The characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, do not share many of the same characteristics. They are like two sides of a coin, one shiny and new, the other old and dull. They are two completely separate personalities, but in only one physical body. Dr. Henry Jekyll is a controlled, well established man, with a deeply divided sense of his private and public self. In his public self, he is a doctor, a scholar, and a long time good friend. In his private self, he yearns for more freedom from restraint and obligation. Mr. Utterson describes Dr. Jekyll as “about fifty years old, a large, tall man without facial hair (“smooth-faced”). He says Dr. Jekyll is involved with charities and
Although Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde oppose each other in mainly appearance, they do share some similarities in behavior and in thought. Dr. Jekyll is already characterized as a genial host, but Mr. Hyde also has civilized interactions with others. For example, he tries to pay the family of the child he trampled. Although it was for his benefit, it can be thought of otherwise. He also manages to communicate with two other characters in the novel without doing any harm to
Jekyll was a man of social status and friendly. Everyone liked him and as he had a politeness about him. He was friends with the lawyer, Mr. Utterson and the doctor, Mr. Lanyon. "I suppose Lanyon and I must be the two oldest friends that Dr. Jekyll has." He hosted dinners and prominent people were invited. His home was clean and nicely decorated, who he had also hired for help. Mr. Poole, his and other staff, cared about him and served him well. "I think there is foul" , said Poole to Mr. Utterson after suspecting something terribly wrong with Dr. Jekyll. He was respected by his piers and people who meet him as his dinners would be very successful, "fond of the respect of the wise and good among my
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the two main characters, Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde are depicted as contrasting and opposing in personality. In the opening chapters of the novella, Mr. Hyde is portrayed as the epitome of evil, while Henry Jekyll is seen to be genial and kind. Throughout the novella, each character develops and changes; Hyde is perceived to become more evil, while Jekyll to become weaker, distancing himself from his once close friends. In the final chapter of the novella, Jekyll’s personal testimony, when Dr. Jekyll is on his deathbed, he reveals his connection to Mr. Hyde. As the characters change throughout the novella, Stevenson slowly reveals their personalities to the unsuspecting Victorian reader.
However, with careful reading one will see that they are actually one person. One may argue in regards to being one being operating on two different ends of mental and emotional scales that Mr. Hyde essentially does not exist. It must be noted that the potion that Jekyll creates is not that was intended to move evil but one that allowed him to express his contained nature. In fact, Hyde could best be described as a disguise when worn Jekyll can carry out his urges without guilt or conscious. Hyde is not a different person that is separate from Jekyll but instead a labeled manifestation of negative and destructive urges of Jekyll. In many ways Hyde embodies the evil nature of Jekyll executed through the same body and mind but on different ends of an ethical spectrum. Moreover, the story never separates the two on perspective. Jekyll consistently uses statements like "I" even when Hyde is in action. Throughout the story the author makes no distinct difference in perspective leading readers to believe that though they have different names that they are inherently one and the same. In the 10th chapter, "Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case" Jekyll carries the theme of duality that holds true for his character. He writes, "It was on the moral side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures
The characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have completely opposite personalities. As Dr. Jekyll seems to be mentally sound, Mr. Hyde is unstable. Dr. Jekyll is pleasant to look at, while people turn away in disgust from Mr. Hyde. Where Dr. Jekyll is an upstanding citizen, Mr. Hyde is evil. These two, distinct personalities show the duality of man.
The way today's day and age thinks is very different from how the characters in this 1800s classic think. What is totally socially accepted today would be crazy out of the ordinary in the 1800s. In Robert Louis Stevenson's mystery novella, Dr jekyll and Mr Hyde the Victorian Era influences Mr Utterson and Dr jekyll's actions.
Both virtue and vice is within every man, and it is the balance of these two forces that make one human. The decision to house these traits in separate entities, or to detach them from oneself completely is dehumanizing. Both the protagonists of Dorian Gray and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde undergo this process when they make the decision to create separate apparitions, or doppelgangers, in order to better fit to the mold of society. As each text progresses both Dorian and Jekyll face a series of changes in both themselves and their counterparts, resulting their loss of control.
Beginning with appearances, Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde are two completely separate people. Dr. Jekyll is described to be about fifty years old, smooth faced and kind looking, whereas Mr. Hyde is characterized has being something grotesque and having something really wrong with his appearance. Mr. Utterson describes his looks as, “something [really] wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable.” Dr. Jekyll is also written to be a very charitable man and close to his religion. Looking at the outside picture, it is very easy to see Dr. Jekyll as this kind hearted innocent man, but deep down he was very similar to Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde’s first characterization is from Mr. Utterson explaining to Mr. Enfield
One thing that can be widely agreed on is that variety exists between people of the human species. Some people look physically different whether it’s through their hair texture, height, or even skin tone. Personality, however, is what truly makes up a person. That is a fact that is exemplified in everyday activities. Oftentimes, even the most attractive person can be seen as ugly upon getting to know them due to a conflict in personality.
Good and evil are obviously two polar opposites, but one cannot exist without the other. This applies to many aspects of life and is a common theme referenced in many works of film and literature, one being Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Henry Jekyll, a well educated, respected, religious man, is the embodiment of good, whilst Mr. Edward Hyde carries an aura that just oozes evil. Although they act as two distinct people, they share a single dichotomic consciousness, and are never completely separate from each other.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is about two men, Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde who seem to not have much in common except for one thing that cannot be overlooked. Dr. Jekyll is a well respected member of society and a scientist who had given up his regular practice to work with non-traditional medicine. Mr. Hyde is a soulless man who is almost the exact opposite of Jekyll, he is of the lowest social class and he gets in to quite a bit of trouble. Through out the tale, a series of criminal events occur which all lead back to Mr. Hyde.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the same person just two different personality’s. Dr. Jekyll is respected and liked and is good while Mr. Hyde is generally bad through out the story. Dr Jekyll starts to like Mr Hyde and looses self control and starts to become addicted to his bad personality. Dr Jekyll is the good side and Mr Hyde is the bad one. Dr. Jekyll permanently becomes his bad side Mr. Jekyll
Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde are in fact a single character. Until the end of the book, the two personalities alike, the well liked, respectable doctor and the hideous, bad Hyde are almost opposite in type and personalty. The author uses this marked thoughts to make his point. every one in the world contains opposite forces within him or her, an alter ego that hides behind them. Neither has a very interesting personality, it is the nature of their interrelation that makes the novel great.
The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a story of Gabriel Utterson investigating the case of Dr. Jekyll. In this essay, I will be comparing and contrasting the characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This essay will also touch on the mental, physical, and moral differences between them and if they are two separate personalities
Hyde. In this way, Jekyll becomes monstrous himself as he wishes to pass on his evil parts into another person. Jekyll’s concoction is a threat to cultural morals and values as it enables someone to set evil free. Consequently, there is no obligation and interest in adhering to any moral standards. In the end, he is a split person, one-half is represented by Jekyll and the other one by Hyde. Stevenson used the different standpoints in the story to create the feeling that Jekyll and Hyde are two different individuals: “‘The Master Hyde, if he were studied,’ thought he [Utterson],’must have secrets of his own; black secrets, by the look of him; secrets compared to which poor Jekyll’s worst would be like sunshine.” (Stevenson 22). Thus, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a story where the line blurs. As Hyde and Jekyll are one and the same person, the reader realises that they together are both moral and immoral and both good and