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
Stevenson writes ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ with the intention of showing the reader the duality of man and explores this through the juxtaposition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this novella, Stevenson also uses the environment and setting of the story to represent the contrast between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Stevenson develops the idea that evil can be seen visibly through physical appearance, and is always the ugliest form of a human being. When Dr. Jekyll transforms into the 100% evil Mr. Hyde his mentality and mindset changes, but so does his appearance. Stevenson depicts the change from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde as a change that can be visibly seen. Mr. Hyde is much uglier than Dr. Jekyll, as well as more evil in nature. When Mr. Utterson first sees Mr. Hyde he considers him deformed and repulsive, “Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky,
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novel written by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and published in 1886. It concerns a lawyer, Gabriel Utterson, who investigates the strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the reclusive Mr. Edward Hyde. This novel represents an ideology in Western culture; the perpetual conflict between humanity’s virtuosity and immorality. It is interpreted as an accurate guidebook to the Victorian era’s belief of the duality of human nature. This essay will explore Mr. Edward Hyde and whether Stevenson intended for him to be a mere character in the novel or something of wider significance.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a complex and tricky novel to fully grasp, but the reader can come to understand many parallels to their own lives. Stevenson’s creation has stood the test of time because of its power to astonish; even if one previously new the outcome. This power has made Jekyll and Hyde, a pair that will continue to provoke thought in many readers in generations to
Stevenson's Use of Literary Techniques in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
In the novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson provides insight into the inner workings of the duality that exists within humans. Dr. Jekyll is a well-respected doctor in his community while his differing personality Mr. Hyde is hideous and considered by the public as evil based on appearance. As the novel progresses Dr. Lanyon begins to investigate Mr. Hyde, he begins to realize similarities between both Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll such as their handwriting which results in the discovery that they are the same person. Dr. Jekyll is able to transform himself into Mr. Hyde by drinking a serum he has created which was intended to purify his good. Stevenson stresses the duality of good and evil that exists
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson uses diction, imagery, and details to characterize both sides of his main character.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson uses very rich diction so that his audience can visualize every detail of the setting and characters. In Dr. Lanyon’s letter to Mr. Utterson describing how he came to know of Dr. Jekyll’s deception and secrets, he also describes Mr. Hyde. This was the first time in the novel that Mr. Hyde was descriptively described. The diction Stevenson used influenced not only the visual aesthetics of the reader but several themes and gives the reader foreshadowing. Dr. Lanyon first describes Mr. Hyde’s clothing as “enormously too large”, and goes into further detail by observing that his pants were too long for him and were “rolled up to keep them from the ground” and “the collar sprawl wide upon his shoulders” (Stevenson). Dr. Lanyon’s description also foreshadows the truth behind Dr. Jekyll’s secret because Dr. Jekyll was described as a large man, “a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty” (Stevenson). Mr. Hyde’s description also included Dr. Lanyon’s surmise that “there was something abnormal and misbegotten in the very essence of the creature” (Stevenson). In the last chapter, the letter from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Utterson, the audience gets a sense of shame and understanding from Dr. Jekyll. Stevenson’s diction strongly influences the reader’s perception of Dr. Jekyll’s letter. His use of words like “morbid sense of shame,” “driven to reflect deeply and inveterately on that hard law of life,” and “shed a strong light on this consciousness of the perennial war among my members” (Stevenson), imply the emotional impact that Dr. Jekyll’s experiments had on
At the time Stevenson was writing the novella, people were very judgmental of those who looked different. Back then, these 'deformed' people would have been shut away. These reactions from the late 1800s had a huge influence on the attitudes that Stevenson's characters had towards Hyde in the book.
“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,
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
The sophisticatedly-constructed novel ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ was devised in 1886, during the revolutionary Victorian era, by the author, Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson developed a desire to write in his early life and ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ cemented his reputation. The novel is widely known for its shocking principles that terrified and alarmed the Victorian readers. ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ plays with the idea of the dual nature of man, his two identities. On the surface, Dr Jekyll is a conventional, Victorian gentleman, but below the surface lurks the primitive, satanic-like creature of Mr Edward Hyde. One of the elements that play a significant part in the novel is setting. Stevenson subtly uses the setting to
Stevenson's Use of Literary Techniques in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
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
Doubleness in gothic literature often explores the duality of humanity. It asks whether there was inherent goodness and evil within a person. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson engages with the idea of an individual being comprised of two separate entities—a double in one body—the evil Mr. Hyde and the good Dr. Jekyll. This split person of Jekyll and Hyde talks back to the optimistic ideas about humanity, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson. He writes in his address “The American Scholar” that “They did not yet see... that, if the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him”. However, in Stevenson’s novel, the world does not “come round to him” in Jekyll’s pursuit to a better self by indulging in his worse self, instead he was consumed by his own evil and harms others in the world. In Stevenson’s language, he continually emphasizes the advancement of self by using terms like “prison-house of [Jekyll’s] disposition” that encapsulates the inner turmoil Dr. Jekyll faces because of Mr. Hyde’s horrifying actions (1678). In this paper, I will argue that Jekyll’s inability to indulge into his darker desires without any stain on his consciousness is merely an illusion. Dr. Jekyll believes his “instincts” will stay grounded within himself when in reality, he is unable to maintain his status in upper society and thus he succumbs to Mr. Hyde’s reckless freedom. Not only does this reflect the