Dr Jekyll And Hyde Character Analysis

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.

Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” is physiognomy. We can see this in the

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.

“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is a novella written by Robert Louis Stevenson, a Scottish author. Written and published 1886, this novella reflects on the individual, and societal behavior during the Victorian era. During the Victorian era people, were supposed to behave like a normal person. Certain behaviors were highly restricted for example, showing evil. Instead, they were expected to give respect for everyone. People who acted out against the norm during this period were usually sent to asylums because such behaviors were unacceptable. People in this society did just that, they behaved as if they were perfectly normal. This does not mean that their bad side did not exist. Instead, they hid their

Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a complex and tricky novel to fully grasp, but the reader can come to understand many parallels to their own lives. Stevenson’s creation has stood the test of time because of its power to astonish; even if one previously new the outcome. This power has made Jekyll and Hyde, a pair that will continue to provoke thought in many readers in generations to

From the beginning of time, humans have questioned the validity of intrinsic duality of man. Are humans born with both pure goodness and pure evilness or is the latter cultivated? In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, one man, a scientist named Henry Jekyll, concludes that all men are both good and evil, so he decided to separate the two natures within one body. The outcome of his experiment resulted in the formation of a somewhat different product than he had imagined a creature by the name of Edward Hyde. Although Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the souls of one body, there are differences and similarities in their appearance and personality that illustrate the natural duality of good and evil within a man.

In the novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson provides insight into the inner workings of the duality that exists within humans. Dr. Jekyll is a well-respected doctor in his community while his differing personality Mr. Hyde is hideous and considered by the public as evil based on appearance. As the novel progresses Dr. Lanyon begins to investigate Mr. Hyde, he begins to realize similarities between both Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll such as their handwriting which results in the discovery that they are the same person. Dr. Jekyll is able to transform himself into Mr. Hyde by drinking a serum he has created which was intended to purify his good. Stevenson stresses the duality of good and evil that exists

“All human beings are commingled out of good and evil.” Robert Louis Stevenson was no fool when it came to understanding the duality of human nature evident within mankind. In his novella, the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson is able to explore his interests concerning the dark, hidden desires that all human beings are guilty of possessing. In his story, a well-respected professional by the name of Dr. Jekyll experiments with the idea of contrasting personalities and successfully undergoes a physical separation of such identities—one which would soon wreak havoc upon his very existence. As a result of his success, Edward Hyde is born. Hyde, characterized as a miniscule and terrifying, apelike figure from the start,

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

This essay will focus on how Robert Louis Stevenson presents the nature of evil through his novel ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. Using ideas such as duality, the technique used to highlight the two different sides of a character or scene, allegories, an extended metaphor which has an underlying moral significance, and hypocrisy; in this book the Victorians being against all things evil but regularly taking part in frown able deeds that would not be approved of in a ‘respectable’ society. This links in with the idea of secrecy among people and also that evil is present in everyone. The novel also has strong ties and is heavily influenced by religion. Stevenson, being brought up following strong

During the latter portion of the nineteenth century, Robert Louis Stevenson published his novella, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The fin de siècle saw the rise of different thoughts and ideas surrounding science and society. These concepts and interpretations sparked the discourse surrounding the theory of degeneration; which was the concern that civilization would fall to a lower state of being. This chapter will be reading multiplex personality as a manifestation of this broader cultural fear. Stevenson’s story played upon the changes society was facing during this time and the interest in scientific explanations for mental illness. He creates the character of Dr Jekyll, a scientist who invents a potion to unlock his inner,

Doubleness in gothic literature often explores the duality of humanity. It asks whether there was inherent goodness and evil within a person. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson engages with the idea of an individual being comprised of two separate entities—a double in one body—the evil Mr. Hyde and the good Dr. Jekyll. This split person of Jekyll and Hyde talks back to the optimistic ideas about humanity, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson. He writes in his address “The American Scholar” that “They did not yet see... that, if the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him”. However, in Stevenson’s novel, the world does not “come round to him” in Jekyll’s pursuit to a better self by indulging in his worse self, instead he was consumed by his own evil and harms others in the world. In Stevenson’s language, he continually emphasizes the advancement of self by using terms like “prison-house of [Jekyll’s] disposition” that encapsulates the inner turmoil Dr. Jekyll faces because of Mr. Hyde’s horrifying actions (1678). In this paper, I will argue that Jekyll’s inability to indulge into his darker desires without any stain on his consciousness is merely an illusion. Dr. Jekyll believes his “instincts” will stay grounded within himself when in reality, he is unable to maintain his status in upper society and thus he succumbs to Mr. Hyde’s reckless freedom. Not only does this reflect the

Stevenson shows how repression can lead to the development of dangerous, horrible secrets. The novella depicts repression through the character of Dr. Henry Jekyll, and shows what kind of threats it could pose on the society and its individuals. Edward Hyde is Dr. Jekyll’s doppelganger. He is the manifestation of Dr. Jekyll’s suppressed thoughts and desires. When Dr. Jekyll transformed into Hyde he turned the tables around. He challenged society. The transformation of a typical, respected Victorian gentleman into a troglodytic, dwarfish creature is an unsettling secret that highlights Gothicism in the novella. The idea of transforming from a high class Victorian gentleman into an apelike atavist underlines society’s fear of social and moral regression (Clausson, 2005).

Stevensons novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a well known story about a man, Dr. Jekyll, that uses a potion to separate the evil within himself into the appearance of a new person, Mr. Hyde. The novella goes back and forth between the the two characters and their misdeeds until ultimately meeting their demise. The interpretation of this novella is widely accepted as a metaphor for split personality disorder. However, while the drastic differences between Dr. Jekyll and Hyde somewhat fit this narrative, a closer look at the historical context in which this novella was written and the characteristics of both Jekyll and Hyde are better explained through alcohol addiction.

Every person has different personalities locked away from others within themselves.the identities come forth at different times during certain situations. The influences or the causes of these identities may come from friends, family, or the society. In Stevenson’s nineteenth century novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, he wrote a fictional story describing split personalities of a Doctor. These characters represented the battle a person faces everyday; however, the evil side becomes dominant at times. The characters within the story described Doctor Jekyll and his alter ego as separate people. Along with these descriptions, Stevenson included the appearances of the buildings which reflected the dweller. All of this will prove that Doctor Jekyll’s other persona is a satanic character.