Romantic And Victorian Themes Of The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

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.

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

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was wrote in 18th centuries, the times that were defined as ‘Gothic revival’. The literature in this times had similar thematic elements include supernatural or ‘fantastic’, violent crime (death and murder), passionate romance (often with death). The novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was considered as typical Gothic literature. Particularly, repression and hypocrisy are highly emphasized in the novel. Repression is undoubtedly a cause of conflict between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The root of this repression can be found in Victorian England where there was no sexual appetites, no violence and no freedom of expressing emotion in the public sphere. Everything should be restrained and people in that times all behaved solemn and were not allowed to show their joys and sorrows. This repression can be well reflected within Dr. Jekyll in the novel. According to quotation of Stevenson’s description:

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

The Victorian era was a period of great change in England in terms of social, political, and even scientific advancement. The country became highly regarded around the world, whereby London was the center of excellence and was characterized by its citizen’s high moral standards. The pressure on Englishmen to maintain a respectable persona among others was so tremendous that often reputations were damaged at the slightest deviation from social norms. Similarly to the façade of England’s perfection, Robert Louis Stevenson reveals the result of the social expectations on Victorians’ personalities in his novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Stevenson uses the motif of the double to make a commentary on the conflict between

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde evokes an emotional and sympathetic response for the inner battles Dr. Jekyll endures when he is bombarded by the invasive and disturbing thoughts of his alternate personality, Mr. Hyde because it reminds the reader of the overwhelming feelings all human undergo in some point or time in their life, were confusion, unhappiness, and fear of unacceptable creates a vortex of for psychological anguish. • Find a passage from the text to highlight their differences Descriptions of both Jekyll and Hyde A major theme of this novella is the danger of introspection and social awareness, which can be understood through an analysis of Freud’s structural model of the human psyche, pertaining specifically/exclusively to the Id, Ego, and Superego. Irrefutably, Hyde is guilty of evil acts, however one of his trademarks throughout the novella is his aggression and indifference to the expectations and limitations of society. Therefore, this novel, especially considering the historical context, that being during the Victorian era can reflect of the overbearing social expectation to behave properly in society and that specifically in Victorian society citizens were expected to repress these arguably

and 1/10 evil so he will have 90% guilt where as Mr Hyde is 0/10 good

In “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, written by Robert Louis Stevenson in the late 19th century, the English society was in the Victorian Era. People of the Victorian Era were very interested in Darwin's theory of evolution and Stevenson took it as leverage. Not every social class was educated, so Stevenson went aiming for the higher class people of society. Jekyll would be in the same social class as the readers, whereas Hyde would be unknown to these people since he part of the lower class.

He was a highly respected man in Victorian England as a Doctor, because of this was offered a set of publicly accepted moral values and ethical codes to abide by to maintain is respectable status within the community. Stevenson uses this notional of public respectability to shape Dr Jekyll’s choices such as creating the Mr Hyde character to protect himself publically against his darker compulsions. Saposnik comments on the notion of social acceptability supporting the idea of Dr Jekyll as a device by

What do you think of when you hear anything about the Victorian era? For most people, the first thing that may pop into their mind would be either Queen Victoria of England or the creepy Victorian buildings that were built during this time. One thing that should pop into the people's' minds is that Victorian literature that would be written at this time. One such example is Robert Louis Stevenson and his novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Stevenson is a Victorian-era writer who makes stories that bridge the gap between the Romantic Era and the Modern Era, and he would use his unique style of writing to do so.

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a direct result of the well known and feared idea of degeneration in Europe at the time. The article brings up the fact that there was an idea that all men had the possibility of turning or becoming evil, even such a character as the upper middle class Dr. Jekyll transforming into the evil, deformed, and almost animalistic lower class Mr. Hyde. This is important because it would help me use the setting to express how, because of those living in London at the time were fearful of degeneration and the decline of man, this gothic element would be of high interest and importance to them as readers. The information from this source will be helpful in showing the different gothic elements and also how the author’s environment was important in constructing his book. I believe this will further help compliment the information from my previous sources regarding Dr. Jekyll and Mr.

Analysis of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story were written in the 19th century in London. In this book we understand the conflict between the good character of Dr. Jekyll and completely evil character from M r. Hyde, who fight for control of their shared body. As the readers, read the story there is a big concern about homosexuality, murder and the duality of human nature. Their personal characters where by Dr. Jekyll is known to be tall and pale gentleman who seems to be attractive, well respected and somehow liked among the everyday common citizens. As people oppose to Mr. Hyde who is unappreciated by everyone. Just by the look and appearance of Mr. Hyde leaves people to think of him in horror and hatred. He was also ignorant and only cared about himself; however, he demonstrates his evil by trampling a little girl or killing Carew about himself which explore what he could not do as Jekyll, which is compared to our normal in our everyday life.