Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Character Analysis

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

Dr. Henry Jekyll is a respected doctor and a friend of Lanyon, a fellow physician and Utterson, a lawyer. He is a well-respected man in the city of London and is known for his charitable works. On the outside, he seems like a harmless individual. What the people of London don’t know is that since a boy Dr. Jekyll has taken part in unnamed corrupt behavior that could ruin his reputation if discovered. Dr. Jekyll finds that the “evil” part of his personality is troublesome, so he takes matters into his own hands and invents a tonic that can allow him to fully become his darker half. This, in turn, brings about the uncanny Mr. Edward Hyde; a creature not of the rational world and free of conscience. His appearance alone is but enough to make one’s hairs stand on end. Mr. Hyde is a violent and irate man who represents the fleshy, sexual aspects of a personality that Victorian men of that time period felt the need to hide. Anyone who crosses his path tells of his

In the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, readers are shown the contrast between one’s personal desires and public desires or one’s good side and evil side. These are the things that help stimulate the psychological development of a person and are what keeps us humans balanced, personality wise. However, when one denies the significance of this by repressing them, things can definitely go wrong. Readers can apply this knowledge into one of the major characters, Dr. Henry Jekyll, who finds the need to repress his darker side due to fear of crossing social expectations. Upon doing so, Jekyll slowly becomes selfish, and full of pride. Also, the purpose of the potion he creates to help him transform into his evil doppelganger , Mr. Hyde, ultimately fails when he finds himself having to repress Hyde as well. Lastly, Jekyll’s repression also leads to the unfortunate end of the book, the disappearance both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Therefore, through Dr. Jekyll’s character, Stevenson proves that repressing emotions or desires does not make them fade away; they will eventually come up again stronger than before and can dominate a person completely.

Frequently overlooked in favor of discourse on the duality of man or the dubiousness surrounding the characters’ interactions with Hyde, Jekyll’s portrayal of his transformations into Hyde in Robert Lewis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde has an indubitable parallel to symptoms of drug addiction. This allegory fits seamlessly into the narrative once the reader becomes aware of its presence. Not only does Henry Jekyll present symptoms paralleling drug addiction, his transformations into Hyde and how the other characters in the novel react to them are also typical of situation involving an addicted person. Finally, the ease with which a respectable member of the bourgeoisie lapses into such a degenerative state serves the

French philosopher Michel Foucault once said “If repression has indeed been the fundamental link between power, knowledge, and sexuality since the classical age, it stands to reason that we will not be able to free ourselves from it except at a considerable cost,”. This quotation is saying that repression is the reason why people are not free to express themselves and explore new things. According to Foucault, the only way to be free involves consequences. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson discusses the consequences of repression through his characters Jekyll and Hyde. In this story, Jekyll attempts to live the suffocating expectations of Victorian society, but he ultimately creates an alter ego in order to deal with his suffering. This alter ego, Hyde, was created at a “considerable cost” to Jekyll.

The world as we know it is constantly moving and changing; events occur that can affect people’s lives even if they are thousands of miles away. Whether or not these happenings are good or evil can shape one’s mindset and outlook on the actions they take themselves. Both have distinct strengths and weaknesses; however, the real question one must ask is which side of the spectrum is more capable of influencing humanity. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde written by Robert Louis Stevenson, a wealthy and well-respected doctor by the name of Henry Jekyll, who believes that man is not one but two separate people, constructs a potion which unearths his inner evil (Mr. Edward Hyde), and in the end is engulfed by the strength of his malevolent persona.

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

In the story of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886), the character Dr Henry Jekyll develops an alter ego called Mr Edward Hyde while trying to seperate the two consciences he believes everyone has inside of them. This Mr Hyde ego is the evil half of Dr Jekyll and performs horrendous acts like murder feeling no guilt, but when Dr Jekyll regains control of the body they share he is overcome with regret. This wonder about multiple consciences was popular at the time of the story’s writing with double personality being “one of the most widely discussed clinical disorders” (Armstrong 189). This essay will discuss the ‘reverse transformation’ found in the novel and how it was influenced by the thoughts of society in the time it was written.

Once you have expressed interest in your repressed behavior it is very hard to control it. Dr.Jekyll lives in a society where the norms not only engross their lives but cause unwanted hatred when one does not conform to those norms. The gentlemen lifestyle, in which Dr.Jekyll lives, causes men to carry out their wants and desire at night so that during the day they can remain a perfect model citizen. As one of Dr.Jekyll’s associate, Mr.Utterson, is going to speak to Mr. Hyde he passes through town noticing “hues of twilight; for here it would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there would be glow of a rich, lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagration”(Stevenson25). He is not only seeing a contrast of the lower and upper class but also describing Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. The towns Mr.Utterson goes through are polar opposites, however, they are physically close to each other, just as Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde are complete opposites but are a part of the same individual in order to be both socially accepted and internally desired. Stevenson is demonstrating that both Dr.Jekyll’s personalities, although polar opposites are very close to each other at all times. As Mr.Utterson and a friend went on their daily walk they can across Dr.Jekyll on his balcony and stopped to say hello, noticing his smile which “was

It is true that often it is easy to isolate the good from the evil. For instance, in the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the author uses the personas of Jekyll and Hyde to clearly divide the rather good virtues found in Dr. Jekyll and the wickedness found in his transformed version of himself, Mr. Hyde. However, this conversion illustrates the good and the evil that can be found within all of us.

Being a respected doctor, Jekyll is tied of chains by his social status in the society, for instance if a child is restricted to do something, by his parents. He will eventually find a secretive way to fulfill his needs. In the same manner Jekyll finds Hyde as a solution to satisfy his simple need like drinking. “His every act and thought centered on self; drinking pleasure with bestial avidity from any degree of torture to another” ().As the quote demonstrates Hyde enjoys drinking, which he cannot do as Dr. Jekyll, living in an oppressed Victorian society. The small and harmful temptation like drinking leads to more serious offences. As this boosts, Jekyll’s confidence, he ends up indulging into violent acts, “With ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot, and hailing down a storm of blows” (). The simile in this quote delineates Jekyll’s unexpressed desire that erupts through Hyde. His small desires manifests into bigger crimes. Stevenson uses this theory to showcase temptation the evil cause of problems in mankind.

In the spooky mysterious novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson we start our journey with the main character, Mr. Utterson, and his companion, Dr. Lanyon. The two men talk about their colleague Dr. Jekyll and this mysterious figure named Mr. Hyde. In doing this Stevenson introduces the four characters that prove to be pillars in the investigation and resolution of the book. Throughout the book we experience plenty of conflict between these four characters and society. Stevenson sets up the theme through the conflicts that arise between the characters in the book. In the end the author wraps it all up by the use of his unique point of view and ends the confusion by allowing the us to finally solve “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.

Robert Louis Stevenson's novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is a short novel of the Victorian era. It portrays the major problem of criticizing people based on their behavior in Victorian society. Individuals who misbehave or talk about scandals are not respectable in Victorian's eye. Utterson, a lawyer, is one of the main characters in the novella who investigates the mystery of Hyde. At first glance, Stevenson shows Utterson as a perfect Victorian gentleman who is reserved and well-respected in society. However, on the other hand, Stevenson portrays Utterson as a man who has a great interest in dishonorable men who are dismissed by elitist Victorian culture. Utterson is unconsciously driven by his hidden desires of id. Regardless of being one of the respectable men of Victorian society, Utterson pursues Hyde, a sinner, revealing: his need to keep friendship with despicable people, his desire to know about the inner motivations forcing people to misbehave, and his imagination about violence; all driven by his id.

In times of trouble the friends you have are the most important things you have. Everyone has rough times in their life, but friends that are there to help can make the rough times seem exponentially easier. In the book, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” Dr. Jekyll shows the audience how awful it can be if you do not have friends to talk to who you can trust. Dr. Jekyll harbors his guilt of becoming Mr. Hyde for so long, he cracks. One of the main themes in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is that, a friend in need, is a friend indeed. This shows us that, if we have at least one close friend that we can talk to and they will not judge us, that is important to have when tough times come.

Stevenson did not describe Mr. Richard Enfield other than to state that he was a relative of Utterson and a “well-known man about town" (Stevenson 1,677). Utterson and Enfield made a habit of meeting for a weekly walk every Sunday, and each made a concerted effort to insure nothing interfered their routine (1,678). Anyone who happened by them could not understand, because it did not seem like the two of them shared any topic, and many times their walks appeared devoid of conversation (1,677-78). Although he was a minor character he played a very important part in the story, Enfield brought Mr. Hyde to the attention of Utterson (Thomason 198). Stevenson defined Enfield by his connection to Utterson, rather than providing information on his appearance.