Theme Of Evil In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

In the opening chapters of ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’, not only does Stevenson portray Mr. Hyde through his descriptions, but he also creates juxtaposition between Mr. Hyde and his descriptions, making the reader feel confused about the character of Mr. Hyde as is Mr. Utterson during the first few chapters. For example, in ‘The Carew Murder Case’, the interior of Mr. Hyde’s house is described as “... furnished with luxury and good taste.” This shows juxtaposition between Mr. Hyde’s house and himself, as Mr. Hyde would never be described as ‘luxurious’ or a man with ‘good taste’. Also, I think that Stevenson wrote this intending to give the reader a feeling of annoyance towards Mr. Hyde just as Mr. Utterson would be feeling at this point. The fact that Mr. Hyde’s house is being described as ‘luxurious’ makes the reader feel that it’s unjust that someone as horrid as Mr. Hyde could be so easily concealed by the interior of his house to a stranger. Stevenson’s intentions here were to have the reader feel more resent and hate for Mr. Hyde and to, again, show a different form and method of mankind’s dual personality being concealed. There is a saying that keeping your secrets or real thoughts bottled up for too long will only cause agitation and will result in the bottle exploding and leaving nothing but destruction

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

“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

Describing the presence of evil in him and in the way he looks. The description of Jekyll's appearance establishes good and pure feelings. Utterson is having dinner at Jekyll's

How Stevenson Explores the Nature of Good and Evil in the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Utterson, Lanyon, Enfield, Jekyll... one of these does not belong. Clearly, within the context of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Henry Jekyll struggles to fit himself into the strict Victorian society. In the events leading to his demise, he longs to separate his firm, polished face from his true inner self; from here, Stevenson paints this juxtaposition with the use of several point-of-view techniques. When Utterson, the protagonist, “[stands] a while when Mr. Hyde had left him... putting his hand to his brow like a man in mental perplexity” (Stevenson 19), he clearly becomes the literal center of attention for the story’s opinions and perspectives. Rather than giving an omniscient style to the novel, Stevenson provides an external viewpoint in order to engage his audience. The use of point-of-view techniques in Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde reinforces the audience’s reaction to the story’s moral dilemma.

In his novella "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", Robert Louis Stevenson explores the dual nature of Victorian man, and his link with an age of hypocrisy. Whilst writing the story he displays the people of the time and what happens behind closed doors. In Jekyll 's suicide note he makes the following observation " I have observed that when I wore the semblance of Edward Hyde, none could come near to me at first without a visible misgiving of the flesh. This, as I take it, was because 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." The underlying moral of this novella suggests that all people consist of good and evil, and that they possess the ability to control and acknowledge the darker side of them.

Using the central characters and the key theme of the duplicity of mankind Robert Louis Stevenson strategically uncovers the broad theme of good and evil in the book. By the use of the character Dr. Jekyll, the author is able to symbolize “good”. Mr. Utterson who is a lawyer based in London, also an old friend of Dr. Jekyll, has the quality of being loyal to his friends and also concerned about Dr. Jekyll. With this loyalty, he asks him about his pal Mr. Hyde whom he had left his luggage in his will (Cresser N.P). "You know I never approved of it," said the doctor. Mr. Utterson believes that the doctor bed them by lies possession to a man whom he meet but rather than being annoyed. Dr. Jekyll he shows concern like a true loyal friend would have, from Mr.

In the Victorian Era, one of the most important parts of one’s everyday life was the need to protect his or her reputation. While some abided by the Victorian moral code of conduct, others kept their evil hidden in an attempt to secure their reputation. Because of this, creating excuses for one’s actions were commonplace. As seen in the last chapter of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, titled, “Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case”. In this final chapter, Dr. Henry Jekyll writes a letter to his only good friend left, Mr. John Utterson. Throughout the novella, Mr. Utterson tries to uncover the mystery of Mr. Edward Hyde. Dr. Jekyll, in an attempt to save his reputation, makes excuses for Hyde’s behavior ultimately hoping to stop Utterson’s inquiry. This does not quite work out for Jekyll in the end, leading him to write Utterson a letter explaining the “strange case”. Throughout the letter, Jekyll uses a variety of techniques that ultimately aim to push the blame off of himself and save his reputation. Jekyll presents himself as a victim of Hyde, describes Hyde as an outlet for his emotions, and claims his brief feelings of remorse. Dr. Jekyll, who is coincidentally a Doctor of Laws in English, is able to present to Utterson an extremely strong argument justifying his and Hyde’s actions.

“No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will”(John 10:18). In the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll makes the decision to create another identity for himself through the use of his own concoction in order to freely take part in malevolent activities without feeling remorse or ruining his reputation. The doctor is fascinated with his theory that people have a good and evil side, which drives him to conduct the experiment in order to create an outlet for his dark desires. He is unwilling to get rid of Hyde despite knowing the consequences of his actions. Additionally, he underestimates the power of Hyde, and so he is taken aback when Hyde gets stronger. Therefore, Dr. Jekyll is at fault for his own death in the end because he himself sought evil in the first place.

During the novella, Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll can be characterized as light and darkness. It is revealed at the end of the novella that Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll are the same person and they shared the same personalities. “One of your fellows who do what they call good. Black mail I suppose; an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth. Black Mail House is what I call the place with the door, in consequence. Though even that, you know, is far from explaining all" (Chapter 1). We can already tell that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are on two different sides of the good/evil scale and that Mr. Utterson's friend has an evil side to him. "He had in his hand a heavy cane, with which he was trifling, but he answered never a word, and seemed to listen with an ill-contained impatience. And then all of a sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on like a madman." (Chapter

The dual character combination of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of the most well-known in literature and is arguably the most blatant example of duality Stevenson uses to try and get the theme of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde across. The dual personalities Dr. Jekyll possesses are stark examples of the animalistic and civilized sides of man that inherently resides in all men. The virtuous Dr. Jekyll serves as a portrayal of the more rational, human side of man. When Mr. Utterson attends Dr. Jekyll’s dinner party he paints a picture of a quintessential Victorian man when describing Jekyll’s appearance, “well

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.

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.

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