The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson When asked this question, the immediate answer is, yes. Robert Louis Stevenson uses the features of a conventional horror story, which were very popular at the time, but also uses the story to raise social issues and make criticisms about the hypocrisy and double standards of Victorian society, in general, and Victorian London in particular. The first aspect of horror to be noticed is that the main events of the story, such as the death of Mr. Hyde, usually take place at night. The idea of these events taking place at night creates an eerie atmosphere, full of suspense. An example of this is the setting for when he little girl is trampled on by Mr. Hyde. It is described as "three o'clock of a black winter morning". As said before, this builds up atmosphere and makes the reader think that maybe something unexpected is going to happen. Also the murder of Sir Danvers Carew took place "in the small hours" or "the early part of the night". Also, the back of Jekyll's house falls onto a dark alleyway, which is where Hyde lives. Hyde is an evil character so the idea of him going living at the back of the house where it is dark and dirty is quite deliberate. It adds to the idea of Hyde being a sinister and secluded character. Violence plays a great role in the story as well. The trampling of the little girl and the killing of Sir Danvers Carew are both examples of how violence runs through the story. The killing of Carew is particularly graphical. It says that Mr. Hyde "clubbed him to the ground" and that his victim's "bones audibly shattered". Violence was a typica... ... middle of paper ... ...odytic" and "ape-like". These words show him to be like a primitive and uncivilised form of man. Stevenson has possibly combined the theory into the novel to try and make Victorian people accept the theory as a valid one. This novel has the regular gothic horror story features, but Robert Louis Stevenson cunningly also uses the story to highlight the hypocrisy of Victorian society and to possibly change the views of people who will read his book. He talks about everything from the double standards in society, which everyone is unaware of or cannot accept, to the typical view of women at the time. Whether he changes the views of the reader or not, it is not possible to tell, but what he does do successfully is to make his readers aware of the rather shocking parts of society people are deliberately ignorant about.
Stevenson then went on to put a scary touch to the story by telling us
Stevenson uses many literary techniques to create suspense and amuses the readers. He uses the literary symbolisms such as paradox and symbolism. However the most important technique is point of view and the changing of narrators throughout the book. Many critics such as Alice D. Snyder, Peter K. Garett, and Vladimir Nabokov wrote literary criticisms about Stevenson’s use of language. Lots of the evidences come from the book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in order to support the critics’ claim. Peter K. Garett’s claim of Stevenson’s use of language is that the relation between Jekyll and Hyde is played out in terms of grammatical and narrative positions. Vladimir Nabokov’s claim was that Stevenson creates suspense and mystery by
Stevenson's Use of Literary Techniques in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
In this essay I am going to look at Mr Hyde and Dr Jekyll, the first
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.
Addiction is a behavior that leads to actions that not only hurt others but is ultimately a path to one’s own self-destruction. From the beginning of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, it is clear that Dr. Jekyll never had complete control over the drug or Mr. Hyde; however, once Hyde commits suicide in order to dodge punishment, we know how awful Jekyll’s addiction to Hyde had been. Jekyll was so far out of control of Hyde that Mr. Hyde had the ability to end both of their lives simply because Hyde did not wish to be punished.
written an 1886 and has gone down in history as one of the most famous
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.
To what extent can the strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde be? viewed as a gothic novel? Jekyll and Hyde is a gothic novel. It was written by Robert Louis. Stevenson, he got the idea for the story after a dream he had.
Crusaders returning home from their battles in the Middle East as early as 1100 were accused of worshipping what the Roman Catholic Church deemed a false deity, Baphomet. This creature enigmatic to the people of Middle Age Europe represented equilibrium of "black energy" and "white energy" in the soul, as well as in nature. There is indeed an apparent duality in the human subconscious. The misconception that these two sides are simply good and evil is commonly accepted by the majority of western society because of Christianity and its tales of seraphs casting down demons intent on committing foul acts. The novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson explores the duality of human nature, which in truth is not simply the good and evil western society clumps everything into. Instead, the duality is simply what society expects us to be, represented by Dr. Jekyll, and our own brutish nature, represented by Mr. Hyde.
Stevenson's Use of Literary Techniques in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
side of a human - was used in “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” to create the
The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a confusing and perplexing one. R.L. Stevenson uses the devices of foreshadow and irony to subtly cast hints to the reader as to who Mr. Hyde is and where the plot will move. Stevenson foreshadows the events of the book through his delicate hints with objects and words. Irony is demonstrated through the names of characters, the names display to the reader how the character will fit into the novel. These two literary devices engage the readers; they employ a sense of mystery while leading the readers to the answer without them realizing the depth of each indirect detail.
we deny our bad side. It looks at a doctor called Dr Jekyll who feels
In the novel, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson explores many views on human nature. He uses characters and events in the novel to present his stance on the major theme: “man is not truly one, but truly two” (125). Branching from this major theme are many more specific views on human nature divided into good and evil.