Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Summary

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.

Now this story does not follow Dr. Jekyll through his journey of creating his evil alter ego. Moreover he is not even the first initial character that we are introduced to in the novella; we are first introduced to a man named Mr. Utterson. He is actually the lawyer of Dr. Jekyll and he takes an interest in his newfound protégé who is referred to as Mr. Hyde. His negative feelings towards Mr. Hyde, beget a personal investigation into his life and his connection to Dr. Jekyll. Sadly he does not realize the truth behind the mystery of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde till the end of the novella, where he finally discovers the secret from reading Dr. Jekyll’s last words written in a letter addressed to him after Dr. Jekyll’s untimely death.

in 1885. It is said that the idea for the novel came to Stevenson in a

Mr. Utterson observes a close relationship between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, because Dr. Jekyll favors Mr. Hyde by helping him throughout the novel. Dr. Jekyll cares for Mr. Hyde by helping him avoid trouble. For example, Dr. Jekyll pays 90 pounds to prevent the blackmail of Mr. Hyde when he steps on the little girl (3). Dr. Jekyll acts like a parent to Mr. Hyde, “If I die or disappear for more than three months...I wish to leave everything I own to my dear

The story of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde is a prime example of good versus evil as a man struggles with an experience that goes bad. Dr. Henry Jekyll is a man of science and he develops a potions that causes him to have two separate and distinct personalities. As time passes, Dr. Jekyll discovers that he is losing his ability to control the sinister side of his personality, Mr. Hyde. The effects of this scientific experiments will dramatically change his life and the lives of his friends.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the play Trifles are similar and different in their acts of violent behavior. In both genres the man and woman took a life, killed a person and had no regret. However, in the late nineteenth century in London, England Dr. Henry Jekyll dark side is kept under control. The dark half of him has a vicious appetite to do evil. There is no love lost between Jekyll and Hyde. Edward Hyde enjoys the tasteful lust of violence. His barbaric cold expression is noted by Mr. Utterson. The first impression Mr. Utterson got from Hyde, Hyde’s a friend to Satan. In spite of Dr. Jekyll honorable personality, fear grips Mr. Utterson mind. Mr. Hyde dwarfish appearance and bold displeasing smile is cause enough for Mr. Utterson to fear for Jekyll safety and involvement with such an evil man.

On their weekly walk, a particularly practical lawyer with the name Mr. Utterson listens as his friend Mr. Enfield tells an awful story of violence. The tale describes a dark figure called Mr. Hyde who treads over a young girl, disappears into a random door on the street, then intently pays off her relatives with a check signed by a respectable gentleman. Because Utterson and Enfield dislike gossip, the agree to drop the subject. However, one of Utterson’s clients and close friend, Dr. Jekyll has will documents written to Mr. Hyde. Soon, Utterson starts having nightmares of a faceless figure who courses through the streets of London at night. Confused, the lawyer visits Jekyll and friend Mr. Lanyon to try and learn more about Hyde. Lanyon confesses he doesn’t really see much of Jekyll anymore, because of a dispute they’ve had over the course of Jekyll’s research, which Lanyon states as “unscientific balderdash.” Interested, Mr. Utterson watches over a building Hyde visits, which is actually a laboratory attached to Jekyll’s

     Jekyll does deserve his final miserable fate because he commits several selfish deeds to the point where he brings his miserable fate upon himself. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses Jekyll to represent how man prioritizes by putting himself over others. Throughout the book, Jekyll’s two different sides are used to show that man is consistently selfish and will usually think of himself before others. Even though Jekyll has a good side and an evil side, both sides of him are selfish. Jekyll originally takes the potion for selfish reasons, Jekyll uses Hyde to conquer his own evil temptations, and in the end Jekyll gives into Hyde and completely gives up.

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

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

Being a purveyor of the law, he is in the position to oversee many "downgoing men" (Stevenson 1) and functions as an inspirational example of the refinement attributed to the upper class of which he is a member.  However, Mr. Utterson is troubled when Dr. Jekyll, also a member of the upper class, wills his property to a then-unknown Mr. Hyde.  He is "offended ...both as a lawyer and as a lover of the sane and customary sides of life, to whom the fanciful is immodest" (6).  Utterson does not, however, pry into the affair until the inheritor is described as monstrous.  This further demonstrates his sense of social obligation.  Before hearing the story that Mr. Hyde trampled a young girl, Utterson is able to restrain his first impression of Dr. Jekyll's decree; but upon hearing the reputable account, he can no longer ignore his sense of social and moral obligation to make things right.  Utterson suspects that blackmail is the reason for the atypical will, and whether for the purpose of legitimizing the monstrous story or having a primary account of Mr. Hyde, he seeks out this character before confronting his client, Dr. Jekyll.

a wooden door on a wall with no windows, and is revealed to lead to

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde written by Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll has a struggle between doing what is right and moral, or allowing Mr. Hyde to take over and lose any and all morals he has. Dr. Jekyll is the town doctor, and he is a very well respected individual. Mr. Hyde, however, shows up one day out of the blue, and from the very first moment he causes nothing but trouble. Hyde, unlike his doctor counterpart, has no morals, and cares about no one but himself. Hyde is willing to do anything to get out of trouble that he has caused even going so far as to bribe people when he tramples a little girl. Mr. Hyde is so immoral, and so unstoppable, Dr. Jekyll begins to have a problem controlling when Hyde comes out. Jekyll finds himself in an internal struggle of what to do to not only keep his morals, but also to keep the respect and reputation he has worked so hard to build. Jekyll finally decides the only way to undo his immoral decision of creating Hyde, he best end his own life, which in turn will end Hyde’s. This ends the moral vs immoral conflict that is seen throughout the book and thus as all great stories do, the end draws to a close, ending the story, and ending Stevenson’s paranoia that a second personality will appear out of nowhere and take him

Romantic and Victorian Themes and Preoccupations in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson was born November 13, 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland Throughout his childhood, he suffered chronic health. A Study of Robert Louis Stevenson’s use of settings, characters and symbolism in ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. Robert Louis Stevenson was born November 13, 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland throughout his childhood; he suffered chronic health problems that confined him to bed.