The Victorian Age was the height of the British Empire. They had a strong middle class who had very high standards. In Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the life of Victorian society is determined. In the novella, Stevenson was trying to identify how the people of Victorian society dealt with living dual lives and struggled with addiction.
Interests in math and science. Mr Hyde had developed a potion that allowed him to turn into Dr. Jekyll. Jekyll found a way to separate his good side from his darker side, by transforming himself into a monster free of consciences. But he later found that he was turning into more and more into Mr Hyde. He started turning into Mr. Hyde in random places, the transformations got worse and worse. He tried and tried to stop the transformations at times he proved successful; but it did not last for long. This was an advancement in science.
The fact that Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was published in the year after private male homosexual acts was made illegal […] Two characters that paint the most homosexual undertones are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Utterson. While Jekyll represents the negative and repressed views of homosexuality, Utterson is the opposite. Utterson’s characterization represents homosexuality that was tolerated in the 19th century. Through clever storytelling and characterization, Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is able to provide insight on how homosexuality was viewed in the 19th century.
‘The strange case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ is a novella by the scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1886. Stevenson, born November 13, 1850, is also the author of the well known book; ‘Treasure Island’. Robert L. Stevenson, who died December 3, 1894,, was said to be influenced by authors such as Charles Dickens and Edgar Allen Poe. This book is part of the gothic genre, a genre of literature that combines fiction, and horror, death and at times romance. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or simply Jekyll and Hyde is about a London lawyer named Mr, Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend Dr. Jekyll and the evil Mr. Hyde.
When the story opens, a story is being told about how Hyde trampled a young girl. Rather than stay on the scene, he retreats. It is Jekyll who provides the family with a check in order to keep them silent about the tragedy. Mutual friends of Jekyll’s, Mr. Utterson and Dr. Lanyon, are suspicious of the possible individual who could be terrorizing London, and they begin to investigate on their own. Jekyll wanted to separate his good side from his evil impulses creating a potion that would allow him to do that physically. After drinking a potion, he could change into Hyde, a person with no conscience. Soon, Jekyll is metamorphosing without taking the potion. Hyde later kills Sir Daniels Carew by beating him to death. Hyde continues to struggle with Jekyll and Jekyll continues to struggle with Hyde. In the end Dr. Jekyll must decide if he should take the life of both he and Mr. Hyde or if he should face the consequences for the evil that HE ultimately has committed. In the end, Dr. Jekyll chooses
In Stevenson's novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll gives Lanyon, his distant friend, a critical choice: he can take the potion Lanyon had helped him obtain or he can leave without any explanation. He says “will you be wise? Will you be guided?...or has the greed of curiosity too much commanded you...as you decide you shall be left …. neither richer nor wiser.” (40) Jekyll, in his creation of Hyde, gave into temptations yet he still refers to it as negative or “greedy”. Furthermore, the words “wise” is used twice in contradicting ways. First Jekyll uses “wise” to push Lanyon not to watch him take the potion. He then uses the word “wiser” in an effort to persuade Lanyon to watch him take the
In the gothic novel “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Robert Louis Stevenson depicts an idea of the supernatural realm. It is a tale of a man that is well-known among the townspeople as Dr. Henry Jekyll. The doctor transforms into a being completely opposite of himself. Being a man of science, he feels a compulsion to create a potion that will release his alter ego, Mr. Hyde, while protecting his true identity. Throughout the story, many examples of symbolism are presented to the reader. These symbols present an idea of duality, compelling the reader to decide if it is a tale of two men or of a mad man. The similarities that occur throughout the novel assist the reader in concluding that both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are in fact
Robert Louis Stevenson’s literary work, “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, is one of his most notable works. It was written during the Victorian era when there were huge emphasis placed on social morality. He sets out to understand the differences between dual personalities, good and evil (evil definitely not being within the social norm). He sums up his story by stating: “All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone, in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.” Robert explains his reasons for writing the book that he did, while talking about the time and era.
“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson is a book that intrigues one’s mind, because it makes us question ourselves about the balance between the two opposing forces. The story starts out with Mr. Utterson, a lawyer and a great friend of Dr. Jekyll, hearing about Hyde for the first time, who is very shady and somewhat misconfigured. Mr. Utterson hears about Hyde’s bad reputation, and his usage of Dr. Jekyll’s laboratory; therefore, Mr. Utterson suspects some kind of relationship between Hyde and Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Utterson’s friend Lanyon, who is a doctor, dies after Dr. Jekyll goes into seclusion; Mr. Utterson goes to Dr. Jekyll’s house to seek the truth behind Lanyon’s death, but he instead sees Hyde dead. Mr. Utterson
Dr. Jekyll is viewed as a smart man with a lot of knowledge, however, due to Jekyll not being satisfied with his life, he is determined to get more out of his live and is willing to do anything to fulfill his determination. Dr. Jekyll expresses this when he states, “[A] grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death. Then these agonies began swiftly to subside… [t]here was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably new and, from its very novelty, incredibly sweet. I felt younger, lighter, happier in body within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a millrace in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul.” (Stevenson 57). Dr. Jekyll is in a state of happiness at this point of the text. He is being very positive and is describing how he feels to be free of the bonds of obligation. He is implying that he had left all the prior obligations he had as Dr. Jekyll, but now knows that he is a completely different person and is able to do the irregularities that he was able to do as Dr. Jekyll. Victor Frankenstein throughout the text played god and misused science in many ways. He attempted to make a beautiful human being but due to lack a skill, he made a monster unintentionally and
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a short novel written by Robert Stevenson, shocking the audience with its sudden twist. Told mostly from the view of Mr. Utterson, Jekyll’s lawyer, he goes through the mysterious connection between Jekyll and a horrible man named Mr. Hyde. In the end of the novel, it is discovered that Jekyll is Hyde, taking a potion to transform into the hideous man. After several transformations into Hyde, Jekyll finally glances into a mirror, seeing a short, hideous and hairy man, much different from the tall and clean Jekyll. In the novel, Stevenson uses mirrors to represent Hyde’s physical manifestation, an object that reflects within the person, and he uses the mirrors to show the unstable duality of the individual's psyche.
The good in Dr. Jekyll, and evil in Mr. Hyde are both trying to overpower each other. Mr. Enfield describes to Mr. Utterson as to what he saw: "Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner;
Jekyll is shown to be lost forever at this point, as he and his good nature are represented as the side that rolled into the neighbouring gutter. Jekyll is described earlier as well-made and this is also reflected in the “rare and very tough and heavy wood”, which of course would be expensive. “Tough” has connotations with being sturdy, so it could also be used to describe how Jekyll thought of himself earlier; how he thought that he could handle his situation and maintain control over Mr Hyde. However, in the end he could not which is shown in the wood breaking. Also, Stevenson purposefully uses “insensate” which has connotations with savagery and psychopathy. This not only shows how viscous Hyde was in his killings, but also illustrates how Jekyll has not taken into account the consequences of his actions in turning into Hyde. In
The novella Jekyll and Hyde tells the tragic story of a battle between good and evil, a battle for total control over the mind and soul. The clash between the pure and impure sides of man: a fight to the finish. It explores the aspect of a person’s good and bad side; holy and unholy, the one who bathes himself in God’s light and the one whom plays with The Devil’s fire. The battle between the good-willed Dr. Jekyll, and his evil persona: the murderous Mr. Hyde. The author, Stevenson, presents this in numerous ways and describes the two conflicting sides well. For example, the character Utterson describes Hyde’s appearance as This line stuck with me throughout the whole book due to the sheer power and strength of the quote. It is one of many quotes that compares the character of Mr. Hyde to the devil himself, implying to the reader that he is indeed the embodiment of pure evil.
Everything existing in this world has two sides, human are no exception. When human want to make a decision, there are two different thought in their brains, one is kind, and another one is evil. If virtuous one wins the vicious one, they will show they are kind-hearted people to the public, on the contrary, they will be wicked people. It will due to one person has both good and evil characters. That is called double identity. “The Strange Case Of DR. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde” is a gothic fiction book which is written by Robert Louis Stevenson. It describes a doctor hover between good and evil to present double identity. This essay will discuss how he does to reflect his double identity by focusing on three aspects, they are people’s appearance,