In the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses imagery, diction, and details to create an eerie mood. He has creepy imagery, unsettling diction, and strange details. When he mixes them together, the result is an eerie mood that lasts throughout the whole book. Robert Louis Stevenson uses imagery to make the book creepier. He describes Hyde as “something wrong with his appearance...displeasing…detestable...deformed somehow” (53). Hyde looks different than other people, but no one can tell how- they just get a sense of deformity. Another example of imagery was “a room in a rich house…friend lay asleep...and then the door of that room would be opened,curtains of the bed plucked apart…there would stand by his side a figure...he must rise and do his bidding” (58). This passage started out normal, and then it began to get creepy, like a scene from a horror movie where the person in the bed was being forced to do what the figure told him. The last example of imagery is “fine dry night, frost in the air, the street...clean...solitary...silent”(59). This is an suspenseful passage since it is an empty street, on a quiet night, and the reader is left wondering what will happen. The imagery in this book combines to make a creepy mood for …show more content…
For example, “certain sinister block of building” (49), has the adjective sinister. The author chose to use the word sinister to describe the building instead of something not as strong. Another example of diction used in the book was “devilish little of the man” (57). The adjective devilish makes the story scarier, when Stevenson could have used another less unsettling word. The last example of diction is “savage laugh” (61). Savage describes Mr. Hyde’s laugh, and it makes him sound wild and kind of crazy. Stevenson could use a calmer word to describe it, but he picked a harsh one. So, in the book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson’s diction is very
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.
It creates this mood by showing the author's word choice in order to give a clearer image of the story.The excerpt “the door was blistered and distained” helps show a mysterious mood as well ( 49). The wording of this shows that Stevenson wants a more spooky feel of this part of his story. “insensate cruelty” is a wording that enhances the meaning of the word cruelty ( 69 ). As well as making cruelty have a greater meaning, it emphasizes that he wants you to get the word cruel's full meaning. One last excerpt for diction is “same grave countenance” ( 70 ). That shows that it is a dark, or scary, countenance, which helps contribute to a more mysterious mood. Therefore, word choice shows many things to help contribute to a mysterious
Stevenson used the contemporary setting of Victorian London to write his gothic horror novel. The streets with the gas lamps were the perfect setting following the true horrific stories of Jack the Ripper. He refers to Mr Hyde well as he wanders the streets of London not knowing who he’s going to meet. The elements in gothic horror include irony, movement, time, senses, horrific
Within the Novella – The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Stevenson depicts moments of graphic horror in order to convey the chilling story of duality and the ordeals of Dr Jekyll. The two moments where the theme of horror is particularly prominent are in the Carrew Murder Case and Dr Lanyon’s Narrative, where the character of Mr Hyde succeeds in being the epitome of evil in the reader’s eyes. Stevenson uses descriptive imagery, intense behavior (especially for Victorian circumstances) and the senses, of which I am going to be focusing on sound in order to instill this terror onto the readers. This combination of devices combined with the plot during these moments makes them so frightening and memorably so.
An Atmosphere of Mystery and Suspense in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Robert Louis Stevensons Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a gothic novel in many of its aspects, but one of the most important reasons is that there is constant building of suspense. There are many ways that this is done: through his characters, through his vocabulary, the setting and even through the origins of the character of Hyde.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was wrote in 18th centuries, the times that were defined as ‘Gothic revival’. The literature in this times had similar thematic elements include supernatural or ‘fantastic’, violent crime (death and murder), passionate romance (often with death). The novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was considered as typical Gothic literature. Particularly, repression and hypocrisy are highly emphasized in the novel. Repression is undoubtedly a cause of conflict between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The root of this repression can be found in Victorian England where there was no sexual appetites, no violence and no freedom of expressing emotion in the public sphere. Everything should be restrained and people in that times all behaved solemn and were not allowed to show their joys and sorrows. This repression can be well reflected within Dr. Jekyll in the novel. According to quotation of Stevenson’s description:
Stevenson’s “The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” was one of the most famous works of horror fiction of all time in English literature. It was based in the nineteenth century. It reflects the influence of two important ideological forces in the Victorian era. The text uses gothic and detective elements to interest the reader as they were very popular at the time. The focus of the text is concentrated on the issue of Jekyll and Hyde’s personality which was described as someone who lived a double life of outward sanctity and secret iniquity. This is so that it would to create a mystery for the reader as they are trying to unravel who Hyde is.
The imagery in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde helps to create a horrifying mood in many different ways. First Stevenson says “... half full of blood-red liquor”(104) and red is normally associated with bad things such as blood, fire, or figures like the devil; so by saying that it was “blood-red” gives the reader a horrific tone. Next when we talk about
This use of light to represent good and dark to represent evil continues throughout the story. Additionally, the excellent use of imagery found throughout the tale can be evidenced in the line, “street after street, all lighted up as if for a procession and all as empty as a church” (Stevenson 2242). Stevenson’s ability to use written word to evoke a detailed picture within the reader’s imagination is no small feat. All through the tale the reader can connect with and imagine all of the things that he describes in writing. A simile can be found when Enfield describes the doctor that aides the young girl trampled by Hyde, by saying that he was, “about as emotional as a bagpipe” (Stevenson 2242).
The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde Stevenson uses symbols and disturbing adjectives in the description of the setting and characters to create an atmosphere of horror in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He uses the weather and the way certain characters look to portray a certain meaning relevant to the story.
Imagery plays a key role in the exploration of Dr. Jekyll's double character. Stevenson's use of imagery intensifies the plot and its relationship between good and evil (Rollyson 1863-1864). For example, Hyde is described as "apelike" and "like a monkey" while Dr. Jekyll is portrayed as handsome and elegant with "proper stature" (25-26, 38). This example indicates a "reverse evolutionary process" and confirms Jekyll's disastrous attempt to interfere with the order of nature (Page 763). In general, Hyde is illustrated as animalistic, ugly, and deformed mainly to conjure an evil opinion of this character. However, the physical description may be more than simply symbolic. "During the Victorian era, many believed in physiognomy," which was the belief that one could judge a criminal from his or her physical appearance. Hyde is depicted as a vampire who "feeds on the very life of his victims" (Abbey, et al. 327). ."..[Hyde was] drinking pleasure with bestial avidity from any degree of torture to another, relentless like a man of stone" (33). This vampire image suggests the way in which indulgence of evil eats away man's capacity for goodness. Lastly, Stevenson chose ideal names to suit and describe the personalities or actions of his characters. Just as Hyde hides in Jekyll, "Je kyll" hides in "Jekyll." In French, "Je" means I and "kyll" probably
In Robert Louis Stevensons Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the use of themes plays a huge impact on the shaping of the novel and the characters. Most of the dramatic actions within the story consists of preventing the downfall of the two main “characters”, or in other words it is Utterson partaking in damage control to prevent Dr. Jekyll being brought into the horrid actions of Mr. Hyde. The themes within the novel play right into the actions of the characters and help dramatize the downfall of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Throughout the novel a tension between the world of reason and science is created, which plays into the readers inability to cope with the idea of dualty or supernaturalism. Stevenson suppresses the length of the novel to help the
* “The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” belongs to the allegoric type of literature. Insightful, well-written, and extremely enjoyable, it is a story that chimes so with our collective consciousness that it has entered into a legend. It doesn’t just give one phase of what you read but it also another phase where in you can reflect and interfere with another idea. Usually in allegory, the events depicted symbolize an underlying moral or spiritual quality or represent a hidden meaning beneath the literal one expressed. Likewise, in the story,
During this extract of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Stevenson explores fit through a particularly dark manner. Initially, this is Revealed in the quote "3 o'clock of a black winter morning"- considering that is extract was set in the early afternoon of a 'black winter day', the surroundings are expected to be dreary and indistinct which can devise a fearful and mysterious