Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Research Paper

Gothic literature is a genre that typically invokes a feeling of fear or mystery in its readers. One example of Gothic literature is “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” This novel is about a scientist named Dr. Jekyll who uses chemistry to divide himself into two different people in an attempt to separate his good and bad qualities. In “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” author Robert Louis Stevenson includes several elements of Gothic literature, such as omens, high emotion, horrifying events, strong Gothic vocabulary, and supernatural events. Robert Louis Stevenson includes many omens, portents, and visions to heighten the sense of horror and foreshadow the imminent consequences of Dr. Jekyll’s decisions. For example, Mr. Enfield makes the following remark at the beginning of the story: “You start a question, and it's like starting a stone. You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting others.” This comment serves as a portent of the events to come with Utterson’s struggle to understand Jekyll’s situation. Another instance of visions in this novel can be seen in Utterson’s dream of a faceless man standing over Jekyll in his sleep. This alludes to the idea of Mr. Hyde having control over a helpless Dr. Jekyll. Furthermore, Jekyll’s increasingly reclusive uncharacteristic behaviors signify a bad omen for the rest of the story.

For example, Stevenson describes Hyde’s complexion as a “ghastly pallor,” which suggests that he is a deathly shade of white. He also characterizes Hyde as “troglodytic,” meaning that his appearance resembles that of an uncivilized creature who lives in a cave. After several transformations into Mr. Hyde, Jekyll is said to appear “haggard” because of how tolling the experience was. A final example of gothic vocabulary is the repeated use of the word “evil” to describe Hyde and his