Repressed Desires In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

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 wants to live two lives, so he creates a potion to create Hyde, a purely evil, dwarfish, ugly, devilish form of himself that allows him to run around and create chaos without getting caught and ruining his real reputation. Dr. Jekyll has been using Hyde to do things he never could in his own skin, but when Jekyll starts taking advantage of his his new self, Hyde starts to take over. “this incoherency of [Jekyll's] life was daily growing more unwelcome. It was on this side that [his] new power tempted [him] until [he]

Just as the emotions between a parent and toddler can change any second from loving to embarrassed and angry, the two main characters in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, struggle through a family-like relationship. Throughout the novel, the relationship between Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde changes from a close, family-like relationship to one of hatred toward the end of the book. Changes in the relationship between Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde can be seen in: observations by Mr. Utterson, Dr. Jekyll’s state of mind before and after the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, and Dr. Jekyll’s confession.

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

The author, Robert Louis Stevenson presents the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a unique and compelling way. Many aspects of the short story can be interpreted in different ways as its complexity can overpower the book transient storyline. One aspect of the book that can be considered controversial is the way Stevenson presents the novella and the book's historical context. Although, Stevenson’s work can be considered engaging, it can also lead the reader to question the reasoning behind the particular storyline of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Overall, in terms of historical context, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is written in an allegorical way in which different aspects of the book represent a major theme or event taking place in Victorian England.

Every person is born with bright and dark personas that people moderate due to the standards of society. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll and Hyde battle for the power to stay alive in the story. As Jekyll continues to try and take over his evil persona, Hyde tries to stay alive and cause evil in the world. In our society, many people will struggle with self control and Dr. Jekyll has trouble controlling his alter ego by performing his evil pleasures. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson explores the theme that the dual natures, good and evil, of an individual person’s humanity are constantly struggling for control through the development of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 's personas.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson is meant to be interpreted as an allegory. Although the story by itself is immensely entertaining, its symbolism is where the novella truly shines. This is a story of temptation. In Dr. Jekyll’s confession, the doctor declares that after two months without Mr. Hyde, he started to become “tortured with throes and longings” to transform into his counterpart Mr. Hyde (Stevenson 55). Consequently, Dr. Jekyll states that he “fell before the assaults of temptation” because he gave in to his mind’s desires and transformed into Mr. Hyde (Stevenson 57). Another important piece of information that contributes toward Stevenson’s allegory in the novella is the fact that Henry Jekyll

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the play Trifles are similar and different in their acts of violent behavior. In both genres the man and woman took a life, killed a person and had no regret. However in the late nineteenth century in London England Dr. Henry Jekyll dark side is kept under control. The dark half of him has a vicious appetite to do evil. There is no love lost between Jekyll and Hyde. Edward Hyde enjoys the tasteful lust of violence. His barbaric cold expression is noted by Mr. Utterson. The first impression Mr. Utterson got from Hyde, Hyde’s a friend to Satan. In spite of Dr. Jekyll honorable personality, fear grips Mr. Utterson mind. Mr. Hyde dwarf appearance and bold displeasing smile cause Mr. Utterson to fear for Jekyll safety and involvement with such an evil man.

In Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the two main characters, Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde are depicted as contrasting and opposing in personality. In the opening chapters of the novella, Mr. Hyde is portrayed as the epitome of evil, while Henry Jekyll is seen to be genial and kind. Throughout the novella, each character develops and changes; Hyde is perceived to become more evil, while Jekyll to become weaker, distancing himself from his once close friends. In the final chapter of the novella, Jekyll’s personal testimony, when Dr. Jekyll is on his deathbed, he reveals his connection to Mr. Hyde. As the characters change throughout the novella, Stevenson slowly reveals their personalities to the unsuspecting Victorian reader.

Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella ‘The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde’ is a timeless classic. Those who have not read the book still know the story as it is referenced through many forms of media. For a long time, the story was looked at just as a gothic novel about a man who has lost control and is showing his evil side, but there is so much more beneath the surface of this tale. The true story is one of addiction and who you become when the addictive side of you takes over.

Knowing someone with two personalities is sometimes hard for them to control themselves. For example, in the book, Jekyll and Hyde are the same person but sometimes one can overpower the other. Well, in the book Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the main character in this book has two sides, an evil side and a good side. When the character is evil his name is Hyde, but when he is good his name is Jekyll. The character in this book can change into two people just by drinking a position that helps him turn into two people. Three situations that are going to be talked in this essay are the two sides of Jekyll, problems that happened throughout the story, and symbols of the characters. Therefore, we as people have more than one side but sometimes one side can overpower the other.

“The Strange Cases of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” is a very intricate story of the duality of man. The story is a tale of a man that is not happy in his current self, a higher class - good guy that every one likes to be around. Dr. Jekyll is hunting a bad side, he wants to be an evil, dangerous man. His desire to achieve this second life takes him into a very strange psychological state. Once entered this state, Dr. Jekyll has began the process of becoming Mr. Hyde, and eliminating Dr. Jekyll.

Through the comparison of the characters of Everyman, Dr. Jekyll, and Dorian Gray the authors reveal that, a lifestyle according to the fulfillment of selfish demands hinders the flourishing of the human person and by diminishing one’s moral character prevents the confrontation of one’s fate. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson demonstrates how one’s selfish intentions to achieve a desired state shape the journey in reaching that goal by causing one’s blindness to reality. Dr. Jekyll sought a scientific solution to the dissatisfaction he felt in his life through his discovery of the potion, which enabled him to transform into Hyde. This extent to which he was willing to go to fulfill his intentions was caused by his blindness to reality.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella set in a more extreme version of the Victorian era which is littered with violence and over-the-top depictions of dual personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder). This over-the-top depiction of the early struggles of the Victorian era (the inability of the masses to understand the inner conflict between benevolence and malevolence) led to the novella’s suspenseful, thrilling and exciting nature, which resulted to it being one of the greatest works of art. Robert Louis Stevenson focuses the spotlight on various characters whose sole purpose is to epitomize the concept of dual personality.

To a modern reader, the idea that a man as well-liked as Jekyll could have his repressed persona, Hyde, commit crimes against innocence, is an absurd thought. Hyde tramples both the young girl and the old man, showing no mercy–despite their youth and age being text-book examples of innocence. But while these crimes were written off in the book as insanity, we can look at them through a modern view to see that these crimes were merely Hyde acting upon a borderline sociopathic tendency.