Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Research Paper

“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

If Hyde has been described as Hyde "savage, uncivilized, and given to passion…poorly evolved" (Shubh), then perhaps he represents the true, original nature of man, repressed by society, norms, and conscience. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde suggests that this restrained, amoral side of human nature, once given a chance to escape, cannot be controlled. Even in this 'height of western civilization', Victorian England, this tempting evil can overcome even the most virtuous of men. Jekyll is neither good nor bad, but a man whose deeply repressed urges motivated him to separate, but not remove, the evil parts of his nature. There is a misinterpretation that Hyde is an unwanted byproduct of trying to create pure good, that Jekyll is not in control as Hyde, and that Jekyll doesn't enjoy being Hyde. In fact, Jekyll loves being Hyde, he revels in the freedom that he brings him (Stevenson 54), but the problems with his dual personality starts when he has to face the consequences of his actions. Jekyll has a difficult time balancing Hyde's debaucheries and Jekyll's rational, refined side. However, Jekyll realizes too late that he has indulged in Hyde too much and has let him grow out of control. At the beginning of the novel, Hyde was the “smaller, slighter, and younger than Henry Jekyll” (Stevenson 57). His more youthful appearance represents how young and free Jekyll feels as Hyde, but also symbolizes how little his personality was seen before Jekyll drank his potion. Early in the novel, Hyde is easily controlled, Jekyll can use his potion to limit how often he transforms into Hyde (Stevenson 56). However, as he starts to morph back and forth, it starts to take more and more potion to control the switches until

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde is about the double existence of good and evil in man. “Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied; and vice sometimes by action dignified.” (II iii) He created a potion to separate his good self from his evil self. Jekyll was able to avoid guilt by committing crimes as Hyde. Hyde is Jekyll’s mask; as Zimbardo says in the article Why Good People Do Bad Things, “You minimize social responsibility...Nobody knows who you are, so therefore you are not individually liable.” The despicable alter ego retreats into Jekyll after he has committed his crimes so that the police can’t find him.

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

The story of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde is a prime example of good versus evil as a man struggles with an experience that goes bad. Dr. Henry Jekyll is a man of science and he develops a potions that causes him to have two separate and distinct personalities. As time passes, Dr. Jekyll discovers that he is losing his ability to control the sinister side of his personality, Mr. Hyde. The effects of this scientific experiments will dramatically change his life and the lives of his friends.

The key ideas in chapter 1 of ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll’s id is Mr. Hyde. As stated in an outside source, “A study in dualism: The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” “Mr. Hyde would seem easily recognizable as the id, seeking instant gratification, having an aggressive instinct, and having no moral or social mores that need be followed,” (Singh and Chakrabarti 13). Mr. Hyde as seen multiple times throughout the novel, expresses one of the components of the id mentioned in the quotation. One example showing how he lives by no morals or values is when he kill Sir Danvers Carew. Hyde beat him to death out of impulse when he passed him late at night on the street. This murder also represents how Mr. Hyde shows aggression. Instant gratification is seen towards the end of the novel. In chapter 10 Jekyll says “My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring,” (Stevenson 92). Hyde could not withhold being repressed anymore and breaks out without Dr. Jekyll’s potion. He does this because he is looking for pleasure. This relates to Freud’s pleasure principle where it is Hyde’s instinct to transform to be

As humans, the hardships that are faced in life are inevitable events that are constantly trying to be avoided. In some cases, people look for an exit. To some, this exit may be family time or participating in their favorite hobby. In other cases, some people fail to have the same luck as others. Their desire to dodge their problems may result in drugs, violence, alcoholism, or possibly worse. The Strange Cases Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novel about a man who needs an exit. Dr. Jekyll is a high class man that has an addiction fueled by his desires to become a different man, and to escape his bottled up anger and evil side that he cannot part with as Dr. Jekyll. This pushes him to create a potion that allows him to become this second man. This second man is Mr. Hyde, the evil dark side of Dr. Jekyll. Dr. Jekyll becomes addicted to being Mr. Hyde and wants to be him full time. Robert L. Stevenson displays a common pattern of addiction in The Strange Cases of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde through Dr. Jekyll’s initial desire to create something that allows him to escape his problems, without facing responsibilities, even though he ends up facing much heavier long term consequences.

In pursuing his scientific experiments and validating his work, Jekyll claims, "man is not truly one, but truly two." So, in Jekyll's view, every soul contains elements of both good and evil, but one is always dominant. In Jekyll's case, his good side is dominant, but he knows there is evil inside of him, but at the end of the book his evil side becomes stronger and unstoppable. However, as a respectable member of society and an honorable Victorian gentleman, Jekyll cannot fulfill his evil desires. Thus, he works to develop a way to separate the two parts of his soul and free his evil characteristics. Unfortunately, rather than separating these forces of good and evil, Jekyll's potion only allows his purely evil side to gain strength. Jekyll is in fact a combination of good and evil, but Hyde is only pure evil, so there is never a way to strengthen or separate Jekyll's pure goodness. Without counterbalancing his evil identity, Jekyll allows Hyde to grow increasingly strong, and eventually take over entirely, perhaps entirely destroying all the pure goodness Jekyll ever had.

One of the most vital concepts incorporated into The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the representation and depiction of the duality of mankind. Jekyll works to find a solution which will separate him into his reckless, immoral persona and his respectable, Victorian self. After consumption, this potion causes him to completely transform into a man who is known as Hyde. As Hyde, he can express himself in immoral, evil ways. This not only includes moral and immoral wants but rational and irrational wants. Not only does this transformation enable him to keep his good reputation even while he does horrid, unacceptable things, but it allows him to do things which he most likely would not even

In the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde it is regarded that these identities are two different persons but this is not the case, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are one in the same. There is much confusion when reading this literary work by Robert Louis Stevenson; this piece is regarded as horrific and disturbing in many ways. But the biggest twist is when it is reveled to the reader that these two people are the same and that below the surface of Dr.Jekyll is an evil man who enjoys committing evil acts. Mainly that Dr. Jekyll believes he has no choice but to commit these horrid acts because he has no control over is evil side. I don’t believe this is the case, Hyde isn’t a real person and doesn’t exist, nor is he someone who commits

However, with careful reading one will see that they are actually one person. One may argue in regards to being one being operating on two different ends of mental and emotional scales that Mr. Hyde essentially does not exist. It must be noted that the potion that Jekyll creates is not that was intended to move evil but one that allowed him to express his contained nature. In fact, Hyde could best be described as a disguise when worn Jekyll can carry out his urges without guilt or conscious. Hyde is not a different person that is separate from Jekyll but instead a labeled manifestation of negative and destructive urges of Jekyll. In many ways Hyde embodies the evil nature of Jekyll executed through the same body and mind but on different ends of an ethical spectrum. Moreover, the story never separates the two on perspective. Jekyll consistently uses statements like "I" even when Hyde is in action. Throughout the story the author makes no distinct difference in perspective leading readers to believe that though they have different names that they are inherently one and the same. In the 10th chapter, "Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case" Jekyll carries the theme of duality that holds true for his character. He writes, "It was on the moral side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures

Jekyll did good acts because of reputation which leads people to respect him and trust him, for that cause, Jekyll had more time to do his experiments like creating the potion. Jekyll did help a lot of people who were ill and even at one point saved a woman’s life, those acts are true goodness that he had. The evil acts were of, creating the potion and becoming Mr. Hyde which of course caused horrific incidents. The most important moment Jekyll did a good deed from his heart is when he saved the woman that almost died. Because of this, people will see Jekyll as a good man but also expect it because he is a

One might question the extent to which Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are in fact a single character. Until the end of the story, the two seem nothing alike. Stevenson uses this marked contrast to make his point: every human being contains opposite forces within him or her, an alter ego that hides behind one's front. Correspondingly, to understand fully the significance of either Jekyll or Hyde, we must consider the two as looking at one single character. When viewed separately, neither is a very interesting personality. It is their relationship that gives the novel its power.

In the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, analysts declare all fault falls onto the evilness Mr. Hyde professes throughout the novel, but is it possible that a sign from an insignificant character could have lifted the yearning of immoral thoughts happening in Mr. Hyde? The theme in the dark tale of Stevenson’s novella portrays the duality of evil and good of the main character. Although this is true, the supporting characters are as guilty as Mr. Hyde. Those closest to Dr. Jekyll had no hesitation of berating him after learning of his sinful ways. Dr. Jekyll, a man who is established to be well respected and born into a dominant social class, is responsible for some of the worst perpetuate