“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
Within the psychology of humans, tendencies of violence are a part of all personalities. Though, in most cases, humans are able to conceal the many negative flaws within; however, others struggle to suppress that part of their personality. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde, a mysterious character by the name of Mr. Hyde is introduced. In Victorian England, Mr. Hyde is feared by all of the town’s citizens, adding to the man’s ominous character. Soon, Utterson discovers that Mr. Hyde resides within the same building of his childhood friend, Dr. Jekyll. Through many mysteriously violent events, Mr. Utterson makes various connections between the strange behaviors of Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde’s personality and the strange happenings. Through Utterson’s investigations, he eventually finds out the truth behind the vile personality of Mr. Hyde and his connection with Dr. Jekyll. In the process of discovering the truth, the restless behavior of Dr. Jekyll proves that he was concealing the sadistic side of himself. Therefore, Mr. Hyde demonstrates that the desire to be violent is found within all humans.
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
When doing a literary analysis using the psychoanalytic type A criticism, the reader must solely look to the work itself and exclude externalities. One may interpret, “Dr. Frankenstein and the monster as embodying Sigmund Freud’s theory of id and ego” (Telgen). The theory is based upon the idea that a character’s personality can be divided into three parts. The id which is the basic desire for what each person wants. The superego which is the opposite of id, it houses our sense of guilt. Lastly, there is the ego, the balance between the id and superego. The ego represents reality. Focusing on Victor Frankenstein and the monster he created, one can better understand their personalities by examining the three parts of their subconscious; and determining parallels between the two characters.
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 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
“Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was published on January 5, 1886. It is a science fiction drama and thriller. The work of Jekyll and Hyde depicts the story of a doctor having a distinct split personality, good and evil. He does everything humanly possible to keep his second identity unknown. He goes as far as to formulating a chemical mixture. The chemical mixture will allow him to separate the two entities without feeling guilty about what the evil personality does.
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?
Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein and Robert Stevenson 's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are two horrific tales of science gone terribly wrong, it emphasizes the saying, with great power comes great responsibility. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tells the story of Dr. Jekyll who, while searching for a way to divide his good self from his bad impulses, creates a potion using science that transforms himself into a man without a conscience. Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a bright young doctor who, devastated by the death of his mother, becomes obsessed with bringing the dead back to life. In the texts, authors Robert Stevenson and Mary Shelley use multiple literary elements to emphasize that knowledge
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.
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
Alongside the titular Hyde and Jekyll is Utterson – Jekyll’s best friend who is only trying to find the truth and bring righteous justice – compared to his colleagues, he is a lot less judgmental of bad actions; and will only choose to judge when he has answers. Throughout the story, Utterson is trying to find out the truth about Hyde – who he is, and where he came from, et cetera – as well as Jekyll, wanting to know information like why he entrusted his fortune to such an unknown and shady person such as Hyde – as shown in the
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,
Williams depicts the “realist compulsion” as the need to “make everything “all charactered and notable, seizing the eye”” (Williams 414). This is especially true in Stevenson’s use of visual imagery that “[seize] the eye”. Such is evident in the depiction of the characters Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde, and their environments. Dr. Jekyll is depicted as a man of “tall, fine build” (Stevenson 1699) while Hyde is constantly illustrated as a “pale and dwarfish” being (Stevenson 1684) and has strength that is visually compared to that of a “Juggernaut” (1683). This distinct use of visual imagery creates a stark contrast between two seemingly different personas who will later be revealed to be different sides of Dr. Jekyll himself. The use of environment and setting also aids in distinguishing the two characters. When Mr. Utterson visits Hyde in his home, the surrounding environment is portrayed as a “dingy street” and “a gin palace” with “many ragged children huddled in the doorways” (Stevenson 1689). These images are symbolic of vice and poverty, all of which emphasise the perverse and deviant nature of Hyde as he commits several sins in the novel and is lacking in morals. On the other hand, Dr. Jekyll’s home is often depicted as “warmed by a bright, open fire”, “large”, and “comfortable” (Stevenson 1685), an embodiment of the Victorian outward respectability and “moral”