Symbolism In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

Firstly Stevenson presents Mr Hyde as a Frightening outsider through the portrayal of an impulsive unevolved person.
This creates a sense of a frightening outsider as Hyde’s attitude was unfit for his society. Hyde is often described through animalistic imagery to emphasise how he is unfit in the society and how unevolved he is and to create the image of a troglodyte a word by which he is described in in the Carew murder case. As the theory of evolution became popular in the Victorian times Stevenson gives Hyde the attribute of a troglodyte which would frighten the society as Hyde was someone in an earlier step of evolution. It also creates fright as people in Victorian times were religious and the theory of evolution was something blasphemic which would frighten the society as it dared to

As Stevenson was fascinated by Darwin theory of evolution he decided to portray it in his work.

Due to the fact that in Victorian times the idea of rationalism was popular and that people weren’t supposed to show their strong emotions their darker sides were repressed and The locked doors and curtained windows of Jekyll’s house form the imagery of a man locking away the truth that lurks inside; Jekyll turning into Hyde is a metaphor of what happens when the unconscious mind is revealed; the murder of Carew symbolizes the repressed mind striking out at the conscious mind. The whole narrative is about unpeeling the layers that hide the repressed desires inside Jekyll

Stevenson also uses several narrative points of view to intensify the feeling of a frightening outsider. As Hyde is often narrated in a mysterious way through different characters perspectives which slowly reveals horror a feature used in gothics. Even though he is narrated through different points of view the descriptions seem to coincide which creep people out as it is unnatural for people to view someone in the same exact