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Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Symbolism Essay

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Symbolism in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde(Draft) Published on January 5, 1886 and written by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a bold novel that called into question the most basic of Evangelical principles and assisted in launching Stevenson into his prominent position as one of the most accomplished writers of the Victorian era. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde portrays the story of Mr. Gabriel John Utterson, a lawyer, who is fixated on unraveling the dark mysteries of the wretched Mr. Hyde and his appearances in the will of Utterson’s good friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll. When the novel concludes, Utterson is stunned to discover that Mr. Hyde is none other than the physical manifestation of Dr. Jekyll’s evil alter ego, bringing about the distinct theme in the novel. Through the use of symbolism, Stevenson displays the scrutiny …show more content…

Jekyll is quite pleased with himself as he feels younger, lighter, and happier in Hyde’s body, but his feelings of happiness toward Mr. Hyde quickly diminish as he receives word that Hyde is responsible for the gruesome murder of Sir Danvers Carew, a client and friend of Utterson (Thomason ed. 198). Jekyll becomes even more panicked after he transforms into Mr. Hyde in his sleep (198). More unauthorized transformations occur until Dr. Jekyll runs out of potion. He desperately tries to recreate the solution without success hence he is stuck in the body of Hyde. A worried Utterson and Dr. Jekyll’s butler, Poole, break down the door of the laboratory that Mr. Hyde is in only to find that he had killed himself moments before they had come through the door (Stevenson ?). Dr. Jekyll is now dead along with Hyde due to his experiment motivated by his frustration with societal norms and his desire to throw off the constraints of Victorian respectability and responsibility because of the hypocrisy and the unrealistic standards that forced him to suppress his true self

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