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Does Stevenson Create Suspense In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

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A mystery story would not be considered a mystery without the use of suspense. Suspense is the hook that keeps the reader attached to the story and eager to read its contents fully. Without it, there would be no reason to want to solve the puzzle created by the author. Robert Louis Stevenson’s short story, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, does a good job of using this literary element in a way that makes his story interesting and brings light to common Victorian behaviors. Dr. Jekyll’s discovery allowed him to quite literally separate the good and evil within himself into separate people, which led to some serious consequences for him. Innocent people were injured or murdered because of his evil alter-ego, Mr. Hyde, eventually leading …show more content…

He allows himself to ask questions about the mystery of Jekyll and Hyde, but he does not allow himself to even speak about the possibility of Jekyll being involved in supernatural phenomena, even though he knows something is amiss. Based on this, the reader can see that Victorian society did not like to speak about things that could disrupt the order that they centered their lives around. Even though Utterson had the perfect opportunity to unveil the truth about Jekyll, he willingly chose not to reveal it in order to maintain the doctor’s reputation, since that would have caused his whole world to change. The reality that Victorian people believed in might have been a facade in numerous ways, but Utterson’s secrecy throughout the story conveys that sticking to social norms was more important than uncovering the truth during that era. Another character that refused to talk about Dr. Jekyll’s secret was his ex-friend, Dr. Lanyon. Aside from Jekyll, Dr. Lanyon was the first person to find out about the truth of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and he was the most opposed to the work that his old friend

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