Explore the Ways in Which Stevenson Creates an Effective Horror Story in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

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

How suspense is built up in ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ by Robert Louis Stevenson

Utterson meets Hyde when Hyde is trying to go through the door where the novel started. After talking very briefly with Hyde, Mr. Utterson gets the impression that Hyde prefers the solitude as he quickly unlocks the door to enter. This time the reader gets an accurate account of how Hyde looks like. “Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish” (Page 23) is the initial line to the description. This could create the sense that Hyde is malnourished and still not fully formed yet. “He gave an impression of deformity without any namable malformation” (Page 23) reinforces the idea that Hyde had a deformity that couldn’t be described. Even though Utterson just met Hyde, he is indescribable which creates the notion that Hyde looks different from

to say that Dr Henry Jekyll is very much the best in what he does and

Inside the house of Mr. Hyde, there are rooms that are decorated in conflicting ways. One room was “furnished with luxury and good taste”, additionally it was decorated sophisticatedly and elegantly Stevenson 27). Even though the room was decorated elegantly, it looked as though the room was hurriedly ransacked. The dual theme of the room symbolizes the struggle between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the lower class overthrowing the upper class. Dr. Jekyll’s lab and house are connected but the two buildings have two very different appearances. Dr. Jekyll’s lab has “the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence”, which symbolizes the neglect of the lower class (Stevenson 6). However the house of Dr. Jekyll symbolizes the upper class and is the opposite of the lab.

This story is also a way for Stevenson to have a go at hypocroisy and

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

“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,

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

Stevenson created the character of Utterson as a neutral base for the whole story; much like the table on which the dinner is served. But in the chapter of The Last Night, the table creates suspense too. Because the story is seen through the eyes of Utterson, the reader feel what he feels, so when he gets scared, the reader feels the same. When he is told not to go into the room that Jekyll is supposedly locked in,

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

Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic novella, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde unveils various gothic elements. It is a mesh of different stories into one. The several narratives embraced by Jekyll do not exist separately, but instead rely on one another, (Germana, 2011). The Gothicism in, and concept of the novella shocked readers of its time. The novella offered new scientific thought, which many feared and could not accept.

The book of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was written nearly over a century ago. The fictional novella was written the year of 1885 in England, by Robert Louis Stevenson. The author wrote a gothic mystery story, told by a narrator that follows Mr. Utterson’s point of view. Mr. Utterson is the attorney of Dr. Jekyll, and his point of view comes from the outside of the home. Stevenson accomplished tremendous success, ensuring his fame as a writer for his previous works and, for “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. Moreover, decades later, a successful writer known as Valerie Martin wrote the novel “Mary Reilly”. Author Valerie Martin’s ‘Mary Reilly’ is retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘The strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ from the trusted housemaid, living in the home. The books have different insights, but also similarities. These stories portray a good and evil character, who lives a double life. Stevenson and Martin distinguish distinctive perspectives in each book; in addition, the loyalty the narrators acquire to Dr. Jekyll is described through their characterization.