In Stevenson’s work, the author creates a unique character known by two different names, Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. Despite in some ways being the same person, the characters are completely distinct in their reputations and personalities. Through the distinct characterization of Jekyll and Hyde, Stevenson conveys human duality through showing that different personalities are present in everyone. As demonstrated earlier, Jekyll and Hyde are wholly disparate in terms of personalities, appearances, and reputations. Hyde was now Jekyll’s “city of refuge” (Stevenson 63), as Hyde could do everything wrong while maintaining the respected reputation. In fact, Hyde is not Jekyll’s curse for playing God, but rather Jekyll’s reward. Jekyll “revels
Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 “shilling shocker”, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, has been subjected to various interpretations over the years. While some have assessed the trope of duality in the light of racism, colonization and cultural ‘other’, others have drawn on psychological references of split personality or ‘dissociative identity disorder’(i.e. existence of more than one personality in one body). The popularity of the novella and the idea of binaries existing in one being, has given birth to the phrase ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ which associates itself to a person whose attitude is vastly different from situation to situation. The respectable Dr. Jekyll, in his
society. Rose writes, “Through serial adaptation, the story of Jekyll and Hyde yields a paratragic, predictive investigation into frightening themes; the process of adaptation reveals itself to be a cultural too, used to retain and refurbish images that contain too much anxiety, or hit too close to home, to be allowed to languish” (Rose 156).
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.
Hirsch, Gordon, and William Veeder, eds. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde after One Hundred Years. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1988.
	Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has evolved into one of the most acclaimed pieces of literature in modern American society. One aspect of a continual spark of interest with the novel is motion pictures. Various directors through the years have interpreted the book through their own eyes and the following is a depiction of that. One might question Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’s overwhelming success. Theme restaurants, Broadway shows and movies all have indicated a public interest in the classic. Americans especially have been fascinated with Stevenson’s portrayal of the split personality Dr. Jekyll whom many can relate too.
Dr. Jekyll was the embodiment of success but like any bourgeois man struggled with desires that violated the strict social mores and taboos of the Victorian age (Cohen 2). Three ways in which the dual nature of man is illustrated by Stevenson are, the development Dr. Jekyll's scientific thesis, Mr. Hyde's contrasting physical, mental, and moral attributes, and Dr. Jekyll's loss of control over Mr. Hyde. Stevenson illustrates the duality of man by describing Dr. Jekyll's inner turmoil which eventually lead to the creation of his scientific thesis. Before Mr. Hyde was to come into existence, Dr. Jekyll fought with what seemed to him contrasting proclivities. Since his birth, he battled his inclination towards “gaiety of disposition” (Stevenson 64).
Myers’s proposing ideas and cases support the idea of these two characters sharing the same human body. Hyde and Jekyll is one person; however, with split personalities. The scientific study wasn’t as common then for split personalities then; however, cases of multiplex personalities were rising to be noticed. Stevenson may have based his characters off of his interest in research, which results in his characters being an account. Jekyll and Hyde could be a possible, imagined account of subjects that experience multiplex personality
It seems as if Robert Louis Stevenson is trying desperately to warn us about our own complex dual nature. In both of his works, “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” and “Markheim”, Stevenson represents two analyses of doubles and split personas and the depiction of human nature. In Strange Case, Henry Jekyll, a respected scientist unwisely tries to separate his morality from his self-indulgence through the likes of the “bestial” and evil Edward Hyde. Moreover, in “Markheim”, the protagonist, Markheim, a thief, maneuvers his way into an antique store to supposedly buy a present for his illusory lady, when all long he’s only planning on slaughtering the owner and steal his goods. When the
Stevenson’s most prominent character in the story is the mysterious Mr Hyde. Edward Hyde is introduced from the very first chapter when he tramples a young girl in the street, which brings the reader’s attention straight to his character. The reader will instantly know that this person is a very important part of this book and that he plays a key role in the story. This role is the one of a respectable old man named Dr Jekyll’s evil side or a ‘doppelganger’. This links in with the idea of duality. Dr Jekyll is described as being ‘handsome’, ‘well-made’ and ‘smooth-faced’. On the other hand, Mr Hyde is described as being ‘hardly human’, ‘pale and dwarfish’, giving of an impression of deformity and ‘so ugly that it brought out the sweat on (Mr Enfield) like running’! These words all go together to conjure up an image in the mind of an animal, beast or monster. During the novel...
Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ affirms that texts are a reflection of their contexts. Stevenson displays the implicit values of Victorian society through the characters, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Stevenson, inspired by the double life Deacon Brodie led – a Scottish cabinet-maker and Edinburgh city councillor – addresses the elements of good and evil in every person’s nature. Jekyll, like his prototype, is enamoured by the separation of these elements into two different entities and thus conducts a scientific experiment to assume the figure of Hyde in order to release his repressed evil side without affecting the decorum of his other side. It explores in depth the distinction of social class, controversy between science and religion and sexism inherent in Victorian Society. These ideas are effectively conveyed through the use of literary devices to show the different aspects of the Victorian period.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the story of a gifted doctor who discovers a drug which can release the evil side of one’s nature. This drug transforms Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde. Stevenson does not reveal the details of Jekyll’s story until the end of the novel, but presents the story as a sort of mystery, in which a variety of characters try to figure out the identity of Mr. Hyde and understand the relationship that Dr. Jekyll has with Mr. Hyde (Critical survey of Science Fiction and Fantasy). In writing The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson proposed the idea of the duality of human nature and used this to incite fear amongst readers.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel about the good and evil of man has long been a topic of debate and study. Duality of the human soul has daunted humankind since the dawn of time; Cain was the antithesis of Able. Stevenson knew that all men had two natures, one good and one evil with his novel that transcends time, and although the story takes place over 100 years ago, its legitimacy is still pertinent. Perhaps Stevenson was suggesting that we are capable of even the most heinous wrongs even if we are the best of people, which Dr. Jekyll was in his prime. Through somber conversations and the volatility of the antagonist’s character Robert Louis Stevenson uses dark tone and allegory in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to underline the reality that humans have dueling natures.
Throughout The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Henry Jekyll underwent periods of transformation, transcendence and transgression. During these periods where Dr. Jekyll was Mr. Hyde, Hyde had an impact on several of the characters' lives inhabiting Stevenson's tale. In imagining Hyde, readers are struck by a great sense of who Hyde is with surprisingly little in the way of physical description. We are reminded of the dwarf-like stature and the impression of deformity Hyde leaves upon his onlookers. We are given few other clues, but one trait of Hyde's is almost a certainty-- Hyde possesses simian characteristics.
To summarize, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a metaphorical looking glass into the duality of human nature. In the words of Romeo and Juliet’s Friar Lawrence, “Two such opposèd kings encamp them still/ In man as well as herbs—grace and rude will” (II iii 28-29). In everyone, there is good and evil, a Jekyll and Hyde. The decision is who will be allowed to take control. Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel helps the reader to better understand the duality of human nature through Jekyll’s fascinating tale, and the true meaning behind the story that makes the reader sit back and reflect makes the story a timeless piece of literature.
This repression under the pressure of Victorian society, were growing stronger. His consciousness of “man’s dual nature” (2011: 72) was growing severe. If we focus on Freud’s psychoanalysis we can say that his super ego was actually controlling his Id. He was focusing on his experimentation on this duality of human nature and came upon a conclusion “that man is not truly one, but truly two” (2011: 73). He then deliberately tried to assume two characters one is good and the other one is purely bad devoid of positive human emotions and feelings. The purely evil identity assumed by Dr. Jekyll is named as Hyde in the novel. Just like the cases of Léonie, Jekyll is completely lost in the identity of Hyde. It is created in such a way that the readers will be bound to believe it to be a distinct one. Greg Buzwell said, “By literally splitting the consciousness of Dr Jekyll into two – the decent side that attempts, and largely succeeds, in suppressing desires that run contrary to the dictates of society; and the amoral side that runs riot in an attempt to gratify animal desire – Stevenson explores in a heightened fashion the battles played out in every one of us” (www.