How Stevenson Builds Suspense and Tension in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde After thoroughly examining the question at hand. I have understood that I should comment on at least three episodes of the novel and clearly stress out how the writer built up the suspense and tension of the story. However I am going to look at techniques such as using shot quotations and not being to repetitive. The episodes l am going to be explaining are the incident of the letter, the remarkable incident of Dr Lanyon and the Last Night. In the Incident of the Letter, Stevenson starts of the episode by telling us what Dr Jekyll's house was like through Mr Uttersons eyes. He later starts spicing up his story by describing Dr Jekyll's quarters as the," dingly windowless structure". Stevenson then also goes on to give a mystic filling to the reader by describing the light in Dr Jekyll's theatre as", falling dimly through the fogy copula." Stevenson then went on to put a scary touch to the story by telling us that Dr Jekll was," looking deadly sick", and that he, "held out a cold hand," when he met with Mr Utterson.When asked about Mr Hyde Dr Jekyll starts swearing out of knower and can be quoted saying,"l am done with him in this world". Later on in the episode Dr Jekyll produces the much-awaited letter, which he claims, came from Mr Hyde. Tension can also be seen building up as Dr Jekyll cried out when he spoke to Mr Utterson. Dr Jekll was described as he," seemed seized with a qualm of faintness", because Mr Utterson was talking about Dr Jekyll's will which he linked to Dr Hyde. Later on in the episode a stunning similarity is discovered between DrJekyll's handwriting and Mr Hyde's. The fog around the city is then described as," s... ... middle of paper ... ...that the evening was full of mystery. Stevenson described how the,"scud", in the sky was, "banked over the moon" and also that Stevenson went on to also describing London as, "humming solemnly all around", and that the "stillness", was broken by the "sound moving to and fro the cabinet floor". Before the attack Stevenson put a note of scariness when he described Mr Utterson as "filled with a sudden chill of horror", when he had that Dr Jekyll had been weeping like a lost soul. As MrUtterson and Mr Poole attacked the cabinet door Stevenson used a high degree of tension and scariness to describe the sounds that came out the cabinet which he described as, "dismal screechs", as of mere animal terror". When they finally broke in to the cabinet the body they found there was described as, "sorely contorted and still twitching", and yes it was Mr Hyde's body.
Stevenson uses many literary techniques to create suspense and amuses the readers. He uses the literary symbolisms such as paradox and symbolism. However the most important technique is point of view and the changing of narrators throughout the book. Many critics such as Alice D. Snyder, Peter K. Garett, and Vladimir Nabokov wrote literary criticisms about Stevenson’s use of language. Lots of the evidences come from the book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in order to support the critics’ claim. Peter K. Garett’s claim of Stevenson’s use of language is that the relation between Jekyll and Hyde is played out in terms of grammatical and narrative positions. Vladimir Nabokov’s claim was that Stevenson creates suspense and mystery by
Stevenson's Depiction of the Murder of Sir Danvers Carew in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Stevenson keeps the readers interested by using the supernatural and horror side of things to make it scary because when the story first came out they weren’t used to scary stories. He also uses mysteries to keep the readers wondering, guessing and wanting to know more. He includes moral messages in the story to keep people/the readers questioning themselves wondering if they are more similar to Mr. Hyde than they think.
Stevenson starts the novella by introducing us to Mr. Utterson who is a discrete lawyer who is ‘never lighted by a smile’ and his enigmatic friend Mr. Enfield. He does this because he is using the technique of foreshadowing when the authors put in little hints to then explore in further detail later in the story. Further on we can see that Utterson is microcosm of the rest of the story; however this isn’t the only reason that Utterson is in the story because soon after this he starts to become the narrator along with Enfield. While they are talking to each other the audience is finding out what is happening. Next, later in the novella we find out that Utterson is actually representing schizophrenia and duality that is in the personality of Jekyll.
myself. Here, then, as I lay down the pen, and proceed to seal up my
Stevenson creates suspense in “The Last Night” by withholding information from the reader and by creating a gothic setting which reflects contemporary fears in London in the19th century. He also uses the character of Mr Hyde to create suspense by referring to the ideas of Darwin.
In the book The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde one of the main focuses is how there are two different sides of man, the “good” side which Dr. Jekyll represents and the “bad” side which Mr.Hyde represents. The moral of the story is that man needs both “good” and “bad” for the two put together and how man deals with it is how man is defined. In the story Jekyll makes a drug that separates the “good” and “bad” in man and it will furthermore become true that man needs both “good” and “bad” to be defined. After reading The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and exploring the “ good” and “bad” sides of man it will become evident that there are two sides of man.
Gothic language is, “a style of writing that describes strange or frightening events that take place in mysterious places.” Through a first person narrative, Stevenson uses gothic language, to invoke empathy for
The power of curiosity can change your involvement in a situation. Everyone’s curiosity gets the best of them, and they tend to involve themselves in situations more than they would please. Throughout the book, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” by Robert Louis Stevenson, the theme of curiosity is demonstrated. Some folks suggest, that there are better themes than curiosity to demonstrate the book, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” by Robert Louis Stevenson. However, throughout the beginning, middle, and end of this book, the theme of curiosity is demonstrated.
“We all have good and bad inside of us. It’s what side we choose to follow that defines who we really are” (J.K. Rowling). This quote closely ties with the theme of good and evil that is present throughout the short story The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. In the story, the third-person narration follows Mr. Utterson around on his investigation of Dr. Jekyll’s seemingly uncalled for disappearances and Mr. Hyde’s evil and suspicious antics. Throughout Stevenson’s mystery-thriller short story, I concluded that Dr. Jekyll really did have to seclude himself in order to protect his friends (or face the possibility of one of them getting hurt), he could have ultimately prevented his own death if he had not attempted to create Mr. Hyde (intentionally or unintentionally) in the first place, and Dr. Jekyll would have gone mad with power if the attempt to separate his good and evil sides had succeeded.
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.
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.
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...
wrong, a lot like the way Mr Hyde was thought of. So to Mr Utterson,
we deny our bad side. It looks at a doctor called Dr Jekyll who feels