The themes in both The Importance of Being Earnest, written by Oscar Wilde, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, are how people change themselves to please others. Both of the main characters face an up hill battle with people pleasing and they feel they must change to fit into society. In The Importance of Being Earnest John Worthing, also known as Earnest or Jack, and Algernon, Algy for short, both create false identities to hide things they do in different parts of the country. John goes by John or Jack where he lives in the country town of Hertfordshire but in London he goes by Earnest. When he is in the country and wants to leave to go into London he has made up a fake brother named Earnest so the people on his estate do not question him. While he on the train he changes into Earnest and once in London he meets with his friends who know him only as Earnest. He continues to go by Earnest after falling in love with Gwendolen Fairfax. She states how much she loves the name Earnest and how she could do nothing but love a name with who has the name Earnest. So John goes along with it telling her nothing about his other life in the country. Algy calls what John is doing bunburying and decides to do a little bunburying of his own. He makes up a friend named Bunbury and goes to John country estate. When Algy arrives he plays Earnest and clams to be John’s brother. Only moments before John had said he received a telegram saying his brother Earnest had passed away. John had planed to be christened under the name Earnest to honor his brother and when Gwendolen arrived he would be Earnest in city and on his estate. Algy, acting as Earnest, falls in love with Cecily. Both men have changed who they ... ... middle of paper ... ...ttle of good and evil. Each man was given many different hard ships and problems he needed to over come each man did so in different methods also creating other problems and challenges along the way. In the end of each story Jekyll and Hyde, Jack and Algy both realized what they did to become something or someone they were not and then they all figured out the best way to fix the problems. Jack and Algy both realized they did not need change to please a women also they realized what evil things they had done and apologized for them. Jekyll realized he did not need to create a beast to carry out deeds of evil to maintain his social status. Jekyll’s evil deeds through Hyde shows everyone has an evil side and it most be controlled to function in society. You must learn not to change who you are, stick to your beliefs, and control your evil side to succeed in society.
Many human beings contain opposite forces within him or herself; an alter ego that hides behind one’s polite facade. In the novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are in fact a single character. It is not until towards the end of the novel that the two personas seem nothing alike. Dr. Jekyll is the well-established, moral, doctor and Mr. Hyde is a nefarious weird looking man whose appearance looks so strange that it is hard to explain. Their relationship involves a complicated dilemma. While it is true dr. Jekyll appears to us as a moral and courteous man, he does not exemplify honor and integrity the way that Hyde exemplifies evil. Although Jekyll engages in in the experiment to attempt to isolate the good
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a major theme in the story is the duality of good versus evil. In the novel, a character by the name of Dr. Jekyll believes in the dual nature of human beings, for he states, “ With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not
Jekyll says, “With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two” (Stevenson 83). Jekyll believes he will get pleasure from both alters without any backlash; however, Hyde soon becomes more powerful than his ‘good’ alter and ultimately leads Dr. Jekyll to his doom (Singh). Stevenson creates in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, to coexistent to make up a “normal” individual (Singh). Seeing things as Jekyll did, “Humans are half-good, half-evil” Stevenson separated the two, making one pure good (Jekyll) and one pure evil, as Jekyll says, “Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil” (Stevenson 88). After all, good and evil are independent objects, people; they possess distinctive psychological characteristics and consistently fight with each
As more people in London set out to impress one another readers find that what we see is not always what we get. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde exploits the well-to-do men and women, who come across as fine and upstanding citizens, to be hiding secrets from one another in attempt to maintain their reputations. An example of this behavior is found in the very beginning of the book as Enfield detail the account of Hyde running over the little girl. After this incident the girl’s doctor and family chased her to make sure she was okay then after seeing Hyde and his horrifying appearance they took the opportunity to blackmail him. With all of this taking place late at night it was easy for these community members to treat Hyde this was because there were few witnesses however if the incident took place in the daylight with many people around they may not have reacted the same way. The text provides many opportunities for readers to self-reflect on what he/she may have done in the situation and what the outcome may have been while also thinking of times when his/her actions may have been just as
In Oscar Wilde’s play, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” is an early Victorian melodramatic play. This play is very honest and frank. It is a satire, comedy of errors, and an intellectual farce. There are two main characters, Algernon and Jack. Jack Worthing, is known by Jack when he is living at his own country estate, but when he goes into city, London; he creates a fictional character called ‘Earnest.’ Algernon has created a fictional character named ‘Bunbury.’ Algernon uses Bunbury to get him out of prior engagements. This helps him get out of the house and clear his head whenever he wants. Although their both the characters situations are different, both created an “alter-ego” to help them get away from their own lives and also to live another life. They are best friends; both have the same social background, class and taste. Between Jack and Algernon, Jack is more serious about his life; he creates a fictional character to help him keep his image of being humble and respectable intact but in truth is vain. On the other hand, Algernon is truthful about himself and he goes against the Victorian values. But society loves him anyway as he accepts that he is not formal or conservative, or proper and he is rough around the edges but he’s funny, witty and smart. Although Wilde creates two characters in Jack and Algernon who are similar in social class, age, tastes, etc., he also carefully creates subtle character differences between them that create conflict and humor in the play.
The plot of the importance of being Earnest starts off with Jack and Algernon as wealthy bachelors, with Jack at the beginning of the play is known to Algernon as Ernest lives a very good life in the country providing
In the book The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde one of the main focuses is how there are two different sides of man, the “good” side which Dr. Jekyll represents and the “bad” side which Mr.Hyde represents. The moral of the story is that man needs both “good” and “bad” for the two put together and how man deals with it is how man is defined. In the story Jekyll makes a drug that separates the “good” and “bad” in man and it will furthermore become true that man needs both “good” and “bad” to be defined. After reading The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and exploring the “ good” and “bad” sides of man it will become evident that there are two sides of man.
In the book Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, author Robert Louis Stevenson fabricates an absurd story to interpret his understand of human nature and psychology that humans are not single character, but they have double; for every person, the good and evil are separated; however, they are existing in one personality to form a dual nature. Throughout the strange case of Dr. Jekyll, the story is truly fantastic in the reality, there is no neither factual basis nor scientific basis, but a completely imaginative or fictitious character created the author. And the reason is that he wants to express a profound implication.
... man. Society in the Victorian era was consisted of two classes, trashy and wealthy. Jekyll was expected to be a gentleman, but he wanted to have fun. This was the reason he created Hyde, so he could both be respected and have fun. He was delighted at the freedom he now had. Lanyon was overly contolled, but Utterson knew all men had both good and bad within them and could control it. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, the dual nature of man is a main theme.
In “ The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” begins with a mysterious third person narration with Mr. Utterson a quiet “scanty and unsmiling” lawyer yet lovable, walking through the streets of London with a companion Mr. Enfield. The novels, suspense is conveyed through Enfield 's
Jekyll was originally more evil than good because when he created the potion he was concerned about pleasing himself than actually thinking the consequences that would happen by the creation of his experiment. The argument of reputation dealing with the novel of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde it is able to bring pros to it because would be able to describe the characters and show what they are good at. Based on the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde centers upon a conception of humanity as the deal of nature. Later on, Dr. Jekyll states that "men is not the truly one, but truly two", he also imagines that the human soul as the battleground for an angel and the fiend struggling for their own mastery. (Sparknotes Editors "Sparknote on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" Sparknotes.com LLL.2003 Web 03 May 2016) Maria M Struzziero states that Dr. Jekyll is hiding a dark mysterious for emerging for the first time in Enfield 's words. It also shows that he admits that is not easy to describe adding that there is something wrong with his appearance something displeasing, downright and detestable. (Struzziero, Maria M "Dualism and Dualities- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Themes." Dualism and Dualities – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Themes N.P ND wed 04 May 2016) Another description could be that Mike Arnzen said A lot of emphases was put on "credit" or the reputation of the characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Also said that "If each, I told myself, could but be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all the unbearable, and the unjust might go away" (Arnzen, Mike "The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" Swe nightingale. N.P...11 Aug 2009. Web 04 May 2016) The analysis of data its ability to describe how the reputation of Jekyll and Hyde is. Shows that it 's allowing the readers to understand the insides of what they as being the protagonist and the antagonist. They are differing opinions that say that the angel gives ways permanently to Dr. Jekyll 's
A major theme in the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the duality of good versus evil. A character in the novel by the name of Dr. Jekyll believes in the dual nature of human beings, for he states, “With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two.”. Dr. Jekyll is a respectable and well mannered man that gains an urge to set free his “wild side” from his
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.
Oscar Wilde begins with a joke in the title that is not only a piece of frivolity. It concerns the problem of recognising and defining human identity. The use of earnest and Earnest is a pun, which makes the title not only more comic, but also leads to a paradox. The farce in The Importance of Being Earnest consists in the trifle that it is important not only to be earnest by nature but to have the name Earnest too. Jack realizes "the vital Importance of Being Earnest"(53) not till the end of the play. Algernon calls the act of not being earnest Bunburying which gives the plot a moral significance. Bunburying means inventing a fictitious character by which one can escape the frustrating social norms. Algernon says to Jack:
In conclusion, The Importance of Being Earnest strongly focuses on those of the upper class society and the vanity of the aristocrats who place emphasis on trivial matters concerning marriage. Both Algernon and Jack assume the identity of "Ernest" yet ironically, they both are beginning their marital lives based on deception and lies. Lady Bracknell represents the archetypal aristocrat who forces the concept of a marriage based on wealth or status rather than love. Through farce and exaggeration, Wilde satirically reveals the foolish and trivial matters that the upper class society looks upon as being important. As said earlier, a satirical piece usually has a didactic side to it.