Analysis of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
In an attempt to consider the duality tale, one narrative inevitably finds its way to the top of the heap as the supreme archetype: Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Immense disagreement permeates the pages of literary criticism relevant to the meaning of the story. Yet, for all of the wrangling focused on the psychology, morality, spirituality, and sociality of the story, it has remained, since 1886, a novella that according to the Reverend W. J. Dawson, gives Stevenson “a place apart, and high above all contemporaries, as an interpreter of the deepest things of the soul” (qtd. in Abbey 318).
Not content to merely comment on the age of Victoria—i.e., the world about him—Stevenson has used the vehicle of Jekyll and Hyde to comment on the world within him, and within each of us, depicting the efforts of a scientist who separates the natures of good and evil, seen as “polar twins … continuously struggling” (Jekyll and Hyde 78) within the psyche of each of us for supremacy. The author did so, perhaps, as a response to the physical conditions that had plagued him for the majority of his life, and with the concept of the world’s view of his state in mind. Stevenson lived his life contending with the limitations of his physical frame, living his adolescent days as a “rather sickly child” (Edens121) and in his adult years persistently confronted by the symptoms of tuberculosis, including “hemorrhages from the lungs” (Nabakov 179).
Stevenson’s birthplace is Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the child of Margaret Balfour and Thomas Stevenson. Born on November 13, 1850, this product of a minister’s daughter and a c...
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...r this submission to the Times of London to actually be the work of Robert Louis Stevenson. This would be along the lines of the intellectual dishonesty perpetrated by the senator from Delaware, Joseph Biden, who, about a decade ago, was found out to be a plagiarist. Evidence pointing to a deception on the part of Stevenson is not known, but the thought of such a thing occurring is intriguing, because, were this to be the case, the author would be shown to have behaved in a Hydian manner, disguising his identity for the sake of profit.
[3] The popular notion of linking schizophrenia and a split personality is in error. The schizophrenic is an agoraphobic who takes his/her neurosis to an extreme and develops modes of behavior that serve as coping mechanisms. These behaviors are often erroneously grouped, by those observing them, to form separate personalities.
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. uses his personal experience to convince others of the importance of revising the segregation laws that were in place during 1960’s. In paragraphs 13 and 14 in particular, there is a lot of language used to persuade the reader’s opinions and emotions toward King’s argument. He does this not only convince his fellow clergymen, but to inform others of the reality that African Americans faced in the 60’s.
“The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde” is a novella written in the Victorian era, more specifically in 1886 by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. When the novella was first published it had caused a lot of public outrage as it clashed with many of the views regarding the duality of the soul and science itself. The audience can relate many of the themes of the story with Stevenson’s personal life. Due to the fact that Stevenson started out as a sick child, moving from hospital to hospital, and continued on that track as an adult, a lot of the medical influence of the story and the fact that Jekyll’s situation was described as an “fateful illness” is most likely due to Stevenson’s unfortunate and diseased-riddled life. Furthermore the author had been known to dabble in various drugs, this again can be linked to Jekyll’s desperate need and desire to give in to his darker side by changing into Mr Hyde.
Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare illustrates Macbeth’s journey to becoming a ruthless and tyrannical man who will do anything and everything to gain more power. Macbeth’s actions of killing prove Machiavelli’s theory that men are cowardly and dishonest, which leads those similar to Macbeth, to believe being feared is safer than being loved. Macbeth has demonstrated Machiavelli’s theory by his actions of murder and betrayal towards individuals, such as Banquo, under his ruling. Macbeth believes that being feared is safer than loved by his people, which causes citizens under his ruling to think he is a bad king. Since individuals believe Macbeth is a negligent king due to his cowardly and dishonest actions, individuals won’t put their trust or
In an attempt to sway his opponents Martin Luther King, Letter from Birmingham Jail essay argues his point of view with passion and conviction as he respectfully appeals to the logical, emotional and spiritual psyche of his critics. King begins his letter by addressing his “opponents” as “My Dear Fellow Clergymen”. The formality of his greeting seeks to build trust and establish a common ground with his audience. He credits the clergymen with being “men of genuine good will,” whose arguments “are sincerely set forth.” He does not attack their character but instead emphasizes that they all share a common profession and a common goal of ending prejudice and racism.
...ant" operating above the law as it plotted assassinations, illegally spied on thousands of Americans, and even drugged citizens in its effort to develop new weapons for its covert arsenal ("Mind Control").” It is reported that there is probably thousands and thousands of people that have once been under mind control under the CIA. Within those thousands and thousands only 99% of the people still don’t know whether they were under mind control.
Luther King begins his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to the clergymen by expressing how he feels about what he had hoped that the clergymen would do and understand that they are blocking the flow of progress in society. He acknowledges that he had hoped that “the white moderate would understand that law and order exist” only when “establishing justice” and when they fail to make this possible, they are the “dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.” (MLK, 8) He uses sympathy in order to make them feel like they are not doing what they are suppose to do. This outburst of emotion from MLK conveys that he has a tone that is convincing that the clergymen are not doing their job.
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.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is known to be a civil rights activist, humanitarian, a father, and a clergyman. He is well known for fighting for the equal rights of colored people and ending discrimination. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is an important part of history that showed King’s opinion of a letter that he happened to read in the newspaper written by a group of clergyman. In this letter, the group of clergyman report that colored people, also known as black people, are being violent towards Birmingham City. Also, the clergymen believed the time that will allow segregation to be diminished was not happening anytime soon because it is not convenient. King refuted the clergymen’s argument in a variety of ways using tactics of argumentation and persuasion like appeal to emotion through real life examples, appeal to logic, and even articulating certain phrases through metaphors and word choice. Many of these different tactics of argumentation and persuasion made his letter very effective and is now seen as a great piece that is looked upon highly today.
In his letter, Martin Luther King is trying to persuade his readers to understand his action and point of view of an African-American living in this era. He did so all while replying to the public published statement and criticisms written to him by the eight Alabama clergymen. This illuminating work of art that King had created was filled with heightened terminology which was gratified by his precise framework. By King writing this response letter with such high dialect, it reflects off of his determined and highly educated mentality immensely. In this letter King directly tries to build a connection
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Mr. King was a man of honor and respect even in the troubling situations of serving jail time. People who were supposed to support him questioned his actions, Dr. King still stood by what he believed in. In Birmingham, Alabama Dr. King hoped that the white religious leaders will come to his aid but instead found reluctance and opposition. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. refutes his critics claims through the use of passionate tones, metaphors, and allusions.
3. The concept of hypnosis is that while treating someone, he or she experiences changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts or behaviour. Although some hypnosis is used to make people more alert, most hypnosis includes suggestions for relaxation, calmness and well-being. Some theories suggest that hypnotic inductions produce an altered state of consciousness, responses to hypnotic suggestions are a result of special processes such as dissociation, and that the treatment is remarkably stable over long periods.
Although Science and Pseudoscience are evidently two completely different topics, what is considered to be classified as a Science or Pseudoscience is a controversy topic that’s still being debated today. While science builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the world through the scientific method, pseudoscience is a claim, belief or practice which is presented as science, but lacks support of evidence and cannot be reliably tested. Hypnosis is one topic several psychologists and those in the field of science are seemingly still debating today, in result to its several different uses. Although hypnosis is shown to work when dealing with certain phenomena’s like stress, there are several uses it is considered to be very ineffective and simply not a science.
Penny Fielding highlights his point of view on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that the novel paints ‘a damning portrait of society defined by repression and its inevitable twin, hypocrisy’. Fielding also insists later that the relation between repression and hypocrisy is one theme of this novel that cannot be overlooked. This opinion can be approved of a truth after reading the novel. Repression and hypocrisy run through the whole story which reflect on descriptions of every character. In this essay, I will focus on the repression and hypocrisy that appear to be connected in the novel by analyzing the background and main characters. Especially, I will quote some fragments from the novel to discuss in details.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a riveting tale of how one man uncovers, through scientific experiments, the dual nature within himself. Robert Louis Stevenson uses the story to suggest that this human duality is housed inside everyone. The story reveals “that man is not truly one, but two” (Robert Louis Stevenson, 125). He uses the characters of Henry Jekyll, Edward Hyde, Dr. Lanyon, and Mr. Utterson to portray this concept. He also utilizes important events, such as the death of Dr. Jekyll and the death of Mr. Lanyon in his exploration of the topic.
Stevenson, Robert L. "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." The Norton Anthology of