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Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde Character Analysis

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For my Victorian novel, I chose to read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Like most Victorian novels, this book contains an original situation, a conflict, a climax, and a conclusion. Dr. Jekyll is an old doctor with two very close friends, Mr. Utterson and Mr. Lanyon. Mr. Hyde is a younger man with an aptitude for evil. Throughout the book, Mr. Utterson is disturbed by this link between his friend, Jekyll, and this mysterious evil man, Hyde. Hyde has a key to Jekyll’s house and gives orders to Jekyll’s servants. Mr. Utterson, who is Jekyll’s lawyer, begins to feel extremely skeptical when Jekyll leaves his estate and his fortune for Hyde in his will. Utterson fears that Hyde has some authority over the …show more content…

The first woman character we see in the novel is knocked over by Mr. Hyde. Stevenson writes, “the man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground” (Stevenson 3). After being trampled, the girl cries for help, signifying that she relies on other people for her protection, making her relatively docile and one-dimensional. The second woman we see is the maid, who is described as, “romantically given, for she sat down upon her box, which stood immediately under the window, and fell into a dream of musing” (Stevenson 17). Once again, this is an example of a female who is a romantic, and only a romantic, making her a superficial character. She witnesses Hyde murder the man on the street. When she sees Hyde beating this man with a cane, she faints and wakes up after Hyde is gone, showing her as a very inactive character that does not have much influence on the novel. The absence of female characters in this novel is due to the fact that in Victorian novels, women characters are supposed to be examples of good moral influence, and Stevenson thought that women would have pointlessly complicated the book. Women in this book had weak, secondary roles so that Stevenson could focus on other more pressing issues present in the Victorian era, like man’s inner good vs.

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Overall, Hyde is portrayed as a terrifying outsider within the text. The parallels drawn between the character of Hyde and Satan are present throughout the novel, immediately establishing him as a dangerous, untrustworthy character. However, in some ways, Hyde is less of an outsider than he initially appears. Mentally, he still conformed to many of the norms in Victorian society, placing particular importance on his reputation, allowing Stevenson to show that despite Jekyll’s attempts to separate himself from evil, human nature still had an impact on

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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.

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In those who are themselves human, compassionate and thoughtful, Hyde raises some red flags. Even Jekyll fairly quickly recognizes the nature of Hyde: “Instantly the spirit of hell awoke in me [Jekyll] and raged… My devil [Hyde]… came out roaring” (Stevenson 84). However unlike Utterson and Enfield, Jekyll is taken by the “lust for evil.” Even a man as good as Jekyll can be swayed by the dark side.

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The first thing that came to mind was that after running over the little girl, Hyde comes out of his house with a cheque that has another mans name on it (Stevenson 8). Later on in the story we find out that the name on the cheque was Dr.Henry Jekyll’s. I feel things could have gone differently if Mr.Utterson had told Dr.Jekyll about Mr.Hyde using his cheque. Perhaps it would have changed Dr.Jekyll mind about putting Mr.Hyde in the will, moreover it might have even prodded him to open up to Mr.Utterson about Mr.Hyde.

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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

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As he witnesses the increasingly violent and criminal actions of Mr. Hyde, Jekyll starts to feel guilty and ashamed of what he has become. This leads to a period of self-reflection, as Jekyll tries to understand the motivations behind his actions and regain control over his dual nature. Through this process, Jekyll develops a deeper understanding of himself and the world around him, and he becomes more self-aware and introspective as a result. In the end, despite the tragedy that unfolds, Jekyll's growth and development as a character are evident, and he is left with a deeper understanding of the human condition and the complexities of good and

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Dr. Henry Jekyll is characterized as a kind and respected man with status. While his alter ego, Mr. Edward Hyde emits eerie sensations to anyone that encounters him. His alter ego slowly takes over as the goodness in him struggles to remain in control. This novel was popularized and adapted to various media. I think one of the reasons behind its success was due to the fact that, during the Victorian era, such plot brought excitement to the readers.

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Eder Perez Mrs. Moore English II ECHS A5 23 February 2024 DJMH Literary Analysis Choosing between good and bad can be a struggle for anyone every day. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this struggle is shown through the actions of a kind man named Dr. Jekyll who hides an evil identity within him. Dr. Jekyll lets evil dominate him, causing him to harm many people, including himself. This only continues until he is convinced things won’t end well for him, however, he decides to get rid of this evil forever by taking himself down with it. Stevenson portrays the struggle between the duality of man when choosing between good and evil becomes a problem in man's lifestyle.

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The Victorian Doppelgänger in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella set in during the nineteenth century, in Victorian England. At the time, repression was the leading factor that caused individuals to feel the need to maintain an unrealistic image of perfection. In this Novella, Dr. Jekyll is presented as a higher class, respected member of the Victorian society who has a doppelganger, Hyde. It is stated that Victorian’s from the upper class performed “unaccepted behaviors”, such as Dr. Jekyll. Through the use of the literary device of the “doppelgänger”, Stevenson explores the them of duality that exists in Victorian society as a result

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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

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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”

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Jekyll first finds out that Mr. Utterson wanted to talk about his will he immediately tries to change the topic this gives a sense of secrecy and mystery. This leaves the reader to wonder what Dr. Jekyll is trying to hide, furthermore when Mr. Utterson tries to pursue the topic by mentioning that he has “been learning something of young Hyde” The doctors features darkened “he grew pale to the very lips, and there came a blackness about his eyes” This is the first link Stevenson gives us between the Mr. Hyde who is almost shrouded in secrecy throughout the novel and the respectable Dr. Jekyll, this generates a sense of mystery in the reader trying to figure out what the relationship between the two are. Soon afterwards Jekyll convinces Mr. Utterson to keep Hyde a private matter and tells him everything is under his control and he can “be rid of Hyde” at any moment he pleases. However on the second reading the reader knows that the situation is in fact quite the contradiction to what he just said, so this gives an effect of dramatic irony.

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