Stevenson uses certain characters like Jekyll and Hyde to show how he engages and intrigues his readers. During the play many mysteries are created which makes the audience ask many questions about the characters. The character of Utterson is the narrator and is a good example of a typical Victorian gentleman. He doesn’t show his inward reality, he shows that he hides a lot behind the surface. ‘Long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow loveable.’ This suggests he feels he has to hide, some of his more human qualities. The writer uses the phrases ‘yet’ and ‘loveable’ to show that good is sometimes hidden. The outward reality isn’t everything in this case as he is ‘yet a loveable person.’ He is a person that we should trust as he is a lawyer however Stevenson highlights how trust in what is seen and believed is sometimes wrong. Utterson is strict with himself and doesn’t seem to like the idea of having fun. It is said he is “Austere with himself” Austere means that he is strict with himself sh...
Stevenson then went on to put a scary touch to the story by telling us
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
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.
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.
Stevenson can describe the characters really well, with a lot. of detail so that he can really make the reader feel, as if they could. be there, or he will not describe the certain character as well. Therefore there is always something about that person that the reader wants to find out more. This technique is very effective in creating.
He also creates suspense through the character of Poole. The question raised on Poole’s appearance in the night is why has he come at this time of the night? Poole had come on his own initiative, which a butler under no circumstances would do without his master’s permission. When Utterson questioned him he answered “There’s something wrong.” Stevenson uses withholding information as a technique to create suspense; he does not tell us what is wrong straight away. The sort of questions that arise in the readers mind is: why has he come, what’s wrong, why has Poole come and not Dr Jekyll, what could be possibly wrong that Poole can’t handle alone. “I am afraid” Poole is afraid which makes the reader think that something terrible has happened. Poole says to Utterson that “there’s been foul play” this confirms the readers doubt that something bad has happened. It also raises the question has murder taken place?
Mr. Utterson, the lawyer, was not a man of weak stomach, but even his strength had restrictions. Although he was an individual of strict self-control, he did approve a known patience for others; an ability he had come by due to a singular resurfacing thread that seemed to wind it’s way through his life: he repeatedly had the luck (or misfortune, as one may see it) to be the last good influence in the lives of moribund men.
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 focuses on two different characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but in reality these are not separate men, they are two different aspects of one man’s reality. In the story, Dr. Je...
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.
Although Utterson comes across as a serious man, he is well-liked and trustworthy which allows him to gain information from all walks of life such as Enfield. Furthermore, being a lawyer, he proves to be reliable and professional and thus is trusted with important papers such as Lanyon's letter and Jekyll's will. He also treats everyone equally and does not criticizes anyone. Especially, Utterson cares about his friends and would do anything to ensure that they are well.
...se to remain as bachelors and enjoy the comforts of prostitutes instead of marrying a wife and starting a family. A reference of homosexuality is through Stevenson portraying Jekyll as the ‘damsel in distress’ and Utterson as the ‘knight’ that tries to protect Jekyll’s reputation. This contradicts the Victorian value of masculinity as Jekyll is portrayed as feminine, which again reflects the breakdown of masculinity that Stevenson recognises in the Victorian society.
‘ Though he enjoyed the theatre hadn’t crossed the doors of one for twenty years’. ‘Utterson was. austere with himself’. Drinking alone, having the security of knowing that he is the only person who might witness and therefore judge him, the respected gentleman could appear a little out of. control.
we deny our bad side. It looks at a doctor called Dr Jekyll who feels
There is duality to human nature and character flaws in everyone that we meet in life. “All creatures are flawed, but out of the flaw may come the universe” by Marguerite Young is one of my favorite quotes that describes the characters so well. There are flaws to every creature and from all of our flaws we make up the whole universe. The characters in the novella aren’t perfect either. Mr. Utterson was a longtime friend of Dr. Jekyll and he was someone who never showed emotions, even though he was a trustworthy and honorable man. He was portrayed, as the ideal Victorian man who was a God-fearing man, wasn’t a man who enjoyed parties so much, reserved in his thoughts. Mr. Utterson was a high honored man on one side, but on the other side he has very strange walks with Enfield. Even the most ideal and “perfect” man has character flaws.