How is the Gothic theme of multiplying torments shown by Stevenson in Chapter 10? Chapter 10 of “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” is blandly titled “Henry Jekyll’s Full statement of the Case”. However the contents of this final chapter of the book is not so bland. Given from Dr Jekyll’s perspective, the account gives the reader long awaited details which had hitherto been shrouded under mystery and enigmas. The details of Dr Jekyll’s capitulation to evil. Stevenson begins the chapter by describing Dr. Jekyll’s feelings after he had done the experiment for the first time. In contrary to the book and to the whole gothic genre, these feelings were feelings of jubilance and victory. Jekyll says, after his first “transformation” into …show more content…
This is the false hope before the unfortunate ending, a scenario typical of the gothic genre. From this point until the end of the book, Dr Jekyll’s torments will crescendo beyond his control. Between the start of Chapter 10 and page 76, nothing had gone wrong for Jekyll. He was becoming addicted to evil though, each night committing ever more nefarious deeds. For Jekyll this was easy. He could change from one self to the other simply by drinking a potion. Except on page 76, something extremely peculiar occurs. Dr Jekyll, or so he thought he was, woke up and lay content in a dozy state. Then, his eye fell upon his hand. Or rather a “lean, corded, knuckly” hand. The hand of Mr Hyde. Upon this sight “terror woke in [his] breast”. “How was this to be explained?” With this paragraph, Stevenson shows how Dr. Jekyll doesn’t understand what is happening and is beginning to lose control of this situation . More importantly though, it shows us that Hyde is gaining control. That terror and the irrational is overpowering logic and …show more content…
Stevenson, by using this simple sentence emphasizes Jekyll’s shock and uneasiness at what has happened. He is still wondering how the situation is to be explained and he shudders at the prospect of it happening again. Jekyll wrote, “I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self, and becoming slowly incorporated with my second and worse.” Following these events, Dr. Jekyll decides he wants to remain Dr. Jekyll. This was a tough decision to reach. Jekyll wrote that if he remained as Jekyll, “Jekyll would suffer smartingly in the fires of abstinence”. Stevenson shows here that Jekyll has become addicted to the evil, ruthless, carefree ways of Mr Hyde, and like a drug addict, the road to recovery will be long and strenuous. For two months Jekyll was “true to his determination” except he “began to be tortured with throes and longings, as of Hyde struggling for freedom”. This proved too much to bear for Jekyll and he “swallowed the transforming draught.” Dr. Jekyll wrote, “My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring”. This sentence is particularly gothic and emphasizes Jekyll’s multiplying torments because it shows that Hyde, a character conjured from hell, comparable with the devil himself, is back; more ferocious, energetic and angry than
The suddenness of this change, especially given that a week prior to this letter is confusing to the reader, but it is the evil hinted at in the imagery of 'sin ' and 'my own dark way ' (itself possibly also foreshadowing Jekyll 's later certainty that his only escape from Hyde will be in committing suicide) which builds suspense so effectively here. Moreover, the self-pity implied in Jekyll 's description of himself as 'the chief of sufferers ' is a new development in his character, and leads the reader to wonder what the nature of the 'sin ' is which Jekyll has committed and yet causes him to 'suffer ' so much
However, as the same happens much too often in real life, Jekyll is unable to keep this promise. He has already sunken too far into his addiction and it completely controls him, which Stevenson brilliantly illustrates as Hyde gains strength and begins to take over. As Hyde becomes stronger, he usurps Jekyll's body, mind, and life - just as drugs and alcohol often do to addicts, who sometimes lose their jobs, their possessions, and their friends. Jekyll finds himself turning into Hyde spontaneously, so he has to seclude himself from society, and give up his existence as Jekyll. His addiction has gotten so out of hand that his life has been completely destroyed; he is beyond resolution, since the only way to combat his problem is to kill Hyde, thereby killing himself.
To conclude the way that Stevenson has described Hyde and what Jekyll has done in most parts he has related it to the devil which in Victorian times was considered very dangerous, even though today he’s not considered that powerful it would still make a big impact. Stevenson has been successful in using many elements of a shocker/thriller to write a novella with a much deeper moral significance because every aspect of the story relates back to the Victorian morals of 1837 till 1901 and for a 21st century reader some parts of the novella will make them think what is really happening around them now and whether it is right or not!
“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.
disturbing. I am not a Jekyll didn't want to face his dark side and control it, he took the lead. easy way out but splitting his soul and having two separate lives both the extreme opposite of the other. Stevenson is trying to show the reader that this is the wrong way to do things because Jekyll dies and commits murder as well. Stevenson is telling us that we have to live.
Jekyll is respectable man with a very good career. He is a doctor that is highly regarded in his community for what he does as far as charity and his manners. As young man growing up, he was secretly involved in weird behaviors that made him a bit questionable. Dr. Jekyll finds his other side to be quite bothersome and he decides to experiment so he could try a separate the good from the evil. He creates potions and other things that really do not help. After so many attempts of trying to restrain his evil side, he brings forth Hyde through his failed experimentation. Therefore, he only accentuates his evil self to come forth. Hyde is an extremely ugly creature that no one could stand the sight of. He is deformed, violent, and very evil. Throughout the story, he fights against Jekyll to take over his life eventually causing Jekyll to murder one of his good friends, Mr.
Robert, Stevenson L. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York: Dover Publications, 2013. Print.
When Jekyll first turns into Hyde, he feels delighted at his newfound freedom. He states: "... And yet when I looked upon /that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no repugnance, /rather of a leap of welcome..."(131). Now he could be respected as a scientist and explore his darker passions. Stevenson shows duality of human nature through society.
Dr. Jekyll displays signs of an abused childhood by having a second personality, Mr. Hyde. Jekyll uses Hyde to forget and run away
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.
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...
Jekyll unveils his story, it becomes evident that Dr. Jekyll’s efforts to keep Mr. Hyde, his immoral outlet, reticent are in vain. Dr. Jekyll succumbs to Mr. Hyde once and eventually the pull of his worse self overpowers Dr. Jekyll completely. His futile attempts to contain Mr. Hyde were more damaging than auspicious, as Mr. Hyde would only gain a stronger grip on Dr. Jekyll. Dr. Jekyll writes, “I began to be tortured with throes and longings, as of Hyde struggling after freedom; and at last, in an hour of moral weakness, I once again compounded and swallowed the transforming draught… My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring” (115). Dr. Jekyll’s inevitable passion for debauchery is only further invigorated by his repression of Mr. Hyde. By restraining a desire that is so deeply rooted within Dr. Jekyll, he destroys himself, even after his desires are appeased. Like a drug, when Dr. Jekyll first allowed himself to concede to Mr. Hyde, he is no longer able to abstain, as his initial submission to depravity resulted in the loss of Dr. Jekyll and the reign of Mr.
The reader is drawn to the plot of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde through the literary devices Stevenson employs. Foreshadowing displays the sense of mystery throughout the novel, the foreshadowing of the actions of Mr. Hyde leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. The ironic nature of Dr. Jekyll relates to the reader as a person, no person is completely perfect and Dr. Jekyll exhibits the natural wants and desires of humans. The irony behind Mr. Hyde adds an enigmatic side to the plot. These two devices expose the readers to the complexity of the novel and reveal the inner meaning of the hidden details.
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...
Jekyll is given as a respected man raised in a wealthy family. During the era, people are meant to be well-mannered and polite without any sign or thinking of violence and crime; however, Dr. Jekyll secretly has a desire to perform evil. Conflicted with the ideal of society, he has repressed his emotion through many years and eventually he decided to conceal his pressure as he said, “And indeed the worst of my faults was a certain impatient gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happiness of many, but such as I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the public. 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.” (48) From this quote, Dr. Jekyll discloses that he’s not desired to be cheerful, as many do, and decides to fake his pressure in front of the public eyes. After many years, he then realizes he was only hiding his true emotion. Eventually, to resolve his situation, he is inspired to create a potion that could transform himself to Mr. Hyde that could free him from the struggle between protecting his reputation and following his emotion and