The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Contrast Essay Yin and Yang are two complementary principles of Chinese philosophy: Yin is negative, dark, and feminine, Yang is positive, bright and masculine. Their interaction is thought to maintain the harmony of the universe and to influence everything within it (“Yin and Yang”). This philosophy parallels the idea of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The evil Mr. Hyde is similar to Yin and Dr. Jekyll is similar to Yang. Although Mr. Hyde can be viewed as the "bad" side of Dr. Jekyll, he is a necessary evil that shouldn't have been repressed for so long. Dr. Henry Jekyll is a well-respected scientist among his peers. People enjoy his company for his warm personality and his nice dinner parties. He lives in a nice part of London and has a lab that he conducts his experiments in. He also has a fair number of friends that he associates himself with regularly. He is also an older, large, and handsome man. In contrast, Mr. Edward Hyde is and criminal wanted for murder. He is an outcast that is shunned from society that some people want killed. He shows no remorse for his actions, even for his murder. He lives in the slums of London where it seems that someone of his ill-mannered nature would belong. Mr. Hyde is a secluded man with …show more content…
Jekyll used brought out the evil side of him, it didn’t create his evil side. That is something that has been resting deep within him. The potion merely acted as a catalyst for bringing his suppressed emotions out into view. If Dr. Jekyll let his emotions out more frequently in his life he wouldn’t need the potion to bring out his dark side. There would be no Mr. Hyde, only a complete version of Dr. Jekyll that is truly himself. I don’t see the potion as a bad tool. I also don’t see Mr. Hyde as the “bad side”. I merely see these as potential consequences for not being who we truly are. It is because of Dr. Jekyll’s lack of being his true self that Sir Danvers was
Hyde’s appearance suggests, his behavior is also vicious. One night he tramples over a child’s body leaving her screaming and a sight “hellish to see” (Stevenson 3). Another night he breaks out in rage and beats a man to death with his cane for no apparent reason. As opposed to Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde has no conscience; he feels no remorse in his actions. Mr. Hyde is the embodiment of pure evil, which is why no one could recognize that this man is actually the other half of Dr. Jekyll.
Dr. Jekyll is benevolent and pleasant in his social interactions. He attempts to cover up his darker self by creating a courteous public persona. Everyone has a different persona when they are outside in the eyes of the public and when they are inside. Through Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll reveals his destructive side. Transforming into Mr. Hyde gives Dr. Jekyll a freedom to act and behave without caring about the public’s opinion or about the consequences of his actions. Dr. Jekyll is captured and locked up deep inside, he appears reasonably appropriate on the exterior but his inner reflections drives him towards immorality. As Dr. Jekyll privately turns into Mr. Hyde, not only is his appearance transformed, but also his behavior. This can be a similar caparison on people in today’s society. People with high status or popularity are always being watched with every move they make. If they make one small mistake, then that will look bad on
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Hyde is the most obvious villain as he was created to be pure evil, but the character of Dr. Jekyll also has villainous aspects. Mr. Hyde is often shown to have little to no self-control as seen when he physically violates two people. This is seen when
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 bond between good and evil is a very prominent theme in Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” The two characters are united into one human being, but contrast each other enormously. Although Dr. Jekyll represents the good, and Mr. Hyde represents the evil, both characters prove to have the other characteristics as well. Dr. Jekyll wants more than anything to separate the bond between good and evil, and performs experiments to obtain this goal. This results in the character Mr. Hyde who is filled with evil intentions. The narrator shows the evil of Dr. Hyde, “All human beings, as we meet them, commingled out of good and evil:
“I tend to think that good and evil exist and that the quantity in each of us is unchangeable. The moral character of people is set, fixed until death,” a quote from Michel Houellebecq, who is a French author, filmmaker and poet, is a theme represented in the novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Robert Louis Stevenson is a author who presents the good and evil in this novella, explaining the roles of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is having no impact whoever he was on the life of the two, also thinking in the way that he could choose who he wants to be, and being perfect, and showing a theme of perfection along the way. In this novella there were two different personalities, conjoined in one person, with
Mr. Hyde is a small and ugly looking man and this contributes to how he is perceived and a person. His appearance and manner provoke a bad reaction from people:
Henry Jekyll, "The Evil", is mean, cold, and a murderer. He is much more bold and confident than Mr. Hyde. His first murder is of a little girl on the street who he calmly tramples over. He shows no remorse what so ever, and doesn't care at all because afterwards he continues down the street. "Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground."(page 337) Dr. Jekyll also wants to get rid of Mr. Hyde, as if he doesn't know they are the same. "I would trust you before any man alive, ay, before myself, if I could make the choice; but indeed t isn't what you fancy; it is not so bad as that; and just put your good heart at rest, I will tell you one thing: the moment I choose I can be rid of Mr. Hyde."(page 349) These words Jekyll says show that he doesn't understand Hyde and himself are the
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 was a respected man of science who experimenting on the sides of human nature, who one day figures out the formula to split his personalities of good and evil into two. The evil side that Jekyll releases are represented by the personality of Mr. Hyde. He is malformed
In order to make his point more believable, it is important that Jekyll includes a back story explaining exactly why he created Hyde to begin with. Jekyll is an intelligent, well-respected man in his community with large sums of money, yet he turns himself into Hyde, who is hated by nearly everyone upon first-glance. While this is a confusing state of events, Jekyll gives a historical precedent to facilitate his explanation. In the opening of his letter, Jekyll gives an in-depth description of the pressures he faced being born “to a large fortune, endowed besides with excellent parts, inclined by nature to industry, fond of the respect of the wise and good among my fellow men, and thus, as might have been supposed.” (47). Being born into wealth and respect gave Jekyll no chance to escape societal pressures, which were exceptionally high during the Victorian Era. Jekyll continues by asserting that he “found it hard to reconcile with [his] imperious desire to carry [his] head high and wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the public. Hence it came about that [he] concealed [his] pleasures.” (48). Jekyll’s conflict between societies expectations and what he really wants to do leads him to find a solution: Hyde. When Jekyll first turns into Hyde, he is in awe because he
Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde consists of reputation, good vs. evil and damage control. In other words, Utterson tirelessly works to prevent his good friend Dr. Jekyll from being dragged into the horrid affairs of Mr. Hyde, and Dr. Jekyll goes to the greatest of lengths to prevent his Hyde identity from being discovered, in order to avoid anyone knowing of his somewhat questionable scientific work and morally despicable behavior. Much of the novel is based on the characters reputations and how they have to maintain a good public image, as they are upper class people. The novel takes place in Victorian England and the main characters are all male members of upper class London. Enfield, Utterson, Lanyon and Jekyll are all aware of social
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
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde not only conflicting forces but also affected by each other and dual natures. The book is written in only Dr. Jekyll’s perspective, so this paragraph will going to explain about Dr. Jekyll. Existence of Hyde provokes to know him more or to have a hard time (Suffered, wanted to destroy Mr. Hyde). In the story, Mr. Hyde couldn’t control himself and committed a crime. “Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of things; for the man trampled calmly over the child’s body.” (Stevenson 3). Through this, Dr. Jekyll was suspected to blackmailed by Mr. Hyde, which decreases his social status and it could bring him big influence during Victorian era. Not only negative effect, but also positive effect exists. For instance, in beginning of the story, Dr. Jekyll has a lot of inner conflict, and due to that conflict, he seems always unorganized. “The thoughts of his mind, besides, were of the gloomiest dye; and when he glanced at the companion of his drive he was conscious of some touch of that terror of the law and the law’s officers which may at times assail the most honest.” (Stevenson 22). The narrator reveals this in chapter ‘The Carew murder
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