Dr Jekyll's Letter Good Vs Evil

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

Considering The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as an Effective Representation of Evil

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, good vs. evil is the biggest theme. This story is seen as a metaphor about the good and evil in everyone, and the struggle of the two sides in everyone’s personality. Since Hyde starts to take over, I could argue that evil is stronger than good. But, Mr. Hyde ends up dying in the end of the story, so I could claim that the good of someone can overcome the evil in you. Overall, Stevenson is trying to communicate with the reader about the balance of good and evil in humans, also that your balance of good and evil has different results/effects in your life.

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.

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

Furthermore, the visual imagery created by, “The rosy man had grown pale; his flesh had fallen away; he was visibly balder and older”, is used as the reader can interpret that this may be the affect Lanyon is going through upon seeing the transformation from Jekyll to Hyde. The fact that this once “rosy man” has grown “pale” suggests that from seeing this disastrous act it is not only affecting him mentally, but also physically. Perhaps this has been done as the words “pale”, “balder” and “older”, all have connotations of elderly people, so the fact that Hyde has done this to Lanyon adds to his negative image and helps to create and innocence and victim image for Lanyon. Adding to this, the quote, “…and I shall never recover”, suggesting that because of this incident, the pain and image will always haunt him. Perhaps, Lanyon is more innocent that Utterson and Enfield, as they too

Both personalities do not want anyone to recognize that the two different individuals are one in the same. Even though Dr. Jekyll was view as an upstanding member of the community, some of Dr. Jekyll’s close friends began to wonder if he was becoming “wrong in mind”. As time progress Dr. Jekyll was appearing to be as unstable as Mr.

This shows both good and evil in Henry Jekyll, he is good in the sense that he wouldn’t put his profession to shame yet evil as although it is Edward Hyde who indulges in his pleasures, it is still Dr. Jekyll’s soul who is directing these actions. In the novel, although Dr. Jekyll does represent good he is not to represent only good but also evil.

Dr Lanyon first appears in Chapter 2 when Utterson goes to consult him about the strange will of their friend Dr Jekyll. He is described as a "hearty, healthy" gentleman with a warm manner of welcoming his friend that is based on "genuine feeling". (2) This emphasis on his good qualities and his genuine friendship is important. (3) It makes us trust him and believe his judgement may be right when he says that, because Jekyll "began to go wrong", he has seen little of him during the last ten years. In fact, he becomes uncharacteristically agitated and talks angrily of Jekyll's ideas as "scientific balderdash". This raises our level of interest in what Dr Jekyll might be involved in. (4)

Utterson saw Jekyll since they were good friends he saw that this person in front of him was not his good friend. Dr.jekyll the good the kind and Hyde is turning him into a dark, and evil person. All these things that are happening to Jekyll is making his body sick, deadly looking. “This master Hyde, if he were studied though he , must have secrets of his own:black secrets, by the look of him; secrets compared to which poor Jekylls worst would be like sunshine.” (18 Stevenson) This quote shows that Dr.jekyll is good,compared to Hyde he is good. Even Dr.Jekyll’s Darkest deepest secrets compared to Hyde’s secrets Jekyll’s look like sunshine, and cant even compare to Hyde’s secrets. “Now that that evil influence had been withdrawn, a new life began for Dr.Jekyll.”(31 Stevenson)This Quote shows that Mr. Hyde is evil. Hyde’s evil influence on Dr.jekyll who was a good man and Mr.Hyde was turning him into something evil. With his evil influence gone Dr.Jekyll can be himself; a good man.”It turns me to think of this creature stealing like a thief to harry’s bedside; poor harry what a wakening!” (18 Stevenson)This quote shows that everyone had a bad feeling about Mr.Hyde, Utterson knew that Hyde was bad, and evil. Utterson hated to see his oldest friend Dr.jekyll get his life ruined by a a thief and and

As it was some where in the 19th century it would have been the Victorian period, the Victorians were particularly interested in psychology and science. Jekyll's discoveries were closely linked to the Victorian's fascination with science, "even before the course of my scientific discoveries had begun to suggest the most naked possibility of such a miracle". As the Victorians took their lives very seriously, Jekyll had to do so to, "in the course of my life, which had after all, nine-tenths a life of effort, virtue and control". This meant that Jekyll had to repress his darker more fun loving side to remain in the standing that he did.

Lanyon, a character who acts as a minor yet crucial aspect of the plot, states this to Utterson after discovering the obscure relationship that Jekyll and Hyde share. Lanyon, upon seeing Hyde’s transformation into Jekyll, is plagued with the burden of knowing Jekyll’s secret; his enlightenment to otherworldly happenings exposes that there is so much beyond the restricted spectacle that he perceived the world through. Lanyon’s reality was shattered before his eyes and once an individual sees the truth, a new reality cannot be unseen. His state of emotional deterioration after finding out that supernatural phenomena can occur captures the heavy strain of fathoming a new perception. This drastic reality shift leads to craving the release of death.

Throughout the novel, it is important to examine what Utterson suspects of Jekyll. While Jekyll clearly is acting strange, Mr. Utterson is blind to the fact that this is truly Dr. Jekyll¹s problem and instead blames Mr. Hyde for blackmail. The question remains, blackmail for what?

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.

Dr. Lanyon is presented to the truth of the theories of Hyde, who before Lanyon 's eyes turns to Jekyll, it astonishes him. The genuine unpleasantness of Jekyll and Hyde are individual lies not in the revelation itself, however in the full acknowledgment concerning the way of all men are evil (or have evil in them, kinda like Twin Peaks).