How Good and Evil Are Portrayed in ' the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' ( Not Finished Completely)

The texts directly states that there is good and evil shown throughout the book, Dr. Jekyll representing good, and Hyde evil. Additionally, Jekyll admits, “All things therefore seemed to point to this; that I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self, and becoming slowly incorporated with my second and worse.” (69). Jekyll tries to explain that his worse side was starting to become in control. His good side was slowly losing to his bad side and he couldn’t let that happen.

There are many different interpretations of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as a whole, as well as many interpretations of Dr. Jekyll’s evil inner persona, Mr. Hyde, in the story alone. Some interpretations of the novel have debated whether Hyde is a monster or simply just a human’s dark side. Hyde proves to be the uncontrollable dark side of Jekyll that every human has in them, whether it is known or not. Hyde proves this throughout the novel because Jekyll becomes addicted to his drug and becoming Hyde, stays morally sane while Hyde does not, and tries to stop the evil.

This gives the impression that Hyde is a monster than comes out only when it is dark and nobody can see him. Whatever he is, he cannot be called human. In Victorian England, if a person looked ugly, criminal-like or ‘giving an impression of deformity’ they were considered to be ugly and criminal-like inside to. If you imagine a person reading this story when that was what was thought, the description of Mr Hyde would instantly label him as the bad character.

How Stevenson Explores the Nature of Good and Evil in the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Good and Evil in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Stevenson develops the idea that evil can be seen visibly through physical appearance, and is always the ugliest form of a human being. When Dr. Jekyll transforms into the 100% evil Mr. Hyde his mentality and mindset changes, but so does his appearance. Stevenson depicts the change from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde as a change that can be visibly seen. Mr. Hyde is much uglier than Dr. Jekyll, as well as more evil in nature. When Mr. Utterson first sees Mr. Hyde he considers him deformed and repulsive, “Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky,

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.

Jekyll seems to be in control of his desires and temptations but as Hyde he can fulfil them and not feel guilty. Stevenson is stating that everybody has evil inside of the, wanting to get out and that everyone gets a thrill of letting it out sometimes.

In the novel “The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde” there is a theme of good vs evil. Good being Dr. Jekyll and evil Mr Hyde they have the inner fight between themselves, because they are the same person.Robert louis Stevenson uses Diction,imagery,and details to contrast the character of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Dr. Jekyll realizes through his experiments “that man is not truly one, but truly two” (Stevenson 57). This shows that Jekyll has realized that all men have 2 sides to themselves: good and evil. Jekyll has created his good side, Jekyll, to help people and his bad side, Hyde, to have fun and do bad things that he couldn’t do as Jekyll, but Jekyll made

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a gothic horror novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson creates a riveting story. He uses themes of good vs. evil, repression of oneself, and curiosity. Through these themes he creates complex characters with questionable morals. He also creates a steadily rising plot filled with mystery even to the very last page.

The constant battle between good and evil is a significant theme in the book. This is especially shown with Jekyll who decides to end the good side of him and be solely Mr. Hyde, his evil side. Although he attempts for the good side of him to take over, bad ultimately wins. This comes to show that human nature can be evil but can also be good. Because of this, people question which one is greater: good or evil.

Considering The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as an Effective Representation of Evil

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hyde is an evil double of the honorable Dr. Jekyll. Jekyll creates Hyde by scientific experiments, to prove his statement: “… man is not truly one, but truly two.” He means that the human soul is a mixture of evil and good, and Hyde is the manifestation of the evil that existed in Dr. Jekyll. As a respectable Victorian gentleman, Jekyll can never fulfill the evil desires existing in him. Therefore, he separates his “evil-self,” giving him a separate identity. However, as Vladimir Nabokov explains in an introduction to the Signet Classic version of the book, "[Jekyll] is a composite being, a mixture of good and bad...[and] Jekyll is not really transformed into Hyde but projects a concentrate of pure evil that becomes Hyde” (Stevenson 60). Unfortunately, rather than separating and equalizing 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. Thus, 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

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.