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The Theme Of Graphic Horror In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

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Within the Novella – The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Stevenson depicts moments of graphic horror in order to convey the chilling story of duality and the ordeals of Dr Jekyll. The two moments where the theme of horror is particularly prominent are in the Carrew Murder Case and Dr Lanyon’s Narrative, where the character of Mr Hyde succeeds in being the epitome of evil in the reader’s eyes. Stevenson uses descriptive imagery, intense behavior (especially for Victorian circumstances) and the senses, of which I am going to be focusing on sound in order to instill this terror onto the readers. This combination of devices combined with the plot during these moments makes them so frightening and memorably so. Stevenson uses descriptive imagery in order for …show more content…

In Dr Lanyons Narrative, the Doctor describes Hyde’s character and his appearance in a close, descriptive way. By using the phrase ‘dreadful smile’ in order to depict Hyde’s rare appearance, Stevenson creates an uncomfortable tone my using an antithesis between the two words. As smiles are often connoted with goodness, for a smile to be ‘dreadful’ shows how Mr Hyde had washed all decency away and therefore creates a mismatched discomfort to the scene. Furthermore, describing Dr Lanyon as ‘pale’ after the transformation has taken place is key in Stevenson being able to covey the horror of the situation to the reader. This also can be related to Mr Hyde’s presence and perhaps a feeling that he had drained Lanyon of livelihood – this illustrating revulsion to Mr Hyde. Similarly, when describing the setting of The Carrew Murder Case, Stevenson depicts the ‘pale moon’. The use of ‘pale’ in this description is particularly striking as it conveys how once again Mr Hyde is draining the livelihood from the moon, almost portraying it as dead. This is can also be interpreted as a

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