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Literary analysis of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde
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In Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , the dualities reflected of the Victorian times. Where people lived a double-life because the norms society set for honourable individuals to comply with were to high for people to come after . Double standards created along of this and fuelled the deception of the middle-class . As society allowed , they lived superficially respectable , moral lives . Alternatively , at night , when doors was closed , that was when people started showing who they really were , showing their dark and desires from the deepest part of their mind .
The original story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a novel called “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” written by Robert Louis Stevenson. In 2003, they released a fantastic movie directed by Maurice Phillips and produced by John Hannah. Some of the main characters in this movie include Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde played by John Hannah, Mabel Mercer played by Kellie Shirley, and Ned played by Jack Blumenau. Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a drama/thriller about a scientist (Dr. Jekyll) whose mad experiment goes wrong. He wants to figure out how to separate the good from the evil in a human’s soul and what happens to him while it’s in his system.
He upholds the values that are expected of him in Victorian society. Stephenson shows this through Jekyll’s physical features (“a large, well-made, smooth faced man of fifty”) (Stephenson 35). His larger size and advanced age shows increased maturity and responsibility, hallmarks of his character. Being a doctor, he is required to live the way other upstanding people should live.
In the Epic Novella, The Odyssey, by Homer, both heroic and unheroic character traits of the main character Odysseus are found. On the journey of return to his homeland, Ithaca, him and his men are challenged by various obstacles. His journey shows multiple examples of heroic and unheroic character traits of himself. He was known as a great warrior for being intelligent and quick-witted; although he was selfish and arrogant.
In Robert Stevenson’s book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde duality is a reoccurring theme. Stevenson shows his duality through the plot, setting, and character’s dialogue throughout the novel. William Shakespeare shares the theme of duality in his play Romeo and Juliet. The duality of society and the duality of good and evil are a couple of the dualities revealed. Robert Stevenson’s
Jekyll lives his life as a good person with some evil and he struggles with this threw out the whole novella. Dr. Jekyll shows his good side
Jekyll & Hyde: The Duality of Scientific Philosophies The novella “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” has many elements of science compiled inside the story. The main scientific occurrence of the story is the duality between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which is what creates the basic concept of the story. The whole story plays around with this idea of duality and also on different scientists in the novella’s perspective on science.
how does Stevenson use contrast in the novel? As a whole, Stevenson uses the idea of duality to criticise the Victorian respectable society. By portraying every character in the novella to have dual sides, he suggests that his gap between appearance and reality is what makes people and places of Victorian London hypocritical. For instance, Jekyll appears respectable until he puts on a “thick cloak” of Hyde.
Dr. Jekyll is viewed as a smart man with a lot of knowledge, however, due to Jekyll not being satisfied with his life, he is determined to get more out of his live and is willing to do anything to fulfill his determination. Dr. Jekyll expresses this when he states, “[A] grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death. Then these agonies began swiftly to subside… [t]here was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably new and, from its very novelty, incredibly sweet. I felt younger, lighter, happier in body within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a millrace in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul.” (Stevenson 57).
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
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde consists of reputation, good vs evil and damage control. In other words, Utterson tirelessly works to prevent his best friend Dr. Jekyll from being dragged into the horrid affairs of Mr. Hyde, and Dr. Jekyll goes through the greatest of lengths to prevent his Hyde identity from being discovered, in order to avoid anyone knowing of his somewhat questionable scientific work and morally despicable behavior. Much of the novel is based on the characters ' reputations, how they have to maintain a good public image, as they are upper class people. The novel takes place in Victorian England and the main characters are all male members of upper class London.
Mr. Hyde and Dr Jekyll majorly relates on the tale adapted from Robert Stevenson’s novella about a man who develops and takes a specific type of drug, which releases his evil side and turns him from a mild-mannered science man into a murderous maniac. As the plot goes on, his appearance changes along with the behavior. This paper analyzes this characters using Jeffrey Jerome’s concept as outlined in the “monster culture”. Discussion From this novel, it is apparent that Stevenson has demonstrated, through his characters, the concept of “Monster Culture” outlined by Cohen. For instance, Dr Jekyll a principle character in this novel is a man with two distinct personalities,
The chemical mixture will allow him to separate the two entities without feeling guilty about what the evil personality does. Dr. Jekyll’s friend and attorney, John Utterson, witnesses a horrific encounter of an eight year old girl with a rude Mr.
Duality is an instance of opposition or contrast between two concepts or two aspects of something. The author, Charles Dickens, uses duality throughout the fictional novel, A Tale of Two Cities, to bring characters who would be thought of as polar opposites together. Dickens begins the novel by says, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times"(3). The author begins the book with the quote to show the duality straight away because best and worst are opposite of eachother. Such as when the discovery of the main characters in England and France are all somehow tied together.
In “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, the dualistic issue dominating the novel, coincide with the Freudian concepts of instincts and today is known as a strong example of Freudian personality theory in fiction. Freud believed that the psyche is built of three structures which battle for dominance; the id, the ego and the superego. By using his theory we are
