This novel by Robert Louis Stevenson has a setting that has a very important feature. We find the character Dr. Jekyll who is used to represent good while Mr. Hyde in the novel representing evil. Technically they are the same person but they symbolize the good and the evil that is characteristic to us (Sorensen). The setting of the novel is in London but relays heavily on Roberts's knowledge of his own hometown. The evil of Hyde grows as the darkness of the setting becomes clearer as demonstrated in hyde's house in soho and the lab in the back of Dr. Jekyll's house as well as the fog that covers the streets.This helps in creating the development of evil throughout the story. The setting of the novel is most important in bringing the different …show more content…
This darkness brings out the situation of the uncertainty that lay in the streets of London. The true picture of what lay in the waiting is symbolized by the darkness brought about by the fog such that the individuals are threatened to walk in such streets. This is why the streets are presented as empty without people who have the ability to bring the liveliness that is characteristic of the city life. The gossip about the creature that is out there to cause harm to the people plays a role in bringing out the streets of London as frightening places that many would dread to walk on. The setting has been used by the author to show the changes that happens in the scenes. The mood that is used in this case is used to indicate that something is about to happen in the novel. The fog brings out the picture of uncertainty as well as the dangers that lurk. In the novel, this fog hides Mr. Hyde Literally and it also cloaks this shady character that roams the streets of London. As we progress through the last chapter of the novel we get to see the fog becoming a very horrible storm as well as rain lashes. We also get to see that the streets are empty. This empty street and the unwelcoming weather bring the foreshadowing that something wrong is about to happen. It is here that the layer Utterson …show more content…
The lab has been significantly used in the bringing of the two different personalities that we see in the character of Dr. Jekyll. He wants to be recognized as a respectable man in the society but at the same time, he wants to have the freedom away from the criticism of the society. It is from the lab that Dr. Jekyll is able to get the potion that can make him transform into a threatening creature capable of inflicting harm on its subjects. His inability to come up with the right potion to reverse his situation is what leads to his suicide. Despite the efforts to live a kind of a double life the evil sides seem to have taken control of his good side and this proves to be great damage as the officers will have to hold him responsible for the murder cases that have been reported in this London streets. All these events in the novel have been successfully achieved through the evil setting that had the concealing features that would make the characters such as Jekyll go unnoticed. It becomes challenging for Dr. Jekyll to try to live up to the two different types of characters as there is always one side that will always try to be better than the other. In this case, the evil side of the character Dr. Jekyll prevails making him commit
The story illustrates this in the two characters of Dr Jekyll. and Mr. Hyde. Mr Hyde is on the evil side of Dr Jekyll, but he is restrained from being. wholly evil by Victorian society. Looking closely at Dr Jekyll.
...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.
Throughout the thriller-mystery story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, the friendly lawyer, tries to figure out the reason behind why Dr. Jekyll, his friend and client, gives all his money in his will to a strange man and murderer named Mr. Hyde. Readers learn from the ominous third person point of view the worries of Mr. Utterson and ride along for his search of Mr. Hyde. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, R.L. Stevenson employs characterization, imagery, and motifs of weather to construct complex characters and create eerie settings, which parallel with the mood of the characters.
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.
Throughout the thriller-mystery story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, the friendly lawyer, tries to figure out the reason behind why Dr. Jekyll, his friend and client, gives all his money to a strange man and murderer named Mr. Hyde in his will. Readers learn from the ominous third person point of view the worries of Mr. Utterson and ride along in his search for Mr. Hyde. In R. L. Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, he employs characterization, imagery, and weather motifs to construct complex characters and create eerie settings, which parallel the mood of the characters. Throughout the story, Stevenson characterizes Mr. Hyde as a strange man with odd features who nobody seems to like.
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.
The Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson published the gothic novella ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ on 5th January 1886. The novella set in London follows the story of a lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates the strange events that occur with Dr. Jekyll, an old friend, and the evil Mr. Hyde. In chapter one we explore the London streets as Mr Enfield, a good friend of Utterson, and Utterson gossip about a run in Enfield had with Hyde. London is presented a dangerous place in the opening chapter.
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.
The reader is drawn to the plot of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde through the literary devices Stevenson employs. Foreshadowing displays the sense of mystery throughout the novel, the foreshadowing of the actions of Mr. Hyde leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. The ironic nature of Dr. Jekyll relates to the reader as a person, no person is completely perfect and Dr. Jekyll exhibits the natural wants and desires of humans. The irony behind Mr. Hyde adds an enigmatic side to the plot. These two devices expose the readers to the complexity of the novel and reveal the inner meaning of the hidden 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.
Jekyll experiences. For instance, Dr. Jekyll’s physical appearance begins to decline as he stops taking the draught. The text describes Dr. Jekyll’s physical characteristics as “looking deadly sick” when his is usually a “large well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness” (Stevenson 19-25). Not only does Dr. Jekyll’s health begin to decline, but also his behavior changes as well. 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. During a conversation Dr. Jekyll has with Mr. Utterson shortly after the murder of Sir
Jekyll is given as a respected man raised in a wealthy family. During the era, people are meant to be well-mannered and polite without any sign or thinking of violence and crime; however, Dr. Jekyll secretly has a desire to perform evil. Conflicted with the ideal of society, he has repressed his emotion through many years and eventually he decided to conceal his pressure as he said, “And indeed the worst of my faults was a certain impatient gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happiness of many, but such as I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the public. Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection, and began to look round me and take stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life.” (48) From this quote, Dr. Jekyll discloses that he’s not desired to be cheerful, as many do, and decides to fake his pressure in front of the public eyes. After many years, he then realizes he was only hiding his true emotion. Eventually, to resolve his situation, he is inspired to create a potion that could transform himself to Mr. Hyde that could free him from the struggle between protecting his reputation and following his emotion and
Robert Louis Stevenson uses setting to describe the characteristics of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Most readers create a picture in their head of what the character is like by their environment and details. Stevenson uses the setting, in this case a large, expensive house to suggest that Dr. Jekyll is a very wealthy man and most likely a well respected man. They show that the neighborhood in London has "well-polished brasses, and general cleanliness and gaiety of note, instantly caught and pleased the eye of the passenger," (on page 48). But there was one house "two stories high nothing but a door on the lower stories and a blind forehead of discoloured wall on the upper, and bore in every feature," (shown on page 49).
Stevenson utilizes multiperspectivity to craft a complex set of characters, weaving in the themes of science and nature as well as violence and conveying the moral that everyone's soul contains both elements of good and evil. These basic elements cannot be separated because people are defined by the conflict within and how they deal with being good and evil. “Primitive duality of man...two natures...the separation of these elements” The repeated them of duality within this text highlights Jekyll’s inner conflict. When the audience reads ‘Dr Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case’ the full details of Hyde’s separation from Jekyll and the surrounding events. Were it not for this first-person account from Jekyll’s perspective, the whole truth would not be known to readers.