While introducing the reader to the main theme of The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, an assumption is created that Hyde is the inferior alter ego. For this reason, when stepping out of the orderly, some will find numerous other themes; moreover, the idea of Dr.Jekyll trying to be good and doing away with Mr.Hyde prevails to being just a pawn. The theme of Mr.Hyde being the hero all along is convincing. Also, the narration in the story is unique, coming from one person’s viewpoint, making the reader comprehend only what Utterson obtains. In the story, the reader draws the idea that Jekyll commits suicide to stop Hyde, but it is unclear if Hyde holds as just a pawn in Jekyll’s master strategy. Based on the fact that Hyde never left notes for Utterson, and that the reader only inspects Jekyll’s side operating more-than Hyde’s side. Instead of the traditional theme, Hyde acts as the “good guy” made out to be the “bad guy”, butchered by Jekyll in his last letter. Furthermore, subsist that the murders made were caused by Hyde and not just Jekyll in disguise? Based off of the fact that Jekyll endured trying to separate his superior side from his …show more content…
Therefore, stated above Jekyll left all of the memorandum, not Hyde (besides Dr.Lanyon). In other words, Dr.Lanyon is the only one who didn’t assume Jekyll was humane. The reader can tell Utterson sees through Hyde, even after Jekyll speaks immensely of him, but Utterson’s perspective cannot be credible. This is because Utterson did not suspect anything at all malevolent from Jekyll. Harboring suspicion that Henry and Edward were two contradistinctive people, Utterson underestimated Jekyll’s affiliation with science. The reader has to rely on Utterson’s conceptions of the characters, so if he is deceived the reader is deceived as
Stevenson writes ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ with the intention of showing the reader the duality of man and explores this through the juxtaposition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this novella, Stevenson also uses the environment and setting of the story to represent the contrast between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Dr Henry Jekyll, the protagonist, is a reputable middle class gentleman born into wealth, with many male friends and a respectable profession. He is described as “a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with…every mark of capacity and kindness.” Whereas, Mr Hyde, the antagonist, is first described, he is represented by Enfield as “a little man who was stumping along”. This is when the idea that
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novel written by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and published in 1886. It concerns a lawyer, Gabriel Utterson, who investigates the strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the reclusive Mr. Edward Hyde. This novel represents an ideology in Western culture; the perpetual conflict between humanity’s virtuosity and immorality. It is interpreted as an accurate guidebook to the Victorian era’s belief of the duality of human nature. This essay will explore Mr. Edward Hyde and whether Stevenson intended for him to be a mere character in the novel or something of wider significance.
Now this story does not follow Dr. Jekyll through his journey of creating his evil alter ego. Moreover he is not even the first initial character that we are introduced to in the novella; we are first introduced to a man named Mr. Utterson. He is actually the lawyer of Dr. Jekyll and he takes an interest in his newfound protégé who is referred to as Mr. Hyde. His negative feelings towards Mr. Hyde, beget a personal investigation into his life and his connection to Dr. Jekyll. Sadly he does not realize the truth behind the mystery of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde till the end of the novella, where he finally discovers the secret from reading Dr. Jekyll’s last words written in a letter addressed to him after Dr. Jekyll’s untimely death.
Just as the emotions between a parent and toddler can change any second from loving to embarrassed and angry, the two main characters in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, struggle through a family-like relationship. Throughout the novel, the relationship between Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde changes from a close, family-like relationship to one of hatred toward the end of the book. Changes in the relationship between Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde can be seen in: observations by Mr. Utterson, Dr. Jekyll’s state of mind before and after the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, and Dr. Jekyll’s confession.
Jekyll talks about the years before the creation of the potion that transforms him into Hyde. He summarises his finding of the dual nature, human beings are half good and half evil. Jekyll’s goal in his experiments is to separate two opposite elements, creating a person with only good characteristics and a being of only evil. He does this because he wants to free his good side from dark urges. He fails this experiment, in fact he only manages to create a whole evil person ‘Mr Hyde’. In the letter, Jekyll says ‘I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man . . . if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both.’ The events of the novel inform the reader that the dark side (Hyde) is much stronger than the rest of Jekyll, this is why Hyde is able to take over Jekyll. This letter is really important for the reader so that the whole novel is understood. A lot of horror is created and it is all quiet in the reader's mind. The reader feels horrified by the way in which Jekyll seems to love and care for Hyde. Jekyll’s words make the reader angry that a man who was so good could enjoy becoming so
Utterson saw Jekyll since they were good friends he saw that this person in front of him was not his good friend. Dr.jekyll the good the kind and Hyde is turning him into a dark, and evil person. All these things that are happening to Jekyll is making his body sick, deadly looking. “This master Hyde, if he were studied though he , must have secrets of his own:black secrets, by the look of him; secrets compared to which poor Jekylls worst would be like sunshine.” (18 Stevenson) This quote shows that Dr.jekyll is good,compared to Hyde he is good. Even Dr.Jekyll’s Darkest deepest secrets compared to Hyde’s secrets Jekyll’s look like sunshine, and cant even compare to Hyde’s secrets. “Now that that evil influence had been withdrawn, a new life began for Dr.Jekyll.”(31 Stevenson)This Quote shows that Mr. Hyde is evil. Hyde’s evil influence on Dr.jekyll who was a good man and Mr.Hyde was turning him into something evil. With his evil influence gone Dr.Jekyll can be himself; a good man.”It turns me to think of this creature stealing like a thief to harry’s bedside; poor harry what a wakening!” (18 Stevenson)This quote shows that everyone had a bad feeling about Mr.Hyde, Utterson knew that Hyde was bad, and evil. Utterson hated to see his oldest friend Dr.jekyll get his life ruined by a a thief and and
On the other hand, the interaction between the immorality and integrity of Jekyll is characterized by his repeated expression of temptation and his inability to resist, ultimately resulting in the death of his persona. Similar to how the narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” gains a new identity, Jekyll’s persona is gradually replaced by the evil persona of Hyde. Some psychoanalytic critics “see Jekyll and Hyde not as equal personalities, but Hyde as a suppressed version of Jekyll, undercutting Jekyll's idea that separation of the two personalities may be achieved” (Brackett). At the outset, the relationship between Jekyll’s immorality and integrity is lopsided in favor of the latter, but as Hyde commits worser crimes, Jekyll’s spirit deteriorates.
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
Jekyll doesn’t necessarily excuse Hyde’s actions but attempts to protect himself and deflect the scrutiny that may be placed on him. He attempts to use the fact that all men are have some form of evil within, no matter how many good deeds they may perform in their life to show that while Hyde’s thoughts and morals are his own, everyone has this evil side. At one point after the murder of Sir Danvers, Jekyll chooses to attempt to restrain Hyde and he “laboured to relieve suffering” (Stevenson 64). While he is successful for a short time, he is already too deep to prevent Hyde from surfacing again. Even though in the long run he is unsuccessful, Jekyll believes that this attempt to halt the growing presence and severity of Hyde’s actions somehow excuses his creation and the fact that he had those characteristics that make Hyde evil before Hyde was even created.
To what extent does the novella The strange case Of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde explore the notion that human nature is comprised both of good and evil, and how does the imagery support this theory? This essay will confront the issue of good and evil, and its usage and theories throughout the book "The strange case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde". The story is based around Mr.Utterson's, a longtime friend of Dr.Jekyll, search for the truth and the connection between Jekyll and Hyde, ending in the realization that they are actually the same person. The story centers around the idea that there is a struggle between people's good and evil sides, it merely depends on which you nurture more. There is also this idea that one side of you will
By investigating Mr. Hyde and questioning Dr. Jekyll, Utterson is defending his ideal of what is socially right. There is no personal enjoyment in any of these matters; instead, Utterson is driven by a moral obligation to offer support to a friend
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
Character development determines what ways characters affect the progress of the plot; therefore in both novels, one can identify events that begin to answer each novel’s mysteries. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Lanyon receives a registered letter from Henry Jekyll, that presents a list of duties he wishes Lanyon can do in his favor. He asks if he can go to his drawer in his lab, to pick up items that are to be given to a man, that would visit Utterson’s dwelling that same evening. The items included salt, a vial of blood, and liquor. That evening Edward Hyde, the strange looking man, arrived and used the items Utterson had picked up. In the next moment, it was no longer the strange man that stood before Utterson, but Henry Jekyll. As a reader, this discovery explains that Jekyll took a special potion, which changed his identity of Mr. Hyde to Dr. Jekyll. This also explains that the murderer of Sir Danvers Carew was Jekyll in Hyde’s body. Lanyon states, “The creature who crept into my house that night was, on Jekyll’s own confession, known by the name of Hyde and hunted for in every corner of the land as the murderer of Carew.” (Stevenson, Page 59) This quotation signifies the verification of the murderer, as well explains why the letters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were identical. This further develops the plot, as characters are developed which help justify the mystery in the novel. Elizabeth’s letter written to Victor Frankenstein, expresses
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde influence each other, Stevenson focuses on individual’s perspective. By illuminating on individual’s conflict and perspective, it makes reader to sympathize Dr. Jekyll’s dilemma. Because of social status, he can’t be free, but when people recognize Mr. Hyde as Dr. Jekyll, it will influence to his social status. Additionally, Victorian era time period affects to author’s perspective in the book a lot. It is unique for everyone to overcome internal conflicts, and the author portrayed it in extreme method. Stevenson ultimately claims that in reality, everyone has