Theme Of The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

Stevenson writes ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ with the intention of showing the reader the duality of man and explores this through the juxtaposition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this novella, Stevenson also uses the environment and setting of the story to represent the contrast between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Discuss Stevenson’s presentation of duality in ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novel written by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and published in 1886. It concerns a lawyer, Gabriel Utterson, who investigates the strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the reclusive Mr. Edward Hyde. This novel represents an ideology in Western culture; the perpetual conflict between humanity’s virtuosity and immorality. It is interpreted as an accurate guidebook to the Victorian era’s belief of the duality of human nature. This essay will explore Mr. Edward Hyde and whether Stevenson intended for him to be a mere character in the novel or something of wider significance.

How Stevenson Explores the Nature of Good and Evil in the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

“Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” is a gothic novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson that was first published in 1886. It’s about a lawyer from London named G.J. Utterson who explores strange events that involves his old friend Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. The novel’s influence on language is extraordinary, with the phrase “Jekyll and Hyde” coming to the meaning of a person of diversity in moral character from one situation to the next (French literature).

The sophisticatedly-constructed novel ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ was devised in 1886, during the revolutionary Victorian era, by the author, Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson developed a desire to write in his early life and ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ cemented his reputation. The novel is widely known for its shocking principles that terrified and alarmed the Victorian readers. ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ plays with the idea of the dual nature of man, his two identities. On the surface, Dr Jekyll is a conventional, Victorian gentleman, but below the surface lurks the primitive, satanic-like creature of Mr Edward Hyde. One of the elements that play a significant part in the novel is setting. Stevenson subtly uses the setting to

In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson uses diction, imagery, and details to characterize both sides of his main character. The diction used in this novel really helps to characterize Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. “Now that evil influence had been withdrawn, a new life began for Dr. Jekyll” (Stevenson 33). The author uses these words to create a hopeful mood.

Jekyll, a prominent scientific figure in London, is the owner of a large estate and overall a handsome and wealthy man in his fifties. However, Jekyll hides many of his childish indiscretions in his well-nurtured childhood which he tended to enjoy; hence the reason he waited till after death to expose any of these misfortunes because they’d completely ruin his professional career. Mr. Hyde represents the pure, amoral evil residing inside himself, symbolized by the fact that Jekyll's clothes sag off of Hyde and the fact he is far younger than fifty, bringing up the idea that this sinister side of Jekyll was not developed until years after his birth. It is through deception that Jekyll is able to retain his appearance to society and keep his well mannered and well kept attitude in face of his sinister side, Mr. Hyde. The overall motif of appearance vs. reality becomes apparent in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson by not only expressing how far Jekyll would’ve gone to preserve his name

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian soldier from World War II once said: “The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.” This quote is pertinent to the prevailing theme in the novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The predominant archetypal theme is “good and evil exist in all humans, and we live our lives struggling with these two forces.” This theme describes the duality of good and evil in Dr. Jekyll—the good being Jekyll and bad being Hyde— and the struggle he has with both sides fighting for dominance within himself. Each side wants to become his only existing persona. The emotional mindset and physical attributes of Jekyll and Hyde show the good and

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde authored by Robert Luis Stevenson is one of the most famous dualistic novels in history. In this novel, we are able to respectively identify the two personalities of one Dr. Jekyll; the good and the evil. All humans are born with positive and negative characteristics, yet only one is prevalent. Dr. Jekyll is the ideal model for the “average” person, whose good side dominates the evil. Though one side of a person may be evident to society, the other still exists deep within the soul.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886. This book is a classic and has been very successful; therefore it has been turned into several films and theatre productions. The book seizes the reader’s attention and gets straight into drama and action, making it hard to put down. This well thought out and complicated book touches on many topics and themes. There are many reasons why Stevenson has done such a good job of making it very hard to put down this novel, for example, Stevenson’s strong characters, the setting, the plot, how the book is written and the several themes.

Robert Louis Stevenson was a popular 19th-century author who wrote books such as Treasure Island. One of Stevenson’s classic works is called Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. In this book, Dr. Jekyll conducts a science experiment that morphs him into Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde is the opposite of Dr. Jekyll. Where Dr. Jekyll represents temperance, virtue and science, Mr. Hyde represents passion, immoral behavior and a complete lack of reason. Whereas Dr.Jekyll is a law abiding citizens, Hyde runs rampant committing act of violence and murder. Within the story of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde one can obtain a moral lesson on appropriate behavior during the Victorian times. While it is still taboo to commit murder, other aspects of Hyde's personality deviate from the social norms at the

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde “explores the sinister side of Victorian masculinity, in particular the idea that the criminal tendencies and depraved behaviour normally attributed to the lower classes could also infect the middle and upper classes.” Maxwell continues expressing how the lower classes are associated with felonies but in this novella it “infects” Mr. Jekyll, a member of the upper class. Utterson avoids telling the cops that Dr. Jekyll is a close friend of Hyde after the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. Instead of maintaining his friend’s reputation and protecting his public image, Utterson talks to Jekyll directly. As a result of this, the relationship of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is kept a secret. There is great importance on outside appearances; so in order to protect themselves and Mr. Jekyll, they must keep themselves quiet. Not only can they ruin their reputations, for they can also ruin how they think and how they act.

Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, is another novel that took real attention in the people of the Victorian period. He became pretty known when he created and publish this novel and achieved great success. It was about a dedicated scientist, Dr. Jekyll, who had two different personalities and perspectives, split in the sense that good and evil lies in the same human. Following this, he made a portion, drank the substance and transformed himself into a hideous monster, Hyde. Mr. Utterson is a lawyer who helps to solve this case, in fact, he is the focused character in the story. After all, this novel portraits that science had an important role in this era. Meaning that all the scientific knowledge was presented in that time. Although, in those times, England had a gloomy atmosphere and was surrounded by clouds just like in the novel. And there are some breakthroughs in science that are still relevant in actual times. But, social behaviors led the upper class to demonstrate double identity in the Victorian period. This story can be interpreted as examining the duality of human

The Scottish author, Robert Louis Stevenson, wrote an incredible novel titled The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This was a shocking piece of literature for its time and still triumphs in the thriller/mystery category even today. Many people around the world love and respect the novel for its gothic tone, character development, and use of literary devices. Another reason that this novel is still a popular work today, is because there is a connection between modern day and the time period in which the novel takes place. Jekyll and Hyde is an incredibly germane work to many events happening in the world today. This is why it is very important for the novel to be read and for people to understand why it was written. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an important piece of literature that connects modern day to distant time periods, uses special writing elements to convey a message, and needs to have the story of its creation shared.