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Jekyll And Mr Hyde

Good Essays

In Stevenson’s ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ Stevenson presents to his readers a thrilling incident that illustrates the dangers of refusing to accept propriety. Stevenson successfully adapts a novel about adults into a murder mystery that challenges the reader to consider the ambiguity of human nature. The theory that an individual’s character is composed of two parts, a reasonable self and evil ‘twin’, which are constantly at war. Sharing one body and one brain, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde do not separate but undertake a change in form in which Jekyll is replaced by Hyde. Jekyll and Hyde present opposite views of reality. Dr. Jekyll’s has shown the reader he suffers from a personality disorder. He uses Mr. Hyde to portray his …show more content…

Hyde is gradually becoming someone who is a selfish, cruel creature who is consumed with the hatred of Jekyll. Meanwhile, Jekyll continues his separation from Hyde. He considers the option of ending Hyde altogether, accelerates his performance and refuses to accept Hyde as a part of him. Hyde is furious at Jekyll’s treatment and he becomes increasingly evil. He assumes control at will, and Jekyll, failing to understand that what he had attempted was impractical, continues to believe that the experiment could succeed if he could only obtain the right combination for the potion. In desperation, Hyde commits suicide, thus destroying both men. To strengthen his theme of propriety, Stevenson layers contrasts within the various points of view that form the narrative. The friendship of Enfield, the first narrator, and Utterson who is curious, because they are almost polar opposites. Although both regard Hyde himself with disgust, the mystery of Hyde’s identity provides a mere sketch for Enfield, while Utterson finds it very troubling. For Dr. Lanyon, who is more closely connected with Jekyll, the understanding of Jekyll and Hyde is fatal. Throughout the novel the reader finds various points of view, Stevenson highlights information that deepens the insight into the psychology of Jekyll. The characters in the novel continuously react with shock and …show more content…

People with multiple personalities usually have a variety of symptoms that can be confused with other common disorders. In order for doctors to say that a person has multiple personality disorder, they must see two or more different identities. Each personality also must become the dominant personality for a period of time. In some cases, doctors may talk to the patient for long periods or ask the patient to keep a journal between visits, in hopes of learning more about the different personalities. In Dr. Jekyll’s lab he creates a chemical potion that was intended to finish the separation of his personality and drinks it. After a “grinding of the bones” and a horrible nausea, he begins to feel “incredibly sweet” and free. Looking in the mirror, Jekyll observes not himself but Edward Hyde, a smaller and younger person than himself. Jekyll delights in the division of himself and in his new liberty. The acceptance of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has helped the spread of a determined view that it is a simple story of the division between good and evil that occurs in all human

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