To look at the duality in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Macbeth
In this essay I am going to look at the idea of duality. Duality means the quality or condition of being dual. This is expressed in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by means of good and evil in everyone rich vs. poor
Mr Utterson is described as ‘dusty drears’ but also ‘loveable’ in the same sentence. RLS uses extremes too illustrate two sides to the characters personality. He uses twin to introduce to his theme of a two sided person from the opening. This foreshadows the story that is to develop.
Freshly cleanliness shows how well kept the street. Is this suggests that the people care about it band it was prosperous, but on the same road a building with no windows, sinister block nether bell
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Mr Hyde is shorter and muscular that emphasise the difference between the two men. “He is different from others” said Lombroso, this goes against normality Victorian society wanted people to be normal. He also cares very much about his status in the world and as Mr Hyde he tries to destroy Dr Jekyll’s reputation in the world to make him loss all of his …show more content…
This is the big reveal of the novel and informs the reader that the two men are one and the same. He described Mr Hyde as he transforms. RLS says he’ reeled, staggered clutched at the table’. This shows that the potion is painful, he is close to passing out as Mr Hyde and waking up as Dr Jekyll. This makes us question what is in the potion and why someone would he take it if it causes him pain. In turn this allows us to understand that Dr Jekyll enjoys the evil side of his nature.
Similarly duality is important in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Shakespeare uses duality a lot in his plays particularly in Macbeth. Like RLS he uses his words to show the battle between good and evil. Macbeth struggles inside his mind between murder and waiting, after the witches prophesises. Lady Macbeth regrets the killing and struggles with the horror.
Macbeth begins the play as a loyal soldier and reacts strongly to the predictions from the witches, he is in two minds what to do ‘if chance will have my king why chance may crown me’ this shows that he does not know whether to act on the prophesy or not. The people of the era believed in witchcraft in Shakespearian times. Macbeth decides he does not want to murder king Duncan but gets drawn into doing it by lady Macbeth this is shocking to a Shakespearian audience women were not powerful at this time in
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.
The description Jekyll portrays upon taking the potion is illustrated to the reader as if he is being re-birthed but into a whole new perception of life. Physically, he is in such a pain because his bones are grinding, horrendous spirits are among him, and he is overcome with nausea. When it subsides, he is self-aware of his new mentality of wickedness (Stevenson 1710). Hyde sees himself in a mirror as the smaller, less robust side of Jekyll, and this is probable due to the facts of evolution because Jekyll, as a public figure, practiced more good in the world, as to Hyde, who is now getting to release his evil (Ferrer-Medina). Hyde, having an aggressive instinct, no moral or social standards, takes pleasure in violence ultimately leading to his own destruction (Singh).
At the start of the play, Macbeth is well respected among King Duncan’s army. He encounters three witches who give him a prophecy that he will become king. At first, Macbeth believes that fate and the natural order will lead him to become king, and he doesn’t have to do anything. Macbeth’s wife convinces him to kill King Duncan, which he eventually proceeds to do. Macbeth continues to commit murders to maintain his power, and he thinks there is no going back.
Mr. Hyde is the embodiment of Jekyll’s repressed homosexuality. Firstly, Hyde’s victims reflect Jekyll’s repressed feelings. The first victim is “a girl of maybe eight or ten” (Stevenson 3). His act of trampling the young girl shows his resentment toward women. This is because the Victorians try to force their views onto him and that he should be
In the novel, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson explores the complexity of human nature. He uses characters and events in the novel to present his stance on the major theme: “man is not truly one, but truly two” (125). Branching from this major theme are many more specific views on the idea that human nature is divided into good and evil. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are two very different people who occupy the same body. Human beings struggle with good and evil and Stevenson goes to the extreme to to show this relationship.
The reader is able to see this through Macbeth’s contemplation on whether or not he should kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth's lust for power and Macbeth’s final yet selfish decision. The overall comparisons are able to demonstrate the harmful physical and psychological effects of power throughout a community. As a result, the reader can learn from both Queen and Shakespeare that one's evil pleasure and desires can be a result of one's destruction all
“Hyde” is just Jekyll, having transformed his body into something unrecognizable". Jekyll does not make the potion to take away all evil away from himself. He created a potion that would allow himself to express his feelings without feeling guilt and facing any consequences effecting his respectable self. Dr. Jekyll in the novella is a respected professor and well known around the town. While Hyde on the other hand is almost the complete opposite.
Whereas in the text of Macbeth, the setting is first presented as evil, stated by Macbeth “no foul and fair a day I have not seen“. On the contrary Macbeth is presented as ‘brave’ and ‘courageous’, ‘the savior of the day’, this implies that the writers chose the great difference in setting and character for the reader to
He relishes in his freedom from rules. Although Dr. Jekyll 's personality traits or basic humanistic qualities were split into very different people, he never lost that touch of Mr. Hyde when he was Dr. Jekyll. Rather, he had Mr. Hyde in him his whole life, it would seem, and just succeeded in annexing out Dr. Jekyll when he became Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde never considered how his actions were hurting people. Nevertheless, as Dr. Jekyll, he experienced guilt for what was considered moral shortcomings.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” because the story takes place in Victorian England we see that the characters have no room for expression of emotions or violence. Everything they do is secret, so the more Dr Jekyll is repressed, the more he wants to be Mr Hyde. The original characteristics of Henry Jekyll are reflected as “...life of effort, virtue, and control” (pg. 172) because, most of his life his vice activities were maintained a secret. According to Jekyll, when evil is separated into one body, one will not know right from wrong because there is no conscious in a being of complete evil which was Hyde for
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.
Hyde’s physical factors were: “pale and dwarfish; he gave an impression of deformity without any namable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky whispering somewhat broken voice” (10). Jekyll is large while Hyde is small in stature, because of Hyde’s ethics being lower than of Jekyll’s. Hyde is also smaller because he is suppressed; he is hidden and shameful to Jekyll’s moral value. Hyde is described as “deformed” and has a “broken” voice. A voice is used to be heard by all; it is your projection onto the world.
Influence of Witchcraft In Shakespeare’s day witches were not merely a novelty character brought out as a joke around Halloween. It was widely believed that witches were real and that they possessed powers that were considered to be of the devil. This belief in witchcraft eventually led to a widespread panic that was followed by the persecution of witches. Due to this belief in witchcraft at the time Macbeth was written and performed; the tone was already set. Shakespeare used this fear to create suspense within the play and it led to the involvement of the weird sisters and the crazed actions committed by Macbeth and his wife.
Macbeth chose to listen and accept the prophecy as truth even though he had no proof. Although the witches influence Macbeth they did not suggest to Macbeth to kill the king, he got that idea from his selfish thoughts. After the witches visit Macbeth he goes to his wife about his thoughts of killing the king. Lady Macbeth encourages murder because that’s the only way she thinks Macbeth can become king.
Overall, Stevenson’s presentation of the duality of man is conveyed by the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde because towards the end of the novel. Jekyll begins to realise that the schism which once caused them to despise one another, help them understand each other situation. Jekyll even begins to ‘pity’ Hyde toward the end of novel, praising his ‘love for life’ by calling it ‘wonderful’, as his creator he consequently acknowledges the condescending attitudes towards Hyde, unfairly for his appearance, however rightfully so for his actions. Moreover, like Darwin’s theory, Hyde could never be accepted into society, often being characterised as a ‘brute’. Additionally, Jekyll’s actions would be condemned by the Victorian readers, as he was