Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, creates an atmosphere of constant suspense and perplexity. The context of the book promotes an intriguing plot that highlights a man with a struggle between his dual identities, one of these being Dr. Jekyll whose intentions are essentially for good, and the other being Mr. Hyde whom Jekyll is attempting to prevent from overtaking him completely. The exploration of this “dual identity” is truly the main aspect of what Stevenson tries to convey towards his readers. This thriller portrays the uphill battle Jekyll faces as he fights the inherent evil nature of man, the multiplex personality that enslaves him at times, and the uncertainty of the way that he perceives himself all contribute to the rise of Mr. Hyde and his reign of evil.
The obvious push-and-pull between Dr. Jekyll’s good intentions and Mr. Hyde’s desires to create corruption sparks an innovative conflict between the forces of good and evil within one’s self, specifically the inherent evil that exists within humans. This issue is evident in various parts of the book as Jekyll constantly tries to control his evil self, but fails frequently. Jekyll recognizes this evil is portrayed in himself:
It was on the moral side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognise 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; and from an early date . . . I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the thought of the separation of these elements. (Stevenson 49)
Jekyll acknowledges this dual identity, himself as he depicts the natures ...
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...es that we might have, and accept who we are. The everyday hardships of life tempt us to do many things, but controlling our temptations and guilt is the key to making us successful in society.
Works Cited
Stevenson, Robert Louis, and Katherine Linehan. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: an
Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Performance Adaptations, Criticism. New York: Norton, 2003. Print.
Gould, Stephen Jay. The Mismeasure of Man. New York: Norton, 1996. Print.
Myers, Frederic W.H. "Multiplex Personality." Proceedings of the Society for Psychological
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Kerr, Norman. "Abject Slaves to the Narcotic." Inebriety, Its Etiology, Pathology, Treatment and
Jurisprudence 2 (1882): 4+. Print.
Symonds, John Addington, and Phyllis Grosskurth. The Memoirs of John Addington Symonds.
New York: Random House, 1984. Print.
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...
Robert, Stevenson L. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York: Dover Publications, 2013. Print.
In this essay on the story of Jekyll and Hyde written by Robert Louis Stevenson I will try to unravel the true meaning of the book and get inside the characters in the story created by Stevenson. A story of a man battling with his double personality.
This essay will focus on how Robert Louis Stevenson presents the nature of evil through his novel ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. Using ideas such as duality, the technique used to highlight the two different sides of a character or scene, allegories, an extended metaphor which has an underlying moral significance, and hypocrisy; in this book the Victorians being against all things evil but regularly taking part in frown able deeds that would not be approved of in a ‘respectable’ society. This links in with the idea of secrecy among people and also that evil is present in everyone. The novel also has strong ties and is heavily influenced by religion. Stevenson, being brought up following strong Calvinist beliefs, portrays his thoughts and opinion throughout the story in his characters; good and evil.
“The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde” is a novella written in the Victorian era, more specifically in 1886 by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. When the novella was first published it had caused a lot of public outrage as it clashed with many of the views regarding the duality of the soul and science itself. The audience can relate many of the themes of the story with Stevenson’s personal life. Due to the fact that Stevenson started out as a sick child, moving from hospital to hospital, and continued on that track as an adult, a lot of the medical influence of the story and the fact that Jekyll’s situation was described as an “fateful illness” is most likely due to Stevenson’s unfortunate and diseased-riddled life. Furthermore the author had been known to dabble in various drugs, this again can be linked to Jekyll’s desperate need and desire to give in to his darker side by changing into Mr Hyde.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “It is much easier to suppress a first desire than it is to satisfy those that follow.” This is certainly true in the situation of Dr. Jekyll, as the temptation of becoming Mr. Hyde becomes stronger as he continually surrenders to the wickedness that is constantly misleading him. Mr. Hyde is never contented, even after murdering numerous innocents, but on the contrary, his depravity is further intensified. The significance of the repression of a desire is a prevalent theme throughout the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, as the inability to repress one’s curiosity can lead to a fatal end, whereas the repression of a desire that can no longer contain itself, or the repression of confronting a guilty conscience, will conclude in a tragic ending and in this case specifically,
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.
Stevenson's Representation of Good and Evil in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is a famous novel that is commonly read by many people. This novel was written by Robert Louis Stevenson, a Scottish author. The novel was first published in 1886 (Singh & Chakrabarti, 2008). Medical professionals and other healthcare professionals often use this novel as a reference for the study of depressive illness (Dell’Osso & Ketter, 2015). This literature is mainly concern about a well reputable man, Dr. Henry Jekyll, having split personality, uses his knowledge to create a type of potion which allows him to have another identity, Mr. Edward Hyde, which is a person totally different from the original personality. The novel described the process of transformation of Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde,
Page, Norman. "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson." Encyclopedia of the Novel. Eds. Paul Schellinger, Christopher Hudson, and Marijke Rijsberman. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1998.
Due to their concealed yet present inner evil, humans are naturally inclined to sin but at the same time resist temptation because of influence from society, thus illustrating a duality in humanity. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde focuses on how humans are actually two different people composed into one. The concept of dual human nature includes all of Hyde’s crimes and ultimately the death of Jekyll. Jekyll proposes that “man is not truly one, but truly two,” and describes the human soul as a constant clash of the “angel” and the “fiend,” each struggling to suppress the other (Stevenson 61, 65). Man will try to cover up his inner evil because once it rises to the surface everyone will know the real...
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde can be viewed as our struggle with these two sides of the human personality of being good and evil. In this world, we try so hard to be the best versions of ourselves by being just an all-around good human being. For example, we try to be nice and treat everyone the way you would want to be treated. In this book, the duel of being good and evil is put at full display by this individual. As a reader, you tend to think about who the real person is. We wonder who the personality is taking over the other personality. We read that Hyde sometimes tends to take over Dr. Jekyll, so I can argue that the thoughts of evil overpower the thoughts of good. Although, Mr. Hyde ends up dying at the end, so we can wonder if this is suggesting an overall weakness of evil. I believe that these two personas are not separate. I believe this is the normal behavior of human beings, however a more of an extreme situation, but you can still ponder if this makes us anymore
Robert Louis Stevenson's novella “The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” is the purest example in English literature of the duality of human nature, using Jekyll's split personality and body to represent this. The most obvious duality shown in the book is that Jekyll represents the conventional and more socially acceptable personality whereas Hyde is the uninhibited and criminal personality that isn't accepted in any case, which is shown throughout the
Authors at times take personal experiences from their lives to help them craft their book or story. Likewise, Robert Louis Stevenson connected his personal issues with his bestselling novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The contrast between Mr. Hyde’s evil mischief and Dr. Jekyll’s naivety underscores the subtle narrative that the author is more than familiar with the situation described in the novel than meets the eye. Influenced by his own experiences with abuse, multiple personality disorders, and frightening dreams, Stevenson was able to formulate Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Jekyll’s character actually confesses he has been fascinated by the duality of his own nature. Specifically, how man being truly two, affects all men. Dr. Jekyll suppressed the evil nature of himself by morphing into Hyde, “A small deformed,disgusting man somewhat younger than Dr.Jekyll”(Robert Louis Stevenson) Dr. Jekyll describes he and Hyde as polar opposites,which reinforces the theory of duality considering they are the same person. Also, in the first chapter the reader learns that Hyde’s home portrays an extremely run down and neglected place which contrasts Dr.Jekyll’s well kept, expensive home. In the end of the story, the reader learns about the mysterious door which holds Hyde’s dwelling and connects to Dr.Jekyll’s home. The door is confirmation that Dr.Jekyll hid his dark secret of Mr. Hyde. ”Both sides of me were in dead earnest; I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I laboured, in the eye of day, at the furtherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering” (Dr.Jekyll) One can infer from this quote once Jekyll let Hyde take over, his evil side slowly tried to destroy him and it allowed the dark nature of Jekyll to