In the gothic novel “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Robert Louis Stevenson depicts an idea of the supernatural realm. It is a tale of a man that is well-known among the townspeople as Dr. Henry Jekyll. The doctor transforms into a being completely opposite of himself. Being a man of science, he feels a compulsion to create a potion that will release his alter ego, Mr. Hyde, while protecting his true identity. Throughout the story, many examples of symbolism are presented to the reader. These symbols present an idea of duality, compelling the reader to decide if it is a tale of two men or of a mad man. The similarities that occur throughout the novel assist the reader in concluding that both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are in fact …show more content…
The description Jekyll portrays upon taking the potion is illustrated to the reader as if he is being re-birthed but into a whole new perception of life. Physically, he is in such a pain because his bones are grinding, horrendous spirits are among him, and he is overcome with nausea. When it subsides, he is self-aware of his new mentality of wickedness (Stevenson 1710). Hyde sees himself in a mirror as the smaller, less robust side of Jekyll, and this is probable due to the facts of evolution because Jekyll, as a public figure, practiced more good in the world, as to Hyde, who is now getting to release his evil (Ferrer-Medina). Hyde, having an aggressive instinct, no moral or social standards, takes pleasure in violence ultimately leading to his own destruction (Singh). Jekyll wanted to release his inner self, but in doing so, he released a madman that murdered Sir Danver Carew. Hyde also indirectly caused another death in the novel; when Dr. Lanyon seen the transfiguration in the park and Hyde insisted that he go retrieve the ingredients for the potion to turn him back to Jekyll, he was traumatized by the whole incident. Not only did the appearance of Hyde begin to consume Jekyll, but also Jekyll began to grow weak and sick while Hyde grew stronger (Moss). Jekyll knew that Hyde was bad, but in the end, the power of Hyde and the overwhelming guilt from Hyde’s choices was too
Jekyll and Hyde Good vs evil Stevenson presents the idea of duality through the differences between Dr Jekyll and mr Hyde. Throughout the novella, there is a repeated antithesis as the good of Jekyll is compared to the “detestabillity” of Hyde. Jekyll has a highly respectable front and is known for a having a good reputation, however Hyde is infamous he known for being evil and is strongly disliked by all he meets. Hyde is described as “like Satan” and “devilish” empathising his pure evil and his dangerous and deplourable nature. Whereas Jekyll is often described as a respected man and is “well built”.
Jekyll finishes the potion he had been working on for years to create a mischievous alter ego. As Jekyll makes the potion,”the (mixture) had (bubbled), with a strong glow of courage, [I] drank off the potion” (stevenson 58). Once he drinks the potion, he transforms into his alter ego. Edward Hyde is his name, and he is pure evil.
In Jekyll and Hyde Louise Stevenson creates havoc for Dr. Jekyll, by showing us that Hyde is slowly taking over Dr. Jekyll. Dr. Jekyll originally created Hyde for his own enjoyment, a body in which he could “let go” his inner tensions and anger. Hyde however becomes too powerful for Dr. Jekyll to contain: “‘You are very good,’ sighed the other. ‘I should like to very much; but no, no, no, it is quite impossible; I dare not. But indeed,
Dr. Jekyll is a reputed man who can physically alter his body and turn into a short and small looking man. The altered form has a name, Mr. Hyde and the intentions of this man is a complete summoning of the suppressed evil and the dark side of Dr. Jekyll. Whenever Dr. Jekyll needs to turn into Mr. Hyde, he takes a certain salt that Dr. Jekyll invented with years of research. Dr. Jekyll one time involuntarily turns into Mr. Hyde far away from his house. Mr. Hyde is already infamous among the police and the public for the crimes he has committed.
Hyde is that it shows us the role Evil plays in our life. That the evil is born in us is just a matter of how we allow it to affect our life. In the novel Dr.Jekyll creates this potion that changes him into a totally different person. But in reality it’s just him but as an evil form of him. So in the story Mr. Hyde is representing the evil that Dr.Jekyll has.
The author supports this idea further because Dr. Jekyll had no choice but to kill Mr. Hyde and his evil ways to save his good self. “The powers of Hyde seemed to have grown with the sickliness of Jekyll. And certainly the hate that now divided them was equal on each side” (Stevenson 1718). Dr. Jekyll knew that the two identities could not coexist anymore. He would have to choose between the good and evil.
Hyde was spread to the public, Dr. Jekyll wasn’t ashamed of his acts, but rather, “glad to know it” (Page 72). Although he knew his deeds were evil and wicked, he felt that “Jekyll was now [his] city of refuge” (Page 72). This meant that Dr. Jekyll could give into the temptations that evil offers through Hyde, and yet live an illustrious life through Jekyll. A person should always be cautious with his actions. Dr. Jekyll realized that “evil finally destroyed the balance of [Dr. Jekyll’s] soul” (Page 73).
As soon as Jekyll gave into the existence of Hyde and created a compound he also compounded his situation or made it worse, emphasizing the negativity in giving into temptation. Soon after his transformation Hyde having been suppressed for two months, kills Sir Danvers Carew. Jekyll recalls the event saying “I struck in no more reasonable spirit than that in which a sick child may break a plaything. ”(87) The metaphor of equating murder with breaking a children's toy connects back to the first incident with Hyde where he tramples the child.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella introducing the jubilant, outgoing Doctor Henry Jekyll and the mysterious, deformed Edward Hyde in their story of confusing scenarios. The story is influenced by a mysterious and frightening dream Stevenson had, from this he developed the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This novella is a representation of the battle of good versus evil that one can acquire with one’s self, Dr. Jekyll represents the good and Mr. Hyde represents the evil. Having a wicked side and a good side is challenging because if in distress or confusion, it is easier to become mean, it’s necessary to control these two sides.
When the story opens, a story is being told about how Hyde trampled a young girl. Rather than stay on the scene, he retreats. It is Jekyll who provides the family with a check in order to keep them silent about the tragedy. Mutual friends of Jekyll’s, Mr. Utterson and Dr. Lanyon, are suspicious of the possible individual who could be terrorizing London, and they begin to investigate on their own. Jekyll wanted to separate his good side from his evil impulses creating a potion that would allow him to do that physically.
Within the novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, there stands a strange case of good versus evil. However, this story has no great villain or even a valiant hero, it has only a man fighting with his vices and dark urges and desires, which grow darker, more morbid and perverted at the novel goes on. Then, as a means to free himself of such darkness and “evil,” the man creates an antidote or rather cocktail of drugs to help him in such matter. Only problem being, the cocktail separates his psyche in two and with the two sides released from each other. The darkness the bad is allowed to grow and lash out unattended and unblocked.
“Hyde” is just Jekyll, having transformed his body into something unrecognizable". Jekyll does not make the potion to take away all evil away from himself. He created a potion that would allow himself to express his feelings without feeling guilt and facing any consequences effecting his respectable self. Dr. Jekyll in the novella is a respected professor and well known around the town. While Hyde on the other hand is almost the complete opposite.
Dr. Jekyll is seemingly good, kind, and benevolent; while is not purely good he is a moral gentleman. He started his experiment so he could totally separate the bad and the good in himself into two separate beings. He did not succeed, however, for Dr. Jekyll is plagued by the feeling that he wants to become evil again, thus he wants to become Mr. Hyde. It is important to note that Mr. Hyde is completely evil; he has no goodness in him, in contrast to Dr. Jekyll who was a troubled mix. Mr. Hyde feels no remorse for any evil he has done and actually feels elated when he does commit a moral sin.
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
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: More Than A 19th Century Novel In Kellen Williams’s “"Down With The Door, Poole": Designating Deviance In Stevenson 's Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde”, Williams suggests that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde employs realism, as do many 19th century novels. In Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it is evident that he weaves in a significant portion of Science and scientific language to propel the narrative and highlight the failings of the Victorian society. In addition, Stevenson’s perspective on the social anxieties of the time, namely “fears about degeneration” (Davis 208), the irrevocably dual nature of man, and the questionable morality of Victorian bourgeois values. However, the depiction of class and moral anxieties