically isolating these two components. With this in mind, he begins to experiment with various chemical combinations. When Jekyll discovers the correct formula and drinks it, he is approaching a hardy fifty years of age; after his transformation into Edward Hyde, he feels younger, lighter, and more sensual, thereby indicating the appeal of the evil side. At that point, he acknowledges “the thorough and primitive duality of man.” He sees the necessity to try to separate the two selves, to hide that shameful part of himself from the world, and therefore stay in control of his evil nature.
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.
Jekyll and Hyde match most of the criteria needed to produce. traditional gothic novel, Stevenson builds up tension and keeps the reader gripped by certain things in the novel. Firstly mysterious violence keeps the readers well gripped. “ the man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground.” ... ...
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.
The stories have parallel structures in the three main ways. First, both Dr. Jekyll and Frankenstein are scientists who, though welcomed by society, find it constraining and often alienate themselves. Each creates an alter ego for himself to live out his liberated passions, Hyde for Jekyll and the Creature for Frankenstein. Jekyll creates his with intention for evil and Frankenstein with the idea of building a supreme being. However, it could be argued that Frankenstein unconsciously wishes his creation to commit acts of sin. Hyde's and Frankenstein's first victims are children. They each evolve over time and develop their violent tendencies, culminating in the murder of a well-esteemed man for Hyde and Frankenstein's family and friends.