First Chapter of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ is a novella, short novel,
which was published in the Victorian era. It has a gothic mystery
story genre and has a mysterious, serious tone. The overall novella is
set in London.
This essay will analyse how the author captures the reader’s interest
and introduces the key ideas in chapter 1 of ‘The Strange Case of Dr
Jekyll and Mr Hyde.’ This essay will evaluate how the author, Robert
Louis Stevenson, uses different language, how RL Stevenson uses
imagery, structure and form, and the settings to capture the reader’s
interest.
The key ideas in chapter 1 of ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr
Hyde’ are: duality of human nature, beast in man and reputation. When
‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ was written it was
believed that people had two different personalities, or also known as
ones Doppelgänger. This falls under the section of duality of human
nature. Reputation was important to people because if someone lost it
they would find it hard to get it back.
RL Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and had a sickly
childhood. He was an only child and his parents were hoping big things
from him. Stevenson travelled a lot in his life and was often ill. In
1885 Stevenson wrote ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,’ but
it wasn’t published until January of 1886.
This essay will first cover how RL Stevenson captured the reader’s
interest using the literary devices, language, imagery, structure and
form, and setting. The language section will analyse the atmosphere,
sentence structure, metaphors, similes and personification. The
imagery section covers motif, symbols and Victoria...
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...own and often printed,” and as you find out last in
the novella this was Jekyll’s name on the cheque. This would make the
reader want to read, to see how Hyde got this cheque with another mans
name on it.
This essay title was answered by first covering the literary devices
used in chapter 1 of, ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,’
these literary devices were language, imagery, settings and structure
and form. The second part of this essay covered the key ideas in
introduced in chapter 1; the key ideas used were duality of human
nature, reputation and beast in man.
this is a great novella with a fantastic twist at the end, but the
problem for the modern reader is that as this novella is so well
known, they cannot read it as a mystery, as they already know Jekyll
and Hyde are the same person. It is a mystery story that is no longer
a mystery.
The previous chapter before the two confessions is reasonably remarkable. Poole, Dr. Jekyll’s butler, provides another portrayal. He offers many comparisons between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. (“My master (…) is a tall, fine build of a man, and this was more of a dwarf.” (p.38)). The affirmations of the poor butler are all correct except perhaps the most important: This “thing” that is in the cabinet is in fact Dr. Jekyll.
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll’s struggle between two personalities is the cause of tragedy and violence. Dr. Jekyll takes his friends loyalty and unknowingly abuses it. In this novella, Stevenson shows attributes of loyalty, how friendship contributes to loyalty, and how his own life affected his writing on loyalty.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a story about a smart doctor who makes a drug that can make the evil side of a person come out. This drug changes Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde. The author does not mention that Dr. Jekyl...
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a classic story published in 1886 by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is about a man who transforms between two personae: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This novel focuses on Mr. Utterson, a lawyer and friend of Dr. Jekyll’s. The novel starts with John Utterson talking with his other friend who has just witnessed an odd situation. A man identified as Hyde run over a girl, only to pay off her family later with a check from Dr. Jekyll. This situation is made even stranger since Jekyll’s will has recently been changed. Mr. Hyde now stands to inherit everything. Mr. Utterson believing that the two men are separate people, thinks that the cruel Mr. Hyde is some how blackmailing Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Utterson questions Dr. Jekyll about Hyde, but Jekyll tells him to mind his own business. Unfortunately, Mr. Utterson cannot do that. A year later, Mr. Hyde attacks someone else: he beats a man with a cane, causing the man’s death. The police involve Mr. Utterson because he knew the victim. Mr. Utterson takes them to Mr. Hyde’s apartment, where they find the murder weapon, which is a gift that Mr. Utterson himself gave to Dr. Jekyll. Mr.
The definition of a hero is subjective. Accordingly, Robert Ray believes the hero is able to be divided into three categories: the outlaw, official and composite hero. In most cases, a hero can be categorized into one of these categories. Through the examination of Jekyll and Hyde, the Batman movie from 1943, and film of Batman in 1989, qualities of the hero will be depicted as a function of time.
As the novel progresses, Dr. Jekyll becomes a prisoner to the part of him called Mr. Hyde because Hyde gains strength overtime. The rush Mr. Hyde brings him causes him to want
In the novel “The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” a number of
To begin with, Stevenson shows duality of human nature through society. During the Victorian era, there were two classes, trashy and wealthy. Dr. Jekyll comes from a wealthy family, so he is expected to be a proper gentleman. He wants to be taken seriously as a scientist, but also indulge in his darker passions.“...I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality/ of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in/ the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said/ to be either, it was only because I was radically both..."(125).
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...
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.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Gothic 1886 novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde can be read in a number of ways through any number of different lenses, which makes for a versatile novella, and an interesting read for just about anyone. It also makes for a great novel with which to learn literary analysis. Using The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde one can see how Freudian psychoanalysis, though it had not been so developed at the time of the novel, can intersect with homosexual undertones, and how the manifestations of the repressed can come to light when the subject of homosexuality is not properly addressed. The novella was published in 1886, placing it in terms of history toward the end of the Victorian era. The Victorian era was well known for its repressive attitudes and high moral standards, and one was expected to live in such a certain way in the middle and upper classes.
Texts are a representation of their context and this is evident in Robert Stevenson’s novella: “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, where many values of late nineteenth century Victorian England values were reflected through the themes of the novel using language and structural features. These values included: technological advances, reputation and masculinity and are demonstrated in the text through literary and structure devices as well as the characterisation of the main character.
...(43). The reader is draw to the wishes of Dr. Jekyll, each person wants to better themselves and each person finds themselves straying from the correct path in life. In trying to better mankind, Jekyll destroyed the decent man he was before.
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde a scientist, Dr. Jekyll, creates an alter ego using a draught in order to escape the harsh views of society. As Mr. Hyde, he commits heinous crimes against citizens and becomes addicted to the perception of freedom from Victorian laws. Best stated by Norman Kerr about addiction, “there is an inebriety derangement of the mental faculties, so that the consciousness, perception, reasoning, power, and conscience are impaired” (Kerr 138). The character Dr. Jekyll illustrates the condition of addiction in the Victorian era through the motifs of the obsession with appearance and duality.
Mr. Hyde and Dorian Gray are characters that nearly match each other in their symbolism and manner. However, it is the key differences that make them remarkably interesting as a pair. They symbolize the battles between good and evil, though they have differing interpretations of morality.