The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay example

“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is a novella written by Robert Louis Stevenson, a Scottish author. Written and published 1886, this novella reflects on the individual, and societal behavior during the Victorian era. During the Victorian era people, were supposed to behave like a normal person. Certain behaviors were highly restricted for example, showing evil. Instead, they were expected to give respect for everyone. People who acted out against the norm during this period were usually sent to asylums because such behaviors were unacceptable. People in this society did just that, they behaved as if they were perfectly normal. This does not mean that their bad side did not exist. Instead, they hid their

The novella, ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886. The author was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1850. His family included engineers, scientists, a professor of philosophy, and a religious minister. The scientific and religious sides of Stevenson's family reflected in both his personal life and in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (disapproval between Dr Lanyon and Dr Jekyll). In 1859 Charles Darwin published his famous book called the ‘Origin of Species’ which highly opposed the religious beliefs at the time; the novella itself was also published at such a time when there was extreme controversy between religious and scientific principles. The sense of conflict being created through disapproval

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

     Jekyll does deserve his final miserable fate because he commits several selfish deeds to the point where he brings his miserable fate upon himself. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses Jekyll to represent how man prioritizes by putting himself over others. Throughout the book, Jekyll’s two different sides are used to show that man is consistently selfish and will usually think of himself before others. Even though Jekyll has a good side and an evil side, both sides of him are selfish. Jekyll originally takes the potion for selfish reasons, Jekyll uses Hyde to conquer his own evil temptations, and in the end Jekyll gives into Hyde and completely gives up.

In the novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson emphasizes how secrecy is used to protect one’s self-image and ensure no destructive secrets of one’s past become public knowledge. In the book, the plot is constantly driven forward by deceit; Mr. Utterson does not know the relationship between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and he wants to find out. Secrecy is one of the main themes in the book as it constantly surrounds the character of Dr. Jekyll. Jekyll's personality is serious and never unusual or abnormal, however his true repressed personality is revealed in the form of Mr. Hyde. This suggests that Stevenson is trying to show man’s repressed, inner nature, and how all men have aspects of their being of which they are ashamed and

During the latter portion of the nineteenth century, Robert Louis Stevenson published his novella, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The fin de siècle saw the rise of different thoughts and ideas surrounding science and society. These concepts and interpretations sparked the discourse surrounding the theory of degeneration; which was the concern that civilization would fall to a lower state of being. This chapter will be reading multiplex personality as a manifestation of this broader cultural fear. Stevenson’s story played upon the changes society was facing during this time and the interest in scientific explanations for mental illness. He creates the character of Dr Jekyll, a scientist who invents a potion to unlock his inner,

It has been many years since the publication of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. The book explains how everyone has a dark side to their personalities and how that dark side can consume you to become insane. Many believe that there is no such thing as dissociative personality disorder, but in fact, there is; “Approximately 1% of the general population has been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder.” There have not been many cases of this disorder but the few that have been recorded are proof that one can have multiple personalities. Something historical that plays in motion with the story is that this was based off a real life person. An 18th century man named William Brody was a cabinetmaker and popular politician

To a modern reader, the idea that a man as well-liked as Jekyll could have his repressed persona, Hyde, commit crimes against innocence, is an absurd thought. Hyde tramples both the young girl and the old man, showing no mercy–despite their youth and age being text-book examples of innocence. But while these crimes were written off in the book as insanity, we can look at them through a modern view to see that these crimes were merely Hyde acting upon a borderline sociopathic tendency.

Jekyll was convinced that him as himself, was not a man that possessed moral virtue. He was surrounded by people that frowned upon anything that wasn’t strict, or upright. In society, you were not allowed to behave immeasurably. It wasn’t socially perfect to indulge in simple human desires. There was no way for you to retain your respectability, while being involved in socially questionable ways. Hyde was created because of Jekyll’s secret attraction to debauchery. Jekyll was “committed to a profound duplicity of life”(61) that only existed because of this society that repudiated both blatant sensuality, and physicality. Hyde was a result of Jekyll’s unhappiness, a result of the “hard law of life”(61) that made people believe it was substandard

Imagery plays a key role in the exploration of Dr. Jekyll's double character. Stevenson's use of imagery intensifies the plot and its relationship between good and evil (Rollyson 1863-1864). For example, Hyde is described as "apelike" and "like a monkey" while Dr. Jekyll is portrayed as handsome and elegant with "proper stature" (25-26, 38). This example indicates a "reverse evolutionary process" and confirms Jekyll's disastrous attempt to interfere with the order of nature (Page 763). In general, Hyde is illustrated as animalistic, ugly, and deformed mainly to conjure an evil opinion of this character. However, the physical description may be more than simply symbolic. "During the Victorian era, many believed in physiognomy," which was the belief that one could judge a criminal from his or her physical appearance. Hyde is depicted as a vampire who "feeds on the very life of his victims" (Abbey, et al. 327). ."..[Hyde was] drinking pleasure with bestial avidity from any degree of torture to another, relentless like a man of stone" (33). This vampire image suggests the way in which indulgence of evil eats away man's capacity for goodness. Lastly, Stevenson chose ideal names to suit and describe the personalities or actions of his characters. Just as Hyde hides in Jekyll, "Je kyll" hides in "Jekyll." In French, "Je" means I and "kyll" probably

In Jekyll’s “full statement” at the end of the novella, he admits his addiction with Hyde goes deeper than the drug he used to first induce the transformation. He believes that there is a “duplicity of life” which his high moral standing in the community would never permit him to explore without the help of creating a second personality, a personality which was already living within him. This second personality helps to relieve him of loneliness and he finds extreme pleasure in the evil life that Hyde

Thereupon, his scandalous behaviour; an act perpetually done in the façade of Dr Jekyll, left me skewered, restless at the alleged of his dishonoured deeds. Ay, he was not a man of purity. He was mere unsighted by his own gloom, for he destructed himself in pieces that does not belong in his; that does not catalogue in his chaos accounts of men’s twofold nature. He considered that in this hysterical, uncanny madness that there will be a flawless scheme for invincibility. This is not an unplanned outcome of Jekyll’s inexorable experiments. No, for Mr Hyde was the absolute proposed outcome of Dr Jekyll’s wicked schemes. An untouched canvas with features of a brutish, despicable, and the physique of a short-ape man; was Dr Jekyll’s advantage to commit sins he secretly desired to. Mr Hyde had earned himself the epitome of pure evil nature. His rampant nature was apprehended by his animalistic and impulsive behaviour, for which was contrived by Dr Jekyll through an exploitation of his trial. Jekyll was not oblivious or ignorant when he veiled as Mr Hyde. He recalls impeccably all his doings as Hyde, for he was in switch the whole

In the novel we recognise Dr Jekyll who was Mr Hyde in certain situations, had been involved in various incidences involving

Adam Dube British Literature Prof. Wong October 26, 2014 1. Veeder, William R., and Gordon Hirsch. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: After One Hundred Years.

My cousin Richard Enfield told me he witnessed Mr. Hyde colliding with and then trampling over an eight-year-old girl near the squalid rear entrance to Jekyll's laboratory like it was 'some damned Juggernaut'. When ordered to pay compensation, Hyde the money out of Jekyll's account. Enfield found Hyde difficult to describe but feels there 'was something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable'. When I heard of this, there was a feeling of repugnance and loathing which this Hyde inspired in me. I naturally assumed Hyde had been blackmailing my dear friend Jekyll which must be why the cheque was signed by him.