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. Like Dr. Jekyll do not let the evil side take over and make life miserable. Having this battle of good versus evil with one’s self is an extremely problematic matter to endure. …show more content…
Jekyll, happy and generous, is more enjoyable than being Mr. Hyde, angry and short tempered. We all have a Dr. Jekyll and a Mr. Hyde side inside of us. It is easier to become Mr. Hyde when something frustrating or sad happens since that is a natural reaction. But if being Hyde becomes a natural thing all the time, this can be unhealthy, emotionally and physically. The anger and frustration would take over one’s self. Dr. Jekyll in this novella turns into Hyde too often and this leads him to spontaneously turn into Hyde at the worst moments. This makes all his friends nervous and scared. So, being evil all the time is not healthy, it’s better to know how to control the evil
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”.
On the other hand, Dr. Jekyll is a prosperous physician that loves his friend Mr. Utterson (Buzzwell par 1). However, both the bestial Mr. Hyde and well-respected Dr.Jekyll both share a common desire: evil (Duality of Human Nature par 1). Mr.Utterson cries out on page thirteen that Dr. Jekyll was no saint as a youth, in fact, he was wild and Mr. Hyde could possibly be the ghost a sacred sin (Stevenson 13). In continuation, Dr. Jekyll admits in a letter that he created Mr. Hyde to seek freedoms that he as a respectable man would not be able to (Stevenson
Interests in math and science. Mr Hyde had developed a potion that allowed him to turn into Dr. Jekyll. Jekyll found a way to separate his good side from his darker side, by transforming himself into a monster free of consciences. But he later found that he was turning into more and more into Mr Hyde. He started turning into Mr. Hyde in random places, the transformations got worse and worse.
These crippling addictions have been seen throughout history, having chokeholds on innocent people, and likely will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. These addictions are only getting stronger with the higher availability and strength of drugs, causing abusers to become slaves to them which are explained by Comitini as she states, “When De Quincey or Coldridge describes the experience of taking or trying to quit, he depicts an individual experience of moral weakness rather than any physical or social consequence from taking or quitting the drug,” (Comitini 115). Comitini puts this perfectly, as she describes people trying to break addictions as very volatile. This parallels Jekyll since he is becoming weaker to his addiction to the point where he is essentially Mr.Hyde all the time and is never “sober”. Hyde is truly rotten to the core when it comes to his behavior, but even his outside appearance is evil.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the duality between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde shows a difference between an evil personality versus a good personality within the body of Dr. Jekyll. One example of the personality change is evident when Dr. Jekyll cuts off Mr. Hyde and his friends notice once, “the dark influence of Mr. Hyde had been withdrawn, the doctor had returned to his old tasks and amities; a week ago, the prospect had smiled with every promise of a cheerful and an honoured age; and now in a moment, friendship, and peace of mind, and the whole tenor of his life were wrecked.” (Pg. 36-37) Dr. Jekyll was under the influence of a friend, Mr. Hyde which made his whole personality change, but once this figure was removed from his life he returned to his happy and friendly self. Then a sharp change occurred and everything went back to the way he acted when he was with Mr. Hyde, evil, dark, and disconnected. Dr. Jekyll later in his statement admitted he had two personalities saying, “Although I had now two characters as well as two appearances, one was wholly evil and the other was still the old Henry Jekyll.”
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).
Good, however, is shown to overcome evil, by the actions and events taken and that had occurred within the novel. The "evil", Mr. Hyde, being born of good, the evil deeds only present while the novel 's "good," Dr. Jekyll is not, and the novel’s end, where Dr. Jekyll deciding to not let his darker half kill any longer and makes a decisive and sacrificial decision. All of these point to this concept that good prevails and triumphs evil no matter the cost and no matter the strength or power of evil whether it be an overwhelming gap or a tiny little crack. Dr. Jekyll was a good man and a good surgeon, doctor, and scientist, but he was not without his own vices and set of foreboding dark impulses. These he found a hassle to deal with and also big troubles.
“The man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground” (3). Mr. Hyde ran over a young girl late into the night without feeling any guilt. Robert Louis Stevenson shows the archetypal theme of good and evil exists in all people in the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde. Good and evil exist in all people and we struggle with these two forces. This is shown through Jekyll because he is good with a little bad in him, this is also shown through Hyde, who is evil with some good, and it is lastly shown with the lab because it brings good and evil into Jekyll’s life.
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 are different in their behaviors. Mr. Hyde can break out into a great flame of anger. This is evident because while a maid servant was getting ready for bed, she was staring out her window and saw what Mr. Hyde had done. Mr. Hyde was talking with someone and he was listening with an “ill-contained impatience,” and out of nowhere, Mr. Hyde broke out into a great flame of anger, stamping his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on, The maid servant described him as a madman. He then proceeded to break all of his victim’s bones and ended up killing him.
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
Irresponsible Use of Knowledge & Consequences Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein and Robert Stevenson 's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are two horrific tales of science gone terribly wrong, it emphasizes the saying, with great power comes great responsibility. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tells the story of Dr. Jekyll who, while searching for a way to divide his good self from his bad impulses, creates a potion using science that transforms himself into a man without a conscience. Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a bright young doctor who, devastated by the death of his mother, becomes obsessed with bringing the dead back to life. In the texts, authors Robert Stevenson and Mary Shelley use multiple literary elements to emphasize that knowledge
Good and evil are a common way how people live their lives, this has been going on for decades. In Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde Robert louis Stevenson mystery novella physical description of Hyde and Jekyll to reflect good and evil. Hyde is portrayed as evil antagonist in the novel. Mr. Utterson asks what Hyde looks like and Enfeild struggles to tell him “ deformed somewhere and he gives a strong feeling of deformity”. When the doctor and girls family met Hyde they hated him and wanted to kill him.
Jekyll and Frankenstein bring out monsters that cause catastrophe in their own worlds. Both Dr Jekyll and Frankenstein explore the catastrophic results of overreaching. Shelly portrays the effects a negative environment can have on The Monster whilst Stevenson sates all humans must endure the battle of duality between good and evil. Jekyll and Victor’s intentions are well intended but are lost into the abyss of their prior motivations. The Monster proved that he had compassion whereas Hyde demonstrated pure evil.
In Cohen’s \ perspective, the respectable Dr Jekyll could entertain thoughts as a man living a forbidden life and full of vices. However, he is held in check by his superego’s moral restraints. Consequently, we see Jekyll gradually transforming his moral and physical self into another being, Hyde, a diabolical man that comes to recognize his