How Does the Use of Setting and Imagery Affect the Reader's Understanding of Dr. Jekll and Mr Hide?

Introduction

Robert Louis Stephenson's masterpiece, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) symbolizes Hyde as a representative of the specific Victorian anxieties. He is seen as the ugly, deformed, apelike, but also reflecting Victorian fears about Darwinian evolution theories of humanity's deform from ape, and fears the newly enfranchised working classes.

This essay will explore the function of the narrative which helps the readers to perceive the meaning of the narrative. It will do so in terms of the point of view, narrative voice as well as the structure of the narrative. Furthermore, the setting of the story will be another focus which exploits the generic convention which reflects the social anxiety behind the story at the time. I will examine the generic convention of the narrative as urban gothic, in association with the setting of the story, which creates the atmosphere of mystery. I will then demonstrate the structure of the narrative as a crucial manipulation throughout the story; in other words, the arrangement of the series of fictional event that creates suspense and compels reader to read on. I will explore the way in which narrative voice shifts in result of creating sympathetic of the particular characters and what it contributes in shaping the meaning of the story. Furthermore, I will also scrutinize the setting of story as London modern city in Victorian era in association with the generic convention, asking how it helps the readers to perceive the meaning of the narrative, and more importantly, how certain effects are achieved. From this analysis, I argue that Stevenson has utilized particular function of narrative as an urban gothic fiction, in effect to exploit the Victorian anxiety of the time.

"The stran...

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...are evolved from criminous origins, then they could devolved and degenerate.

In conclusion, the novella "The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide" operates a kind of classic gothic fiction through numbers of connotation of the novella. It resonates the readers not simply because of the mystery and supernatural elements, nor stipulates them with violence and horror, but because it explores and dramatizes the Victorian cultural anxieties which the story is set. The embedded narratives create narratives and unreliability, complicates senses of overarching moral authority.

Reference

Abrams, M. H "A glossary of literary terms." 7th ed. Fort Worth, Tex. : : Harcourt Brace College, c1999..

McNally. R.T "In search of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"

Baker, W A `companion to the Victorian novel:the Victorian gothic" Westport, Conn. : : Greenwood Press, 2002..