Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Character Analysis

From the beginning of time, humans have questioned the validity of intrinsic duality of man. Are humans born with both pure goodness and pure evilness or is the latter cultivated? In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, one man, a scientist named Henry Jekyll, concludes that all men are both good and evil, so he decided to separate the two natures within one body. The outcome of his experiment resulted in the formation of a somewhat different product than he had imagined a creature by the name of Edward Hyde. Although Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the souls of one body, there are differences and similarities in their appearance and personality that illustrate the natural duality of good and evil within a man.

“It was for one minute that I saw him, but the hair stood upon my head like quills. Sir, if that was my master, why had he a mask upon his face?” (Stevenson 84 ). In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Mr. Utterson realizes that Dr. Jekyll has been acting strange and locking himself up in his laboratory. When Mr. Utterson meets Mr. Hyde for the first time he is weary of him. Mr. Hyde does many questionable things, such as killing a man and attacking a child. This leads Dr. Jekyll to write a note about his duality of human nature theory and how Mr. Hyde came about. In the letter he described how this theory had been his life’s work and that just by simply drinking a potion that he had compounded he became, the evil, Mr. Hyde. After writing this note Dr. Jekyll kills himself because he cannot stand to be Mr. Hyde any longer. Dr. Jekyll is in denial, he experimented with the potion, and because he is addicted to becoming Mr. Hyde, all of this makes Dr. Jekyll comparable to a drug addict of today.

By looking at Dr. Jekyll, one may think that he is pure and innocent; a dignified scientist who is kind, pleasant, and lives in a grand house full of servants who love him. Little does everyone know, Jekyll possesses a hidden, sinful side that desires to be freed. Although Jekyll has temptations to commit acts of darkness, it does not necessarily mean that he is a corrupt man. According to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll wrote in his confession 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…I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the

The story of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde is a prime example of good versus evil as a man struggles with an experience that goes bad. Dr. Henry Jekyll is a man of science and he develops a potions that causes him to have two separate and distinct personalities. As time passes, Dr. Jekyll discovers that he is losing his ability to control the sinister side of his personality, Mr. Hyde. The effects of this scientific experiments will dramatically change his life and the lives of his friends.

Everyone has to deal with some sort of temptations in their lives. Usually temptations are negative, but they may differ depending on the person. Some people may not like to admit this but everyone has a dark side and sometimes it shows. A person needs to let out some darkness at some points in their lives because nobody should bottle their emotions up. One man’s dark temptations are looked at in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. In this novel, it starts out introducing Mr.Utterson who is a lawyer. He is walking with his cousin Mr. Enfield and they find a door which leads them to a house. Mr. Enfield starts telling a story and that is how Mr.Hyde and Dr.Jekyll are introduced. “ All at once, I saw two figures: one a little man who was stumping along eastward at a good walk, and the other a girl of maybe eight or ten who was running as hard as she was able down a cross street. Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at a corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground” (Stevenson 9). Mr. Utterson becomes curious as to who the person was and after doing some investigating he discovers that Dr.Jekyll is Mr.Hyde. Dr.Jekyll wanted a way to let out the bad that he had inside of him, but he didn 't want anyone to see him differently. He decided to make a potion, and when he drank the potion he would turn into Mr.Hyde.

     Jekyll is tempted to do bad things and he uses Hyde to overcome his temptations. Jekyll gets his satisfaction of doing bad deeds by becoming Hyde. Jekyll says “If each, I told myself, could be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was unbearable; the unjust might go his way” (Page 105). He states that he wants to do bad things but knowing he cant and still live the life he has, he uses Hyde as an escape from his temptations. Once Jekyll is able to control his temptations but still do bad as Mr. Hyde he says “I felt younger, lighter, happier in the body” (Page 106) Mr. Hyde is Jekyll’s way of escaping his sophisticated lifestyle and entering a totally separate way of life. Jekyll then didn’t feel any guilt for Hyde’s actions.

Even though he knew it could lead to his arrest, Hyde brutally murdered a highly regarded man. He could not look past the evil temptation, and so it overtook his better judgment. Jekyll acknowledges these horrible acts committed by Hyde, but they do not seem to impact him. Because Jekyll has not performed the actions, he does not feel guilty; however, he eventually realizes Hyde’s true malevolence. By this time, it is already too late. Hyde already has too much control over Jekyll, and he understands he must give up: “And indeed the doom that is closing on us both, has already changed and crushed him. Half an hour from now, […] I shall again and forever reindue that hated personality […] I am careless; this is my true hour of death, and what is to follow concerns another than myself. Here then, as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to and end” (Stevenson 70). He realizes that Hyde has become dominant, and that his inner evil cannot be suppressed. Accepting this as fact finally ends Jekyll’s struggle with suppression and

The motivation an individual has is relative and dependent on the goals and aspirations they possess. A person’s actions are direct results of their personal desires. The influence an individual’s want has on their particular outcome is exemplified through the novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson. This novella recites the tale of a scientist, Dr. Jekyll who consumes a potion and is transformed into a malicious, dehumanized being known as Mr. Hyde. It showcases how Dr. Jekyll’s strive for perfection ultimately leads to the creation of his life-altering identity, Mr. Hyde. The motivation that ultimately destroys Dr. Jekyll stems from his desire to uphold appearances, need for answers and the repression in Victorian society. The nature of an individual’s desire is the dictator of the extent they will go to actualize their motivation.

While Dr. Jekyll was in his opposite form, Mr. Hyde, he managed to murder a man named Sir Danvers Carew, “Mr. Hyde broke out of all bounds, and clubbed (Carew) to the earth,” (Stevenson 15). Dr. Jekyll quickly becomes addicted to this version of himself, he lives vicariously through this opposite side of himself, similar to how drug addicts do through using cocaine or meth. When he made the decision to use the potion one more time, “it was in my own person that I was once more tempted to trifle with my conscience; and it was as an ordinary secret sinner that I at last fell before the assaults of temptation,” this was his ultimate downfall (Stevenson 50).

The minor characters in a story can play such a major role. In the novel, “The Strange Case of Dr .Jekyll and Mr.Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson, the readers are introduced to several minor characters, such as Lanyon, Enfield, Carew, and Poole, who help advance the plot. Hastie Lanyon was an old friend of Jekyll who wrote a letter to Utterson about what he witnessed, Richard Enfield told the story of the door , Sir Danvers Carew was murdered by Hyde, and Poole was Jekyll’s butler who got Utterson for help. These minor characters play a major role in the plot.

In the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde it is regarded that these identities are two different persons but this is not the case, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are one in the same. There is much confusion when reading this literary work by Robert Louis Stevenson; this piece is regarded as horrific and disturbing in many ways. But the biggest twist is when it is reveled to the reader that these two people are the same and that below the surface of Dr.Jekyll is an evil man who enjoys committing evil acts. Mainly that Dr. Jekyll believes he has no choice but to commit these horrid acts because he has no control over is evil side. I don’t believe this is the case, Hyde isn’t a real person and doesn’t exist, nor is he someone who commits

In the story of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886), the character Dr Henry Jekyll develops an alter ego called Mr Edward Hyde while trying to seperate the two consciences he believes everyone has inside of them. This Mr Hyde ego is the evil half of Dr Jekyll and performs horrendous acts like murder feeling no guilt, but when Dr Jekyll regains control of the body they share he is overcome with regret. This wonder about multiple consciences was popular at the time of the story’s writing with double personality being “one of the most widely discussed clinical disorders” (Armstrong 189). This essay will discuss the ‘reverse transformation’ found in the novel and how it was influenced by the thoughts of society in the time it was written.

Throughout the course of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, there were three characters that underwent significant changes in their traits. Those three were Dr. Jekyll (of course), Mr. Hyde, and Mr. Utterson. One common pattern in the book was that all the character change was due to the plot and mystery of the novel. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were both the most affected due to potion, obviously because Jekyll was the formulator of the chemical. Mr. Utterson, who, although, played an important role in the story, did not experience much of a character change; this was probably intended by Stevenson because he did not want the main voice of the novel to change over time, which does make sense. However, the main change to notice in terms of character development of any of the characters was with Dr.Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll desires to relive his past events that are considered unfit of society, creating Mr. Hyde to do so without getting caught and losing his high reputation. Dr. Jekyll allows his evil side develop as “his temptation of a discovery so singular and profound, at last overcame the suggestions of alarm” (44). Dr. Jekyll lets his curiosity take over his moral judgments by creating a potion that allows him to switch bodies from himself to Mr. Hyde. The emphasis on his temptations being his only and most important ambition gives him reason to create another persona to satisfy his desires. Consequently though, Jekyll acknowledges that “a current of disordered sensual images running like a mill-race in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul” will be the cost of breaking the rules of society (44). His decision alludes to chaos through the imagery of disorder when being free from responsibilities, but he sees the disorder as something positive and enjoyable. For him, it may be a way to get out of his

The title that the author gives to the doctor, “Henry Jekyll, M.D, D.C.L, LL.D, F.R.S,” gives the reader the impression that this is a very well-educated, stable, busy, and important person (Stevenson 470). Clearly, a man with those responsibilities would have a full life, and no need to create an evil twin. This proves to be untrue, and the basis for the story. This exemplifies the old adage; you can never have too much, especially if what you have isn’t making you happy. Henry Jekyll’s desire to live unchecked is responsible for the creation of Hyde. This in turn leads to the decision to commit suicide as the only way to prevent Hyde from continuing his destructive ways. This demonstrates the ironic nature of the ego and the id. Depending on the perspective, control of the Jekyll/Hyde beast becomes subjective.