Personality and the Beast Within in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Everyone has a dual personality, two sides, good and evil. Robert Louis Stephenson uses the book to explain this, he wanted people to realise that not only Dr Jekyll carries a double personality, but the other characters in the book too. Also the people reading it must see that they too, are a part of this frightening uncontrollable fact, that there is “the beast within” us all. Stephenson suggests that all gentlemen keep secrets, suppress emotions, desires, and hide their true inner self. In the story Mr. Utterson is a great example of a gentleman (lawyer) needing to suppress his less socially acceptable side for the sake of preserving his respectable standing in society. ‘Though he enjoyed the theatre hadn’t crossed the doors of one for twenty years’… ‘Utterson was austere with himself’. Drinking only alone, having the security of knowing that he is the only person who might witness and therefore judge him, the respected gentleman could appear a little out of control. Mr.Utterson feels that if he indulges in luxuries such as these, he may become too involved and express himself freely, he’s frightened that he could ruin his image and loose his respectable reputation. Mr. Utterson hides his other side whereas Jekyll shows it, by choice or not. Once the theories of scientists such as Charles Darwin, Herbert Spencer and T.H Huxley became known people began to think of the human struggle between good and evil and psychological terms. Ideas such as ‘The theory of evolution’ and the ‘survival of the fittest’, contradicted the teachings of the Old Testament, and lead many people to question Christianity. However many people w... ... middle of paper ... ...cheap area reflecting the lives of Jekyll and Hyde. ‘…London, with excursions into low-life neighbourhoods, it too is about appearances and reputations, and involves an individual whom who lives a double life of outward pity and secret corruption. Jekyll uses the ugly deformed Hyde as his body double’… The ‘Beast within’ is studied in this book. The most obvious case of this is within Dr. Jekyll and, Mr Hyde, however it shows in the others too, not only in this book in the whole of civilisation. Once Dr. Jekyll has captured life for a while he is not just one, but two, Hyde is constantly struggling to get out, each fighting for control. Robert Louis Stephenson tried to show that everyone displays a certain threat from their other side, fighting to escape from their desired image and that it is not just apparent in this Gothic novel but within everyone.
...ve duality of man;… if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both” Thus, Stevenson creates in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, two coexistent, and eternally opposed components that make up a “normal” individual. However, here, good and evil are not related but are two independent entities, individuals even, different in mental and physical attributes and constantly at war with each other. Evil now does not require the existence of good to justify itself but it exists simply as itself, and is depicted as being the more powerful, the more enjoyable of the two, and in the end ultimately it is the one that leads to Dr. Jekyll's downfall and death. Stevenson creates the perfect metaphor for the never-ending battle between good and evil by using Jekyll and Hyde. However, this novella is perhaps one of the few that truly show the power of Evil.
Jekyll. Hyde commits acts of murder and assault yet can be seen as Dr. Jekyll’s id or deep desires. By trying to separate good and bad . Dr. Jekyll passed scientific and social borders to isolate his personality. In doing so, he lost control of who he wanted to be. As a last resort he created a poisonous potion that Hyde drank and died through act of suicide. Dr. Jekyll although not working with anyone took matters in his own hands which makes him seem like an outlaw hero. He did not turn himself into the police when he had control. However, Dr. Jekyll seems to have qualities of a official hero in his maturity in handling the situation. He knows how evil his alter ego is, so he isolates himself from others as a safety precaution. Jekyll tries to live a normal life, but is unable to. His status as a well distinguished doctor and sociability skills with his
What is human nature? In almost every century someone has asked this question to try and find the answer. Each individual had a specific way of debating the matter. One specific author, Robert Louis Stevenson, described the duality of human nature in his book, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson during the Late Victorian era. Although "this horror story owes its allegiance to Gothicism rather than realism, many critics suggest that Robert Louis Stevenson 's tale of a man split between his respectable public identity and an amoral secret self captures key anxieties of the fin de siècle" (Norton 1669). The Late Victorian era was “the state of mind prevailing during the final decades of the nineteenth century” (Norton 1668). In the story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, there are some reflects of the breakdown of Victorian values that took there undergo of their citizen responsibility as a whole.
In the novel “The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” a number of
According to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality, personality is composed of three elements. The three elements are the Id, Ego, and Superego and they work together to create complex human behaviors. Freud believed that human beings are powerfully influenced by impulses of which they are not aware of. Dr. Jekyll: a law-abiding doctor, who was raised and who lived like a nature and religion lover in its true perspective was the good character. Mr. Hyde was evil unleashed, and in that he goes to slums and does criminal acts and even commits murder without fear of any apprehension Hyde represented Dr. Jekylls subconscious desire to be freed from his society’s restrictions. These desires come from within man and they represent the Id in Freud’s theory. Mr. Hyde is the outlet for Dr. Jekyll to express his primal desires. Dr. Jekyll learns to give into his inner desires when he is transformed into Hyde. The rational, controlled, civilized part of Jekyll attempts to repress the Id, and make Hyde controllable. Jekyll even states
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the author Robert Louis Stevenson uses Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to show the human duality. Everyone has a split personality, good and evil. Stevenson presents Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as two separate characters, instead of just one. Dr. Jekyll symbolizes the human composite of a person while Mr. Hyde symbolizes the absolute evil. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, who are indeed the same person, present good and evil throughout the novel.
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, the dual nature of man is a main theme. Jekyll says: "Man is not /truly one, but truly two"(125), meaning all people have both a good and a bad side. Dr. Jekyll creates a potion to fully separate good and evil, but instead it awakens a dormant character, Mr. Hyde. Throughout the novel, Stevenson uses society, control, and symbolism to tell the reader about human nature.
Despite being published in 1886, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson remains to be recognized and referred to as one of the initial studies of the duality of human nature and mans struggle between two natural forces – good and evil. The story takes place during the Victorian Era in which society is already somewhat constrained and cruel and explores the human struggle between being civilized and facing the more primitive aspects to our being. According to author Irving S Saposnik, “Henry Jekyll’s experiment to free himself from the burden of duality results in failure because of his moral myopia, because he is a victim of society’s standards even while he would be free of them.” Henry Jekyll, an English doctor faces duality when he comes into battle with his darker side. Creating a personification under the name of Edward Hyde in order to fulfill his desires, Dr. Jekyll feels as if he will be able to control the face that he wants seen to public vs. the one in which he wants to keep more private. “Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection, and began to look round me, and take stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life.” (10.1) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a story about how people are scared to acknowledge personal duality so they keep silent and in this case, create a personification in order to fulfill evil desires without thinking through the consequences of such actions.
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dual nature of man is a recurring theme. Jekyll constantly struggles with good and evil, the expectations of Victorian society, and the differences between Lanyon and Jekyll.
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.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by author Robert Louis Stevenson is a novel about a man who
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...
“We all have good and bad inside of us. It’s what we chose to follow that defines who we really are” J.K Rowling. That quote represents this novella really well by explaining that human beings can literally be whatever they please it is what you do with your “power” that makes you who you really are. In this novella The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson shows that there is a huge struggle between good and evil found in many themes present in the story such as the yin-yang, angel vs. devil and reality vs. pleasure. It clearly shows that as a human race we cannot focus with out the other emotion being present in their everyday lives.
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...