Jekyll and Hyde TCEA 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 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; …show more content…
Jekyll’s physical appearance is described as a: “a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness, large handsome face” (12-13). Jekyll is tall and built: tying in to his stature in his community. He is also referenced as smooth-faced, just as everyone sees his personality—smooth and put together. The way the author described Jekyll was perfectly fitting to the good he represented. Mr. Hyde’s physical appearance however, was vastly different from Dr. Jekyll. 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. Taking this into account, Hyde’s projection onto the world is broken, ugly and warped: just as his voice is. He looks deformed without any real malformations, just as the evil inside of him deforms his
Jekyll and Hyde Good vs evil Stevenson presents the idea of duality through the differences between Dr Jekyll and mr Hyde. Throughout the novella, there is a repeated antithesis as the good of Jekyll is compared to the “detestabillity” of Hyde. Jekyll has a highly respectable front and is known for a having a good reputation, however Hyde is infamous he known for being evil and is strongly disliked by all he meets. Hyde is described as “like Satan” and “devilish” empathising his pure evil and his dangerous and deplourable nature. Whereas Jekyll is often described as a respected man and is “well built”.
Good and evil is everywhere. It's been around forever, even since Adam and Eve. this concept isn’t new. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s mystery novella, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, physical description of Jekyll and Hyde are used to reflect good and evil. Jekyll is described as a good person.
Hyde’s physical appearance alongside his violent actions contribute to his notorious reputation. Described as “pale and dwarfish”, he gives the “impression of deformity without any nameable malformation” with his “displeasing smile”, home to a “sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness”, speaking with a “husky” and “somewhat broken voice” (B1). Saposnik explains the reason behind Hyde’s metaphorical descriptions: “essentially that is what he is: a metaphor of uncontrolled appetites, an amoral abstraction driven by a compelling will unrestrained by any moral halter. Such a creature is, of necessity, only figuratively describable, for his deformity is moral rather than physical.” (Saposnik)
Mr. Hyde is portrayed as being deformed in his physical features. Dr. Jekyll mentions that Hyde's deformities may be a result of being buried underneath Jekyll's respectable side. Barbara Gates depicts Hyde as a sort of shadow saying, "He is both monster and shadow par excellence-- another self not only for Jekyll but for all the presumably upright Victorian bachelors of the story who perceive his deformities and for whom he becomes both devil and death knell. " Hyde is a shadow and the lesser half of the two personalities because of his despicable personality.
In the first two chapters of Robert Louis Stevenson’s book, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the author shows good versus evil in many ways. In my opinion, he shows good versus evil by writing about how Dr. Jekyll leaves everything to Mr. Hyde in his will. How his lawyer, Mr. Utterson, believes that if Mr. Hyde gains knowledge of this will, that he will soon grow impatient to inherit such things. Also, in my opinion, the description of Mr. Hyde given by Mr. Utterson portrays evil.
Hyde’s death would be viewed as the end consequence of evil and good being teared
But Hyde the other side of Jekyll was different. He was criminal. Everyday when Jekyll transformed to Hyde, he did everything bad. What is worse, he kills his own fiancee.
J and H Our world will always be filled with good and evil. This concept is portrayed in many ways. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s mystery novella, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll’s actions are influenced by the Victorian Era.
The incident with the little girl might suggest the latter (second) suggestion. Hyde has gnarled hands. He is so small in stature that when the transformation occurs turning Jekyll into Hyde, the clothes on Jekyll 's body overwhelm Hyde. His face is unlike Jekyll 's in all respects.
In the novella of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Stevenson uses the backdrop of utter darkness and fog in almost every scene to allude to the uncertainty, compulsiveness, and hidden mysterious that are in every aspect of human nature, demonstrated through the complex character that is Mr Hyde. The evilness that Stevenson believed every human possessed was thoroughly exemplified through Hydes actions in the story whether the reader noticed it or not. Symbolized through setting, the complete darkness was the uncertainty of Hydes physical appearance to who ever he encountered. Although his victims could feel his brutal cruelness through the vibe let out through those certain characters opposing senses besides sight. Fog was the uncertainty that goes
Good, however, is shown to overcome evil, by the actions and events taken and that had occurred within the novel. The "evil", Mr. Hyde, being born of good, the evil deeds only present while the novel 's "good," Dr. Jekyll is not, and the novel’s end, where Dr. Jekyll deciding to not let his darker half kill any longer and makes a decisive and sacrificial decision. All of these point to this concept that good prevails and triumphs evil no matter the cost and no matter the strength or power of evil whether it be an overwhelming gap or a tiny little crack. Dr. Jekyll was a good man and a good surgeon, doctor, and scientist, but he was not without his own vices and set of foreboding dark impulses. These he found a hassle to deal with and also big troubles.
“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.
“The man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground” (3). Mr. Hyde ran over a young girl late into the night without feeling any guilt. Robert Louis Stevenson shows the archetypal theme of good and evil exists in all people in the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde. Good and evil exist in all people and we struggle with these two forces. This is shown through Jekyll because he is good with a little bad in him, this is also shown through Hyde, who is evil with some good, and it is lastly shown with the lab because it brings good and evil into Jekyll’s life.
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
Dr Jekyll could not control the evil side, because he had no good side of him. Dr. Jekyll is a doctor, who is respectable man, educated, reputable and has two side of human nature. He has conflict between evil and good side, therefore he willing to separate the two. He starts his research on duality of human nature, and he successfully releases his evil side, Hyde, which leads Dr. Jekyll to the tragic end in the end. Jekyll and Hyde seems to appear as two people with completely different personality.