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Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Language Essay

Decent Essays

In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson’s utilizes his characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in order to represent the intertwining of good and bad within all people. Within this novella Mr. Hyde represents a person’s inner wickedness, while Dr. Jekyll showcases a person’s inner virtue. In order to differentiate between these two contradictory attributes, Stevenson uses descriptive language in order to expound upon his characters representational traits. When Stevenson describes Dr. Jekyll he uses specific and detailed language, however; when describing Mr. Hyde Stevenson employs ambiguous and imprecise language. Ultimately, Stevenson intentionally utilizes vague language when describing Hyde, in order to demonstrate that the evil …show more content…

However, when it comes to describing Hyde, Stevenson’s descriptions become noticeably mysterious and vague. The first time that the readers hear about Hyde’s physical appearance is during Mr. Enfield’s and Mr. Utterson’s unofficial gossip session. During this time Enfield describes Hyde by saying,
“He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point.’”
This quote showcases just one instance where Stevenson gives a nondescript and undistinguishable description of Hyde’s physicality. Also, throughout the novel Hyde is often described to act primitively and animalistic, which further demonstrates the monstrosity that Hyde is.
Throughout the entirety of the novella Hyde’s described to have an ugly exterior along with his revolting personality. Towards the end of the novel Dr. Jekyll leaves a letter describing the situation he got himself into and

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