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 story, there could be a distance of It was one of the values that that the Victorians had to follow to not disassemble in towns. In the story The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Hyde committed a crime by killing and abusing two people in the story. The first person to die was Sir Danvers Carew. As described, the “old gentleman took a step back, with the air of one very much surprised and trifled hurt; and at that Mr. Hyde broke out of all bounds and clubbed him to the earth. And next moment, with ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot and hailing down a storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway” (Stevenson 1688). Dr. Jekyll had been transformed into the evil Hyde and committed many injuries and crimes. As another example, “He would be aware of the great field of lamps of a nocturnal city; then of the figure of a man walking swiftly; then of a child running from the doctor 's; and then these met, and that human Juggernaut trod the child down and passed on regardless of her screams” (Stevenson 1682-1683). He also ends up killing himself, Dr. Hyde, by keeping his own evil soul. Overall, the story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written as a reflection of the values of the Victorian era. Hyde could have and probably would have been punished or executed for his crimes. That being said, it would be difficult for the average person to survive during this time period.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a classic story published in 1886 by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is about a man who transforms between two personae: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This novel focuses on Mr. Utterson, a lawyer and friend of Dr. Jekyll’s. The novel starts with John Utterson talking with his other friend who has just witnessed an odd situation. A man identified as Hyde run over a girl, only to pay off her family later with a check from Dr. Jekyll. This situation is made even stranger since Jekyll’s will has recently been changed. Mr. Hyde now stands to inherit everything. Mr. Utterson believing that the two men are separate people, thinks that the cruel Mr. Hyde is some how blackmailing Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Utterson questions Dr. Jekyll about Hyde, but Jekyll tells him to mind his own business. Unfortunately, Mr. Utterson cannot do that. A year later, Mr. Hyde attacks someone else: he beats a man with a cane, causing the man’s death. The police involve Mr. Utterson because he knew the victim. Mr. Utterson takes them to Mr. Hyde’s apartment, where they find the murder weapon, which is a gift that Mr. Utterson himself gave to Dr. Jekyll. Mr.
“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.
“Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” written by Robert Louis Stevenson. Is a story that took place in London and mainly focuses about three main charcters named Mr. Utterson, Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll and the murder case which leads to Mr. Hyde a suspect and Dr. Jekyll involved in the murder. Mr.Utterson was avle to save the case and finds a huge secret between Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll. Which Dr. Jekyll’s addiction lead to his fatal end.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hyde was an evil being it was slowly starting to take over and Dr. Jekyll knew that was happening. By shutting him out self off more and more he was helping everyone around him. Since he did not have any control over Mr. Hyde he had to stop Mr. Hyde from hurting anyone else and couldn’t tell anyone of these issues. In the book where Hyde and Jekyll are struggling, it says “ I was so far in my reflections” (53). This was Dr. Jekylls note for his struggles when he was finally telling people. He was deep in reflection and hiding them self off because he knew it was too late. It also states in this section of the book: “When Jekyll locks himself in his library” (61). Everyone was worried about him even though sometimes he does do this like in the beginning when he’s in solitude to work on his research. Dr. Jekyll had finally shut himself off from the word completely due to him knowing it was his final moments. He knew that since his potion was out and he could not find more materials it was over so he made a backup plan for when Hyde has taken over. This brutal plan was to kill himself and ultimately this is what he did. He had put all the other parts of the plan into effect and left a note to explain what truly happened, thus signifying the end of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, helping others but only helping him at the
Jekyll was a lower class citizen, like Mr. Hyde. Unlike Jekyll, Hyde has the sole privilege of being dismissed and unnoticed because he is of a lower class. According to Martin Danahay, author of “Dr. Jekyll’s Two Bodies”, Jekyll wears the body of Hyde “as if Mr. Hyde were a pair of pajamas that he would wear while sleeping in one location, but not the other” (23). Essentially, he could take a nap as Jekyll, wake up as Hyde, and spend the evening in opium den after opium den, experiencing different forbidden pleasures other than sodomy. Dr. Jekyll enjoys his new found freedom through Hyde at first, but soon grows weary of it when Mr. Hyde takes over whenever he wants. As Hyde grows into more power, he becomes reckless and starts leaving messes for Jekyll to clean up. More messes means a greater chance of being exposed, and having his gentlemanly reputation ruined. It makes sense as to why Dr. Jekyll kills himself and Hyde in the end. According to Sanna, Jekyll is “no longer able to revert to his good and distinguished aspect and personality” and commits suicide to avoid social condemnation (36). Jekyll kills himself because he can no longer control Hyde’s lust for wickedness, and he is tired of trying to keep up the appearance of someone he is not in a society where men having a need for certain pleasures is frowned upon. And, because Jekyll cannot control his need for these pleasures, he would rather die than be made a fool
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde cannot be understood without first studying the cultural views of the period in which the story occurs. The obsession with morality in Victorian England was a reactionary response to the rise of secularism and atheism, and the newly popular philosophy of utilitarianism significantly influenced the attitudes of the times. When Henry VIII split from the papacy in the sixteenth century and created the Anglican Church, subsequently resulting in civil wars between Protestant and Catholic monarchs, like Edward VI and Mary I (Bloody Mary), he created a longstanding tradition of tying the country’s national identity to its religion. Therefore, when the world was increasingly turning away from religion, Queen Victoria reacted strongly against this and reinforced the importance of religion in Britain. Furthermore, utilitarianism greatly shaped the Victorian elites’ views on morality and the role of mystery in society. Ironically, many famous Victorians like “Carlyle, Tennyson, Macaulay, Thomas Arnold…and [Charles] Dickens” actively opposed utilitarianism, yet the moral views of the philosophy permeated their worldview and shaped their outlook on life (Madden 460). These thinkers and Queen Victoria viewed “mystery” with “widespread hostility,” viewing it as “daemonic,” sharing a strikingly similar view on the issue with their Utilitarian counterparts (Madden 460). Therefore, when Jekyll was secretly attempting to create a potion to separate himself from Mr. Hyde, his “scientific studies” were leading towards “the mystic and transcendental,” two things vehemently opposed by Victorian England (Stevenson 42). Jekyll was operating on the fringes of society and took great lengths to conceal his works because he knew the dire consequences if others were to discover his mystic experiments. Dr. Lanyon, one of Jekyll’s closest friends, represents the traditional rational, moral, and honorable Victorian man. Upon witnessing
Within the text of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson portrays a complex power struggle between Dr. Jekyll, a respected individual within Victorian London society, and Mr. Hyde a villainous man tempted with criminal urges, fighting to take total control of their shared body. While Dr. Jekyll is shown to be well-liked by his colleagues, Mr. Hyde is openly disliked by the grand majority of those who encounter him, terrified of his frightful nature and cruel actions. Throughout Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson portrays the wealthy side of London, including Mr. Utterson and Dr. Jekyll, as respected and well-liked, while showing the impoverish side as either non-existent or cruel.
Throughout the thriller-mystery story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, the friendly lawyer, tries to figure out the reason behind why Dr. Jekyll, his friend and client, gives all his money to a strange man and murderer named Mr. Hyde in his will. Readers learn from the ominous third person point of view the worries of Mr. Utterson and ride along in his search for Mr. Hyde. In R. L. Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, he employs characterization, imagery, and weather motifs to construct complex characters and create eerie settings, which parallel the mood of the characters. Throughout the story, Stevenson characterizes Mr. Hyde as a strange man with odd features who nobody seems to like.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde London: Longmans, Green & co. 1886 Print
Humans are faced with decisions to make every second of the day. For some, the choice between doing good and doing bad is obvious, but for others, the choice might not be so clear. There are always obstacles that can make the choice hard, be it peer pressure or pressure that people put on themselves to be something different; the option to do the wrong thing is always hanging in front of them. Robert Louis Stevenson represents the archetypal theme of this idea in multiple ways in the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. During the Victorian Era, in which the story is set, there was a certain way that a person should act. If anyone strayed from that ideal setting and did something that the rest of society frowned upon, they were
... man. Society in the Victorian era was consisted of two classes, trashy and wealthy. Jekyll was expected to be a gentleman, but he wanted to have fun. This was the reason he created Hyde, so he could both be respected and have fun. He was delighted at the freedom he now had. Lanyon was overly contolled, but Utterson knew all men had both good and bad within them and could control it. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, the dual nature of man is a main theme.
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.
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.
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,
...ut morality in our life. Robert Louis Stevenson's writing style in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is essentially about life decisions, things we encounter in our daily lives. Deciding between what we know is right and/or wrong. His writing style in this novel has much to do with the concept of the Victorian Culture, conflict of humanity's sense of good and evil. Stevenson's writing in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, show his immense interest in the mental condition of human beings, since he refers to historical pieces of work in his writing. For example, the Biblical text of Romans, "Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it."(7.20). It is also said that the writing style used in this novel demonstrates the values of a Scottish character. Robert Louis Stevenson was Scottish.