Stevenson's Use of Literary Techniques in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Stevenson's Use of Literary Techniques in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tells of how a

scientist abuses his knowledge so that he can become another being but

the double he becomes is one that cannot be directly blamed for his

crimes and actions.

Throughout the story Stevenson uses many different literary techniques

to convey how the characters feel. These can be categorized into many

different themes: the double, hypocrisy, suppression leading to

violence, the beast in man, secrecy and control. Structures, language

and style also contribute to illustrating the social, historical,

cultural and moral points Stevenson making in this novella.

The genre of the novella is a gothic, detective one. Works by Poe and

Conan Doyle were very popular at the time. Doyle, who wrote the

Sherlock Holmes stories combined detective and gothic to a great

effect. Through out the novella, many references are made to the

gothic style of having dark imagery, suspense and pathetic fallacy. An

example of this is when the setting is being described. 'It was a

wild, cold seasonable night of March, with a pale moon…' We also know

that this story has a detective genre; a clear example of this is when

Mr. Utterson says, 'If he be Mr. Hyde…I shall be Mr. Seek.' This tells

us that there will be some detective work happening through the

novella. This combination of gothic and detective fiction was popular

during Stevenson's time.

During the first chapter, we meet Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield walking

through the streets of London, and when they encounter a mysterious

cellar door. We see Mr. Enf...

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...es to succeed. The alliteration of the

'r' represents the word 'redeem'. 'I resolved…redeem…resolve.' This is

a moral point, as it shows that Jekyll is trying to become a moral

man. However soon after this, in the form of Hyde, he says, 'I sat in

the sun on a bench; the animal within me licking the chops of memory.'

This demonstrates that Hyde is evil and there is definitely something

morally wrong with him. Animal imagery is again used to describe him.

Also, '…licking the chops of memory,' is a metaphor.

Soon after this point, Jekyll completely loses control of Hyde. Jekyll

is resigned to the fact that he is going to transform into Hyde

permanently, and doesn't care about what happens to him. He also knows

that he is going to die soon. The serious effects of drugs are shown

here by the deterioration of Jekyll.