How Stevenson Builds Suspense and Tension in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

How does Stevenson portray the duality of man in the opening chapters of ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’?

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

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.

“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is a novella written by Robert Louis Stevenson, a Scottish author. Written and published 1886, this novella reflects on the individual, and societal behavior during the Victorian era. During the Victorian era people, were supposed to behave like a normal person. Certain behaviors were highly restricted for example, showing evil. Instead, they were expected to give respect for everyone. People who acted out against the norm during this period were usually sent to asylums because such behaviors were unacceptable. People in this society did just that, they behaved as if they were perfectly normal. This does not mean that their bad side did not exist. Instead, they hid their

The Concept of Evil in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Stevenson The substance of the Bible and Greek myths - the premise of the evil that is in man - sometimes lurking deep in the psyche, sometimes controlling and consuming like a wild beast, is explored in Robert Louis Stevenson's (1850-94) short Victorian novel of 1886. Rarely does the mere title of a novel have the myth-making depth to grip the imagination and ensure its place in our language for generations to come. Today everyone knows what is meant by a 'Jekyll and Hyde character'. A handful of other novels with this quality perhaps come to mind; including 'Frankenstein'.

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

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

In this essay I am going to look at Mr Hyde and Dr Jekyll, the first

Stevenson's Use of Literary Techniques in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

meets Hyde, though he never sees his face as he talks with him. It is

king of bad places. You wish to know what types of evil deeds go on 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

More often than not, it is how an author writes, not what, that can have the greatest impact on the reader. Originally published in 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson’s enticing gothic thriller, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde observes the classic tale of man versus monster, only this man’s monster is himself. This story of woe follows the respected lawyer, Gabriel Utterson as he investigates the remarkably strange behavior of his friend Dr. Henry Jekyll. As Utterson continues to pursue the truth he discovers a horrifying truth; Henry Jekyll is the same person as Edward Hyde, a hunted killer. The well-known thriller entices the reader with the emerging Victorian fear that science would lead to the destructive collapse of their society,

According to Liu Hongli(刘红利 2011 )，Robert Louis Stevenson is a Victorian great romantic writers. His plot is compact, suspense, to seize the reader's eye. Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde is his masterpiece and the hero Doctor Jekyll becomes dual personality of the artistic incarnation. Stevenson’s life is a mirror of that time period. Though he born in a religious atmosphere of middle-class family, he hated all kinds of taboos. His love life is also aggressive. He fell in love with a prostitute and then he has a crush on the big good old widow, even at the expense of stop the family relationship to marry her without hesitation. Because of red tape and posturing of Victorian brownstone aversion, and suffering from tuberculosis, resistance to the damp winter in Britain, he often travels abroad to find spiritual liberation and eventually settled in South Pacific islands of Samoa and buried there.

During the Victorian era, the United Kingdom underwent many social, political and economic reforms for a more modern society. These series of reforms are directly represented in the literature of the time. An excellent example is, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, which gives a direct image of what Victorian era was like with his writing style as well as the story itself. Specifically, Stevenson portrays exactly how Victorian social life commenced as well as displays the main points of social standards of the time. Robert Louis Stevenson uses individual characters in the novella to accurately depict how people protected their social standing and reputation during the Victorian era.