Dr Jekyll And Hyde Analysis

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

In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it is clear that the biggest theme of the story is the concept of good against evil. In the case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the conflict exists within the same person. It is generally believed that this internal struggle exists in everyone, and that “man is not truly one, but truly two.” It suggests that everyone has a dual personality , and a good and evil side exists in everyone. The struggle supposedly is usually a close fought battle that is close to a stalemate. But in the story, is there a clear winner of this internal battle? Does Mr. Hyde completely take over or does Dr. Jekyll ultimately resolve the situation? The battle is very tight, and there is, in fact, a clear winner in the

We discover that Utterson is Jekyll’s lawyer, and we find out from Utterson reading Jekyll’s will that in the event of Dr. Jekyll’s death or disappearance, his entire estate will be given to and unknown man by the name of Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson is extremely suspicious of Mr. Hyde since Jekyll has never talked about him before. He decides to find out who this mysterious man is. So, He waits outside Mr.Hyde’s house for many nights until down until Mr. Hyde appears one night Utterson and Hyde have a conversation of how Jekyll has never mentioned him and bid

“Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” is a gothic novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson that was first published in 1886. It’s about a lawyer from London named G.J. Utterson who explores strange events that involves his old friend Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. The novel’s influence on language is extraordinary, with the phrase “Jekyll and Hyde” coming to the meaning of a person of diversity in moral character from one situation to the next (French literature).

“All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone, in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.” (Stevenson 45)

The key ideas in chapter 1 of ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr

“All human beings are commingled out of good and evil.” Robert Louis Stevenson was no fool when it came to understanding the duality of human nature evident within mankind. In his novella, the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson is able to explore his interests concerning the dark, hidden desires that all human beings are guilty of possessing. In his story, a well-respected professional by the name of Dr. Jekyll experiments with the idea of contrasting personalities and successfully undergoes a physical separation of such identities—one which would soon wreak havoc upon his very existence. As a result of his success, Edward Hyde is born. Hyde, characterized as a miniscule and terrifying, apelike figure from the start,

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:

The reason The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is vital to the rehabilitation of prisoners is because it teaches a powerful lesson on actions and there consequences. By Dr. Jekyll continually choosing to change into Mr. Hyde and feeding his evil side, he enabled Mr. Hyde to overpower him and become the more dominant personality. Which is shown on p. 72 when it states, “…it seemed only by a great effort as of gymnastics, and only under the stimulation of the drug, that I was able to wear the countenance of Jekyll.” Dr. Jekyll has now been confined to his home because at any moment he could change to his other self and would be without explanation to his friends and family. Now instead of using the drug to change into Mr. Hyde, he has to use it to stay in the form of Dr. Jekyll, his original self.

Throughout The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses internal conflict, plot, and characterization to show that inner evil cannot be suppressed.

In this book, there exist a battle between good and evil in the main characters where we are bound to ask ourselves what is superior between good and evil? Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are easily seen as an allegory of the evil and good that exists in men. The book depicts the struggle with two sides of the human personality. Since Mr. Hyde seems to be taking over Dr. Jekyll, one could claim that evil is stronger than good. Nevertheless, Mr. Hyde ends up dead at the end of the story, which strongly shows the weakness and the failure of evil, so we have to ask ourselves whether good can be separated from evil. “Great people are involved in bad things this is the fact of life, yet this does not make them evil” (Stevenson pp 28-75).

Robert Louis Stevenson, author of his novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Christopher Nolan, director of The Prestige, through their respective mediums, explore the idea that leading a double life is destructive for both oneself and others. Using a variety of linguistic and conceptual techniques such as obsession, simile, pathetic fallacy, and pronouns, both respective authors are able to convey the detrimental physical and emotional effects of leading a double life. Stevenson showcases this with Jekyll’s obsession that leads to the creation of Hyde, a vicious manifestation of humanity’s evil side, who goes on to murder an innocent man, which ultimately leads to Jekyll’s demise. Nolan, on the other hand, shows the

Everyone loves the classic age-old battle of good vs. evil. Just watching until the very end to find out that good eventually prevails is arguably the most satisfying thing about the rivalry and why filmmakers as well as authors take on the theme so often. However, good vs. evil is also something that human beings simply cannot escape. As long as there is good in the world, there will be evil; also, as long as evil exists, there will be some good to stop it. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, he presents the reader with many different themes throughout. The main theme in Jekyll and Hyde is good vs. evil and the battle between the two. The second theme is repression and how repression affects the characters throughout the novel. Stevenson focuses on the battle between good and evil and the tendency to repress the true self in his classic work in order to emphasize that all people have within themselves these same struggles.

Robert Louis Stevenson used quite a similar thematic line an Austen in that he too focused his characters decisions ultimately based upon societies subsequent opinion of well-established men of the time. He, like Austen, mirrored characters to highlight the importance decisions made or specific characteristics significant to the particular character. He used the personalities of the contradicting Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to signify the differences between right and wrong and then used supporting characters like Mr Utterson to explain a choice made like a living conscience or as a confidant to the character in question to help navigate a particular construct of morality being focused on. Stevenson not only used his characters to highlight another character he also used them as a device to identify the social climate of Victorian England. Utterson is one such character unlike Jekyll or Hyde he is not an obvious device, but his demeanour and connection to Jekyll can be viewed as a moral representation of Victorian England’s anxieties and its people. Irving Saposnik supports this idea by stating in the article ‘The Anatomy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ that,

Hyde. In this way, Jekyll becomes monstrous himself as he wishes to pass on his evil parts into another person. Jekyll’s concoction is a threat to cultural morals and values as it enables someone to set evil free. Consequently, there is no obligation and interest in adhering to any moral standards. In the end, he is a split person, one-half is represented by Jekyll and the other one by Hyde. Stevenson used the different standpoints in the story to create the feeling that Jekyll and Hyde are two different individuals: “‘The Master Hyde, if he were studied,’ thought he [Utterson],’must have secrets of his own; black secrets, by the look of him; secrets compared to which poor Jekyll’s worst would be like sunshine.” (Stevenson 22). Thus, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a story where the line blurs. As Hyde and Jekyll are one and the same person, the reader realises that they together are both moral and immoral and both good and