Many men of the period, as shown through Mr Utterson, were very concerned about the way that they appear to society, Mr Utterson for example ‘drinks gin’ ‘to mortify a taste for vintages’. However, Mr Hyde is primarily described by his actions rather than his physical appearance, the first encounter with Mr Hyde is when he ‘trample[s]’ a young girl, and it is only later that the reader discovers that he is ‘deformed’, by focusing on the actions Stevenson is forcing the reader to not judge a book by its cover, but rather by its deeds and morals -which is a key theme throughout the book. Mr Hyde clearly does not care about what other people think of him, and this really makes him an outsider to a society focused on facades and decorum. One could argue that by doing this Stevenson is saying that people shouldn’t care so much about keeping up appearances and this is what prevents us from being our true selves, but there is a problem in this conclusion, Hyde’s true self is evil and uncaring for the feelings of others which surely isn’t beneficial to anyone. However, Stevenson isn’t saying that we should all mince our words so as not to hurt anyone, he is offering the two extremes to the reader and showing that it is not possible to be one or the other, a Jekyll or a Hyde, we have to be ourselves and still try to have empathy for others because that is what makes us human.
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”.
“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson is a book that intrigues one’s mind, because it makes us question ourselves about the balance between the two opposing forces. The story starts out with Mr. Utterson, a lawyer and a great friend of Dr. Jekyll, hearing about Hyde for the first time, who is very shady and somewhat misconfigured. Mr. Utterson hears about Hyde’s bad reputation, and his usage of Dr. Jekyll’s laboratory; therefore, Mr. Utterson suspects some kind of relationship between Hyde and Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Utterson’s friend Lanyon, who is a doctor, dies after Dr. Jekyll goes into seclusion; Mr. Utterson goes to Dr. Jekyll’s house to seek the truth behind Lanyon’s death, but he instead sees Hyde dead. Mr. Utterson
Success was more important to him than his own life. He is showing that his love for science made him live a life on the edge. Some people are so passionate about something that they are willing to accept the good and the evil of their passion. Jekyll and all people struggle with good and evil in their lives. The novella The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde depicts this in several ways.
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
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).
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.
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
This in itself is answered and directly bought up by Jekyll in the book, with the quote: I believe that this quote explains that Dr. Jekyll feels that although Hyde is pure evil, he knows that there is also an evil side to Jekyll – he allowed Hyde to exist, fully well knowing that Hyde would be dangerous. 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
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.
“All human beings are commingled out of good and evil,” said by Robert Louis Stevenson. These words paint a clear picture of what the theme of the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson. This novel is a book full of mystery and curiosity, but what good is a book if it does not contain a lesson to be learned. Robert Louis Stevenson is known to write books with the theme of the impossibility of identifying and separating good and evil, which many can agree on. On the contrary, many people claim there are themes that would best fit the book of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, like the theme of violence, science, and apperance.
Through the character of Dr Jekyll character, we can see an unwillingness of entering the social order, which is made evident by Mr. Hyde, his direct opposite. At first he drinks the drug in order to enter into a realm that has no social mores, no laws from the father to follow. He assumes a Mr. Hyde, the new identity so as to test those boundaries. Through the “monster culture” we can establish that Dr Jekylls unconscious desire is personified in Mr. Hyde, and this will enable us to see Dr Jekyll as the illusion of reality and he was not whosever he claimed to be. He possessed unconscious desires which he had to let out.
In 1886 the book "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", written by Robert Louis Stevenson, was released and became one of the most popular Stevenson's work. It was a huge success all around the world, bringing a lot of distinct aspects from the Victorian Era, such as conflicts between social classes; the influence of religion in people's life; the importance of people's reputation; conflicts
Stevenson also warns readers of the all-consuming nature of evil. This is indisputably epitomised in the character os Dr. Jekyll as he succumbs to his “other self”, Hyde, and is unable to escape from the insidious nature of Hyde. Only death was able to relieve Dr. Jekyll of his immoral and “wicked” side (Stevenson 1689). Therefore, the text could be viewed as a 19th century social novel that allegorises the evils and immoral vices of
Within the novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, there stands a strange case of good versus evil. However, this story has no great villain or even a valiant hero, it has only a man fighting with his vices and dark urges and desires, which grow darker, more morbid and perverted at the novel goes on. Then, as a means to free himself of such darkness and “evil,” the man creates an antidote or rather cocktail of drugs to help him in such matter. Only problem being, the cocktail separates his psyche in two and with the two sides released from each other. The darkness the bad is allowed to grow and lash out unattended and unblocked.
