Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Good Vs Evil Analysis

Using well-placed symbolism, Stevenson draws a connection between his characters and the reader. One of the foremost

“We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.” This quote by J.K Rowling captures the idea that one man is truly two, through the light and dark of it, but who they truly are depends on which side of the spectrum they act upon. Dr. Jekyll in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Stevenson, cannot decide which concept to be, so he constantly goes between the two, displaying lies and deceit throughout the story by being the two beings at once. Lies and deceit is the main theme of the novel, because it consistently displays how everyone is affected by the lies that one displays. On one side of the debate, many people think the main theme of the novel is good

Would it be ideal if every choice someone made was considered to be good? Imagine a world without rules. A society without a moral compass. What would it be like? In the novella, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Henry Jekyll had the belief that there were two sides to everyone. One side being good. One side being evil. There is a purpose for the two coexisting. Without this coexistence, there would be no balance. There would be no way to learn from mistakes; no room for improvement. The world would have no morality if this relationship didn't exist.

Stevenson portrays Jekyll as impotent against his temptations, due to his attempt to purify his soul. On the other hand, he portrays Utterson as one who does not succumb to his desires. Stevenson seldom ever speaks of Utterson’s temptations and instead, focuses more on Jekyll’s pleasure of the “thought of [the] separation of these elements” (61), in order to avoid jeopardizing his reputation. Towards the end of the novella, Stevenson reveals Jekyll’s belief and sole purpose to split humankind’s two natures. Meanwhile, despite the minimal mentions of how Utterson tackles his temptations, Stevenson primarily shows Utterson’s dominance over his desires. He does this to establish a black and white contrast between one who has the ability to withstand his desires and one who dwells on the possibilities of diving good and evil. In the beginning of the novella, he shows Utterson to be “austere with himself” (1) and substituted gin to subdue his taste for alcohol. Utterson, being much older than Jekyll is gifted with his ability to retain self-control, whereas Jekyll is more imaginative and dreams of the impossible. Essentially, Stevenson contrasts Utterson and Jekyll’s vulnerability to desires to demonstrate what others do in order to control their

Jekyll is seen performing scientific practice, attempting to achieve a goal which can be argued to exceed his mental capacity. Dr. Jekyll wished to remove his dark side, tampering with the duality of man. He expressed hatred towards is his darker side. It shows this in the quote “many a man would have even blazoned such irregularities as i was guilty of;... I regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense of shame.” Using “blazoned” describes how other men would display their lesser side prominently and vividly, whereas in comparison Dr. Jekyll “hides them.” This shows us the vast difference between Dr.Jekyll 's opinion,a dn the opinions of the majority of man. “Morbid” projects Dr. Jekyll’s disturbing thoughts, degregrading himself. This gives the reader the impression that the darker side appears as a foul excess which Jeckyll wishes to completely get rid of. “Shame” furthers our understanding of this, as it tells us that he is ashamed of having a dark side. This can also mean that Jekyll has mental self-esteem issues, as he criticizes himself over something that is natural and occurs in every human being. This could add to the reasons of how he so suddenly falls into depression further into the novella. Henry Jekyll utilised scientific research as he attempted to remove his darker side. This is insinuated in the quote “A side light began to shine upon the subject from the laboratory table.” A “light” is being used to signify an idea, such as how

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.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde consists of reputation, good vs evil and damage control. In other words, Utterson tirelessly works to prevent his best friend Dr. Jekyll from being dragged into the horrid affairs of Mr. Hyde, and Dr. Jekyll goes through the greatest of lengths to prevent his Hyde identity from being discovered, in order to avoid anyone knowing of his somewhat questionable scientific work and morally despicable behavior. Much of the novel is based on the characters ' reputations, how they have to maintain a good public image, as they are upper class people.

In a fight between good versus evil, good is the recurring victor. However, when the good and evil are fighting within oneself, the outcome is not as desired as we wish it would be. Abraham Lincoln once said, “I would rather be a little nobody than an evil somebody.” Although good should definitely triumph evil, most people struggle between the two and it is a recurrent flaw. In the short stories “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, and “Poison” by Roald Dahl, the protagonists are motivated by self objectives and don’t pay attention to the sentiments of others, making them flawed.

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.

Without the bad force, the good force can’t be present; therefore, the bad is within the good and vice-versa. The book presents Dr. Jekyll as a good and respectable man, but Dr. Jekyll hides his dark nature until the creation of Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll likes being nice and friendly, but he also has dark urges he wants to satisfy. Once he creates Hyde, he feels Hyde’s dark urges seeping into his mind, because his good intention and nature wasn’t able to keep his dark nature in check. Dr. Jekyll presents what is going inside his head in his statement. “I would still be merrily disposed at times; and as my pleasures were (to say the least) undignified, and I was not only well known and highly considered, but growing toward the elderly man, this incoherency of my life was daily growing more unwelcome. It was on this side that my new power tempted me until I fell into slavery.” (Stevenson 62) This line is very obvious at pointing how Dr. Jekyll is getting bored of his dignified and mannerly life. He is losing the balance that kept him satisfied. Before he created Hyde, he was not able to satisfy most of his dark urges, which causes him unhappiness. There is a small imbalance of nature before, and that causes him to be curious about separating his nature to satisfy his dark apetite. Hyde helped him satisfy the bad urges without destroying his good appearance. But, Hyde’s evil power becomes extremely strong that it pulled all the joy out of being the good-natured Dr. Jekyll. When a person falls into any kind of slavery, they have no power to choose their fate. This line proves the imbalance that is present before and after the creation of Hyde. Even Dr. Jekyll is beginning to understand the imbalance between the two opposing forces can cause trouble, as he described in his statement. “I were more conscious of a more generous tide of blood; and I began to spy a danger that, if this

Have you ever watched a movie or a tv show, or even read a book, in which any character has two different sides? It was probably..., the good one and the evil one? And those sides are always opposites… Right? If this plot is not a strange thing to you, have you ever thought why is this idea/theme so present in many ways inside the pop culture?

Robert Stevenson uses his protagonist’s, Dr. Jekyll, person versus self conflict to illustrate this point. Throughout the text, the reader learns that Dr. Jekyll was born into good fortune and was well-respected in society. However, the reader learns that it was not enough for him. He craves irregularities and he seeks a way to experience both sides of his identity without harming his reputation, which leads him to immoral experiments that bring out Hyde. To be specific, Jekyll states the following, “Many a man would have even blazoned such irregularities as I was guilty of; but from the high views that I had set before me, I regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense of shame” (Stevenson 55). Here, Jekyll is stating that he represses his private desires so much and wants the irregularities in life so badly that he finally faces a challenge, whether to keep his private figure hidden or to reveal it to society and subsequently be judged by society. He now has to make a life changing decision, if he continues to enjoy his pleasures secretly, he will have it on his conscience daily and be tormented by the guilt; if he confesses them, he will no longer have the guilt on his conscience, but he will also be judge harshly by society. Mary Shelly also uses her protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, in way that empsizes

In the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, the predominant archetypal theme is “good and evil exist in all humans, and we live our lives struggling with these two forces.” This theme describes the duality of good and evil in Dr. Jekyll—the good being Jekyll and bad being Hyde— and the struggle he has with both sides fighting for dominance within himself. The emotional mindset and the physical attributes of Jekyll and Hyde show the good and evil within themselves.

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.