Hyde in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Stevenson presents Hyde in many different ways by describing the main
character of Hyde, in an effective and detailed style, and providing a
variety of language, imagery and atmosphere, which also helps to
create the symbol which Hyde stands for. Stevenson explores what good
and evil symbolised at that time in the Victorian society, and how
this leads up to the representation of Hyde.
Respectability and reputation were very important factors to consider
in the Victorian society. The Victorian society was very strongly
divided into classes, with the aristocracy having the highest value of
respect. The split personality of Jekyll and Hyde symbolises the
splits in Victorian society, as revealed by the divided classes in the
Victorian society. As Jekyll and Hyde are of one body, they are
completely different. The good side of Jekyll is when he is himself.
When he is Jekyll, he is a very respectable and rich gentleman,
representing what was valued in Victorian society. When Jekyll is
transformed into Hyde, Stevenson shows that the character of Hyde is
to be unrespectable, and poorer. He is an assaulter and a murderer.
There is no apparent motive to why he trampled on the girl or killed
Sir Danvers Carew, a highly respectable and political gentleman. It
was just random violence.
Stevenson presents Hyde in the very first chapter. Immediately, the
reader is taken aback in an air of dread and puzzle. Enfield firstly
refers to him as some "damned Juggernaut", which refers to some
primitive animal-like creature. Stevenson refers to animal imager
later on in the novella. Enfield al...
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...description of the fog, I think what Stevenson is
trying to suggest is that Hyde symbolises murder and evil, because
usually fog is associated with something wrong happening, something
unsafe or risky, perhaps choking in the fog. This totally describes
Hyde's character.
Overall, Stevenson shows that Hyde symbolises all the unpleasant,
immoral, corrupted aspects of life in the Victorian society that they
wanted to hide. Hyde symbolises the evil side of a rational person
because Stevenson is suggesting that each person has two sides, one
good and one evil. Jekyll symbolises the good side and Hyde symbolises
the evil side. The evil side is also associated with some irrational
ideas within the Victorian society, for instance Darwin's idea of
humans evolving from apes. He is to show the evil side of Victorian
society.
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
To conclude the way that Stevenson has described Hyde and what Jekyll has done in most parts he has related it to the devil which in Victorian times was considered very dangerous, even though today he’s not considered that powerful it would still make a big impact. Stevenson has been successful in using many elements of a shocker/thriller to write a novella with a much deeper moral significance because every aspect of the story relates back to the Victorian morals of 1837 till 1901 and for a 21st century reader some parts of the novella will make them think what is really happening around them now and whether it is right or not!
...ve duality of man;… if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both” Thus, Stevenson creates in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, two coexistent, and eternally opposed components that make up a “normal” individual. However, here, good and evil are not related but are two independent entities, individuals even, different in mental and physical attributes and constantly at war with each other. Evil now does not require the existence of good to justify itself but it exists simply as itself, and is depicted as being the more powerful, the more enjoyable of the two, and in the end ultimately it is the one that leads to Dr. Jekyll's downfall and death. Stevenson creates the perfect metaphor for the never-ending battle between good and evil by using Jekyll and Hyde. However, this novella is perhaps one of the few that truly show the power of Evil.
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.
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.
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.
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the author Robert Louis Stevenson uses Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to show the human duality. Everyone has a split personality, good and evil. Stevenson presents Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as two separate characters, instead of just one. Dr. Jekyll symbolizes the human composite of a person while Mr. Hyde symbolizes the absolute evil. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, who are indeed the same person, present good and evil throughout the novel.
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.
Jung insisted pleasure seeking, and conflict resolution is a part of human nature: Plus, religion and mystical archetypal combined influence one’s personality and behavior. Some conflicts arise due to repressed ancestral memories and past experiences that can impact the individual’s future aspirations (Alho, 2009). Likewise, Carlisle (1993) recalled, dissociative behaviors appear as pathological manifestations necessary for the conscious to operate unhampered by life’s demands. In this respect, dissociation applies to the natural hierarchy of the human psyche, with underlying attitudes for normal functioning. Adding the “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde functionality of the human mind” (p. 25). Carlisle (1993) concluded, each bare reason for the structural interplay between the adult, parent, and Gerald’s child-self.
wrong, a lot like the way Mr Hyde was thought of. So to Mr Utterson,
The evil side, Edward Hyde, could enjoy all the wicked pleasures and execute all of Dr. Jekyll's angry, and vengeful wishes, yet, Dr. Jekyll does not have to be afraid of his conscience. Since Mr. Hyde was pure evil and was affected by science, Stevenson tells his readers that science is evil through Hyde's actions, and through the characters like Utterson whose descriptions of Hyde is immense horrifying. As he says, Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish; he gave an impression of deformity without any namable malformation, he had a displeasing smile,., and he spoke with a husky whispering and somewhat broken voice,. God bless methe man seems hardly human! (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde pg.20) Like Frankenstein, the words "evil, satan, and devilish" were all used to describe Mr. Hyde.
In conclusion, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, represents many themes of duality in human nature. This is represented by the characters of Henry Jekyll, Edward Hyde, Hastie Lanyon, and John Utterson. Some themes represented are the duality in conforming to societal conventions, curiosity, and temptation. Stevenson utilizes significant events including the deaths of Lanyon and Jekyll, and the transformations of Jekyll into Hyde to prove “that man is not truly one, but two” (125)
Dr. Jekyll is a symbol of both the good and the bad in mankind, while Mr. Hyde represents pure evil. For instance, when Dr. Jekyll is himself, he is seen as a respectable man who is adored by his colleagues: “he became once more their familiar quest and entertainer; and whilst he had always been known for his charities, he was now no less distinguished for religion” (Stevenson 29). However, when Dr. Jekyll transforms to Mr. Hyde his morals are quickly disregarded. An example of this occurs when Mr. Hyde murders Sir Danvers, shortly after Dr. Jekyll submits to the temptation of changing to Mr. Hyde: “instantly the spirit of hell awoke in me…with a transport of glee, I mauled the unresisting body, tasting delight from every blow” (Stevenson 56). Even though the carnal side of Dr. Jekyll enjoys the incident, this event also illustrates the conscience side of Dr. Jekyll because in the mist of this brutal murder, he begins to feel guilty for committing the crime.
The city of London proved to be the sole dominant location in the 1800’s during the Victorian era in this novel. As the story unfolds in the classic literature novel, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” written by Robert Louis Stevenson, the magnificent city of London becomes a darker and mysterious location. The powerful city of London embodied the freedom and solitude required for the antagonist of the story, Mr. Hyde to hide his wicked behavior from the society as a whole. According to the history of the Victorian age, “Traditional ways of life were fast being transformed into something perilously unstable and astonishingly new” (1049). The population in England was growing at an astounding rate, illustrating the transition that the country of England was enduring. Instead of being strictly set in one specific location for the duration of the novel, the city of London was divided into two distinct societies consisting of both east and west London. East London, which is where most of the actions are taken place in the novel, was inhabited with the more poor people facing great poverty. On the other hand, west London was inhabited with the wealthier and they were exposed to more opportunities for the well-educated individuals. According to Darwin’s findings, “These two highly distinct societies were challenged by Darwin’s beliefs in the survival of the fittest” (1057). Darwin emphasized that only the fittest individuals regarding their wealth, intelligence, and reputation will survive within the British Empire during the Victorian era. The others living during this time will likely fade and not survive within the society. In Robert Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Hyde embodies what happens to...