Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Setting Analysis

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

This suggests that Hyde is a strange man. Stevenson uses this powerful description to convey and portray a man who comes across as mysterious and dangerous. Stevenson makes him more mystifying when Enfield continues, “I can’t describe him. And it’s not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment.” (Page 15) This immediately brings a sense of a man with deformities that can’t be described. Stevenson uses this to confuse the reader and amplify the sense of foreboding. Surely when one can see somebody in their mind, they can describe how they look and describe their deformities especially? Not being able to describe Hyde shows that he isn’t a normal human; he’s something far more inhumane.

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

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one long social commentary. One of its main themes is breaking down the façade of perfection created by the upper class, and examining what lies underneath. In fact, the whole story is about a man in high society, whose private life is rather an opposite of his public one. In Dr. Jekyll’s letter, Stevenson writes, “I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold slave to my original evil… I was suddenly aware that I had lost in stature,” (Stevenson page 2273). The idea of a “loss in stature” holds a double meaning. Stature, meaning size, can allude to Hyde’s height which is understood to be much less than Jekyll’s own. Yet, stature, meaning stance in society, can also imply that Jekyll, when transformed, no longer hold’s his prominence in his culture. This speaks to the Victorian society’s habit of only portraying the high society as impeccable which Stevenson battles throughout this mysterious case. Another parallel of appearance is described by Nabokov as he states, “The relations of the two are typified by Jekyll’s house, which is half Jeykyll and half Hyde,” (Nabokov 186). The side facing the street filled with others in the upper class is neat, tidy, and welcoming; this is Jekyll’s half. The side facing a dimmer and more dangerous street is dark, looming, and mysterious; similar to Hyde’s

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is set amongst the ominous and unsettling streets of Victorian London in the 19th century, which creates a chilling setting in the novel. The importance of setting is that it reflects most of the major themes of the novel like the duality of man, mystery, and good versus evil. Stevenson uses a lot of realistic and imaginative description to set up the mood and atmosphere. Gothic seems to be also one of the major themes in the novel which tend to interlink with secrets like Dr. Jekyll’s connection to Mr. Hyde. Settings like the mysterious empty London helps to create the effect of darkness and evil

Stevenson’s intention is to express that Hyde represents the dark side inside of everybody and he explains how letting your evil side out can affect your life when he tells us that “ the dark influence of Hyde had been withdrawn, the doctor has returned

In the novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson emphasizes how secrecy is used to protect one’s self-image and ensure no destructive secrets of one’s past become public knowledge. In the book, the plot is constantly driven forward by deceit; Mr. Utterson does not know the relationship between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and he wants to find out. Secrecy is one of the main themes in the book as it constantly surrounds the character of Dr. Jekyll. Jekyll's personality is serious and never unusual or abnormal, however his true repressed personality is revealed in the form of Mr. Hyde. This suggests that Stevenson is trying to show man’s repressed, inner nature, and how all men have aspects of their being of which they are ashamed and

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

Hyde’s apartment was set in Soho, a very sleazy, corrupted part of London at the time. Living in Soho links Hyde was the lowest levels of society: prostitutes, foreigners and primitive, immoral behaviour. Also, Soho had eerie weather- ‘a great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven’, representing the malicious crimes being committed and the blocking out of God. This reflects the mysterious, depraved attributes of Hyde’s

During the story Hyde’s actions compounds our first impressions of him. Stevenson never says exactly what Hyde takes pleasure in on his nightly forays but it is thought to be of things that would ruin Jekyll’s reputation if they ever came out. There is thought to be strong ties to drugs, alcohol addiction and other dangerous dealings; ‘he had once visited her (the maid’s) master and for whom she had conceived a dislike’. In the very first chapter, Mr Enfield tells his friend, Mr Utterson, a story where he witnessed a strange looking man walking along a deserted street, who ‘trampled calmly over (a) child’s body and left her screaming on the ground’ when they collided.

The city of London proved to be the sole dominant location in the 1800’s during the Victorian era in this novel. As the story unfolds in the classic literature novel, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” written by Robert Louis Stevenson, the magnificent city of London becomes a darker and mysterious location. The powerful city of London embodied the freedom and solitude required for the antagonist of the story, Mr. Hyde to hide his wicked behavior from the society as a whole. According to the history of the Victorian age, “Traditional ways of life were fast being transformed into something perilously unstable and astonishingly new” (1049). The population in England was growing at an astounding rate, illustrating the transition

To begin with, Dr. Jekyll is a well-rounded, well-respected man descending from a highly intellectual and respected Christian family of doctors and lawyers. He is nothing short of the ideal Victorian gentleman: tall, polite, honorable and refined, physically portrayed as being “a large well-made man of fifty,” and as having a “large, handsome face” (Stevenson, 19). Opposed to this seemingly impeccable man is none other than Mr. Edward Hyde, a short, hairy, ‘troglodyte’ man with a horrific

Many more became more pessimistic and turned from the permeated artistic circles which also brought to light the weakening of the Western culture and its dominance. Stevenson’s novel clearly depicted good and evil with civilization and savagery; it helped show that civilians knew the truth regarding England’s attraction to the savage Western cultures just like Hyde enjoys the restraint from freedom.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886. The novel is set in Victorian England and follows a man by the name Dr. Jekyll, a respected doctor. Dr. Jekyll is a revered man in society and has every intention of remaining that way. However, one day he goes too far with one of his experiments and he creates a draught that unleashes a split personality within him. This personality goes by the name of Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll does not seek a cure at first because he enjoys having an outlet for all of his desires that are deemed unacceptable by society. Hyde commits evil deeds, such as murdering an old man and trampling a young girl, which Dr. Jekyll could never normally let himself go through with. Dr. Jekyll believes that he can remain a good, reputable man even when a part of him is doing wrong. However, he soon learns that this is impossible. Soon after, Dr. Jekyll loses control over his ability to transform into Mr. Hyde. At first, he would only change during the night. Then, he started transforming during the day as well. Dr. Jekyll finally admits that the problem is starting to get out of control. However, he cannot create a remedy any longer. Dr. Jekyll is eventually completely overtaken by Mr. Hyde and the reader does not hear from him again. In this novel, Dr. Jekyll illustrates the duality of human nature through his struggle to choose between good versus evil, societal expectations versus unacceptable desires, and

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde influence each other, Stevenson focuses on individual’s perspective. By illuminating on individual’s conflict and perspective, it makes reader to sympathize Dr. Jekyll’s dilemma. Because of social status, he can’t be free, but when people recognize Mr. Hyde as Dr. Jekyll, it will influence to his social status. Additionally, Victorian era time period affects to author’s perspective in the book a lot. It is unique for everyone to overcome internal conflicts, and the author portrayed it in extreme method. Stevenson ultimately claims that in reality, everyone has