The Importance of the House in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Steveson used the architecture of Dr. Jekyll's house very intelligently. The house can be regarded to be parallel to Dr. Jekyll's double personality. Throughout the book, the house lends itself as a powerful prop, by which it is possible for Dr. Jekyll to use his house even when he is in the form of Mr. Hyde. The house, like Dr. Jekyll, has a dark side. On the front side of the house, it seems to be an elite, upper class, respectable home. However, the rest of the house is quite the opposite. As the book described it – 'discolored wall on the upper; and bore in every feature the marks of prolonged and so did negligence.'; Therefore the back door could be used by Mr. Hyde, with very few suspecting Mr. Hyde of having any connection to Dr. Jekyll. Steveson fit the architecture of the house into the story cleverly. The house supports Dr. Jekyll's secret of being Mr. Hyde at times. The house symbolizes the double personality of its owner. Therefore Dr. Jekyll and his house have parallel characteristics. We are introduced to the back door right at the beginning of the book. The door is said to be – ' equipped with neither bell or knocker, was blistered and distained.'; Along with the introduction of the door is the introduction of Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde's appearance is described as 'something displeasing, something downright detestable.'; So right from the beginning, we are aware of Mr. Hyde's connection with this mysterious door. Mr. Enfield's story on page 2 gives a good understanding of the shady character of Mr. Hyde. A quote from the book that best describes this is ' The next thing was to get the money; and where do you think he carried us but to that place with the door? – whipped out a key, went in , and presently came back with the matter of ten pounds in gold and a cheque for the balance on Coutts's, drawn payable to bearer, and signed with a name that I can't mention.'; But as the story progresses we learn that the house belongs to Dr. Jekyll. The fact that Dr. Jekyll is only seen in the front of the house, which is well furnished and respectable, brings about the contrasting features of the house. This is also a good time to note that this contradiction of the two sides of the house signifies that Dr. Jekyll is obviously hid... ... middle of paper ... ...ekyll was a man, who had always followed the rules of society. He was a respectable man, and had never had any adventures. By becoming Mr. Hyde, with the help of his knowledge of science he was satisfying his evil side. But he could not altogether forget about society. Although Dr. Jekyll's reputation was still important to him, and he becomes a hypocrite in the process, he found a way to hide his hypocrisy and keep his reputation as it was. This is why he had to use his private and public identity the way he did. The house clearly caters to Dr. Jekyll's double personality. Steveson uses the house as a prop throughout the book. The story never would have worked if the house's architecture was not like it was. It is almost too much of a give-away that the house was made in this way. But no reader if the book would realize this unless, it was thought about more, or studied. In conclusion, the house of Dr. Jekyll is much more important then one would think at the beginning of the book. If the architecture was not planned by Steveson the way it was, the story would not have been as good. Steveson used the house greatly to his advantage, and greatened the mystery of the novel.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but each description helps the reader understand the contrasting characteristics of each character. “An ivory-faced and silvery-haired old woman opened the door. She had an evil face, smoother by hypocrisy” (Stevenson 18). Although there is no direct description of the door, the reader can still infer that it belongs to Mr. Hyde because of the very similar characteristics, such as the evil face, between the old woman and Mr. Hyde. This evil-natured side of Hyde further represents the dualism between himself and
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 previous chapter before the two confessions is reasonably remarkable. Poole, Dr. Jekyll’s butler, provides another portrayal. He offers many comparisons between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. (“My master (…) is a tall, fine build of a man, and this was more of a dwarf.” (p.38)). The affirmations of the poor butler are all correct except perhaps the most important: This “thing” that is in the cabinet is in fact Dr. Jekyll.
Dr. Jekyll had been transformed into the evil Hyde and committed many injuries and crimes. As another example, “He would be aware of the great field of lamps of a nocturnal city; then of the figure of a man walking swiftly; then of a child running from the doctor’s; and then these met, and that human Juggernaut trod the child down and passed on regardless of her screams” (Stevenson 1682-1683). He also ends up killing himself, Dr. Hyde, by keeping his own evil soul. Overall, the story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written as a reflection of the values of the Victorian era. Hyde could have, and probably would have been punished or executed for his crimes.
In the novel “The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” a number of
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde takes place during a time in London when people flocked to the city for jobs which resulted in great competition and deceit. As the city grew in size with powerful men there became issues of appearance and reputation where men of high status began to dance with the devil allowing their evil nature to show itself. The social scene at the time required people to hide this evil nature so men and women began to create two sides of themselves so that they could maintain and uphold their reputation hypocritically. The text of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde reveals human nature to have two sides; one represented by what a man claims and the other represented by how he/she acts.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. In the novel doors lead to the beginning of change and often lead to significant changes in the plot. This is shown by Dr. Jekyll’s cabinet doors, when the door is closed it is still thought that Dr. Jekyll is good, but when it is opened it revels Dr. Jekyll’s true nature which is Mr. Hyde (Stevenson 33). This is also the case in this metafiction. In the novel doors are also often a representation of good and evil. This is shown by the two descriptions of both Dr. Jekyll’s and Mr. Hyde’s door. When the novel’s narrator tells us that the doctor's home is part of a ''square of ancient, handsome houses,'' and that its door ''was a great air of wealth and comfort.'' (Stevenson 10) this is representing the good side of Henry Jekyll. In this metafiction when Henry walks through the doorway he releases and evil within
This was a world of appearance not truth with Victorian oppression, fighting against basic human nature. Throughout the story is an omniscient narrator who tells the story. from a full view of different people with different perspectives (e.g. The view of the maid lets us into her feelings and attitudes towards Hyde. The author could have chosen another route by possibly telling the story as a confession from Jekyll's point of view.... ...
Jekyll is respectable man with a very good career. He is a doctor that is highly regarded in his community for what he does as far as charity and his manners. As young man growing up, he was secretly involved in weird behaviors that made him a bit questionable. Dr. Jekyll finds his other side to be quite bothersome and he decides to experiment so he could try a separate the good from the evil. He creates potions and other things that really do not help. After so many attempts of trying to restrain his evil side, he brings forth Hyde through his failed experimentation. Therefore, he only accentuates his evil self to come forth. Hyde is an extremely ugly creature that no one could stand the sight of. He is deformed, violent, and very evil. Throughout the story, he fights against Jekyll to take over his life eventually causing Jekyll to murder one of his good friends, Mr.
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.
Though Hyde is pure evil, Jekyll is not pure goodness; he is still the same old conflicted mix of both good and evil. To cover his tracks, Jekyll rented a room for Hyde, opened a bank account in his name, and explained to his household servants that Hyde was to be allowed to freely come and go through the house. Hyde was even made Jekyll’s sole heir. At first, Jekyll delights in having his alter ego. Through Hyde, he can live out his fantasies of doing whatever he pleases, with no consequences, seeing as how he has but to drink the potion to make Hyde disappear. No accountability for Hyde’s
To begin with, Stevenson shows duality of human nature through society. During the Victorian era, there were two classes, trashy and wealthy. Dr. Jekyll comes from a wealthy family, so he is expected to be a proper gentleman. He wants to be taken seriously as a scientist, but also indulge in his darker passions.“...I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality/ of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in/ the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said/ to be either, it was only because I was radically both..."(125).
...(43). The reader is draw to the wishes of Dr. Jekyll, each person wants to better themselves and each person finds themselves straying from the correct path in life. In trying to better mankind, Jekyll destroyed the decent man he was before.
The story takes place during the Victorian age, a time when there were only two categories of people: good people and bad people. There was no way that one man could be considered acceptable without suppressing his evil side almost entirely. The reason that Jekyll restrained his evil side for so long was because of this dichotomous Victorian society. Most people, including Jekyll’s friends, Lanyon and Utterson, are content to stay molded in this ideal. However, Dr. Jekyll soon became tired of this hypocritical mindset and stated that he “it was rather the exacting nature of my aspirations.
Normally, when Dr. Jekyll would have a visitor he would greet his guest with a warm welcome, but as the text illustrates in Chapter 4, Dr. Jekyll did not have the strength to greet Mr. Utterson: “He did not rise to meet his visitor but held out a cold hand and bade him welcome in a changed voice”( Stevenson 25). Another example of Dr. Jekyll’s behavioral change is seen when he physically separates himself from his colleagues for days on end locked in his laboratory resulting in his friends to repeatedly check on him. This act of withdrawal connects to the reality an addict faces during rehabilitation. The said addict has to seclude himself from temptation in order to be successful in the recovery stage. The final behavioral change for Dr. Jekyll is shown through his reiteration of him cutting off all ties to Mr. Hyde and his outburst of violence.