Summary Of Stevenson's The Strange Case Of 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

Stevenson keeps the readers interested by using the supernatural and horror side of things to make it scary because when the story first came out they weren’t used to scary stories. He also uses mysteries to keep the readers wondering, guessing and wanting to know more. He includes moral messages in the story to keep people/the readers questioning themselves wondering if they are more similar to Mr. Hyde than they think.

Another theme in Stevenson’s novella is how he describes Mr Hyde as detestable without any prominent features. Those who encounter Hyde notice he projects a different type of appearance, and while they cannot verbalise it, they feel that something is wrong. When Mr Enfield describes Hyde’s appearance to Mr Utterson, he says,

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

Mr Hyde is introduced surprisingly to the reader because of his iniquitous action performed on the little girl and this is very different from the way in which Mr Enfield and Mr Utterson are introduced. Mr Utterson and Enfield are introduced to be sincere gentlemen shown to have prestige in the society as Mr Utterson has a respected job of a lawyer and Mr Enfield is the ‘well known man about town’ whereas Mr Hyde is instantly portrayed as sadistic, merciless and ferocious. Mr Hyde “trampled over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground” therefore this ensures that the reader’s response to Hyde is negative because only a malevolent person would do this despite being mature. The fact that he trampled over the little girl without any reason suggests that he may attain pleasure from doing such hideous activities which would give Mr Hyde an image of being sadistic

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

Hyde in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Stevenson presents Hyde in many different ways by describing the main character of Hyde, in an effective and detailed style, and providing a variety of language, imagery and atmosphere, which also helps to create the symbol which Hyde stands for. Stevenson explores what good and evil symbolised at that time in the Victorian society, and how this leads up to the representation of Hyde. Respectability and reputation were very important factors to consider in the Victorian society. The Victorian society was very strongly divided into classes, with the aristocracy having the highest value of respect. The split personality of Jekyll and Hyde

with him again. Also in the later Dr Jekyll wrote that he was going on

The industrial revolution completely changed the urban landscape of Europe during the 19th century. Technological advances, economic success, along with medical and scientific discoveries reshaped many aspects of modern life in european cities. The citizens of these modern cities, however, were skeptical of this evolution. Change was daunting, and people were afraid that it was accelerating to a point where society would transform out of all recognition. In 1886, a popular novelist, Robert Louis Stevenson, wrote his book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The novel was a smash hit because it appealed to the feelings society was already experiencing; the fear and anxiety of the evolving modern city. During this time, a higher percentage of people were literate and excited to read, which is another reason why the novel was so popular. It is evident to readers that Stevenson was skeptical of progress during his time period. In his book, he depicts the middle class victorian society and their feelings toward progress in the modern city through his characters.While Dr. Jekyll, the main character, represents middle class respectability and the repressions they kept hidden, Mr. Hyde embodies the perfect example of a degenerate and criminal. Then, Mr. Utterson, Dr. Jekyll’s friend and lawyer, stands in for the audience and identifies with the anxious society as a whole.

During the story Hyde’s actions compounds our first impressions of him. Stevenson never says exactly what Hyde takes pleasure in on his nightly forays but it is thought to be of things that would ruin Jekyll’s reputation if they ever came out. There is thought to be strong ties to drugs, alcohol addiction and other dangerous dealings; ‘he had once visited her (the maid’s) master and for whom she had conceived a dislike’. In the very first chapter, Mr Enfield tells his friend, Mr Utterson, a story where he witnessed a strange looking man walking along a deserted street, who ‘trampled calmly over (a) child’s body and left her screaming on the ground’ when they collided.

The city of London proved to be the sole dominant location in the 1800’s during the Victorian era in this novel. As the story unfolds in the classic literature novel, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” written by Robert Louis Stevenson, the magnificent city of London becomes a darker and mysterious location. The powerful city of London embodied the freedom and solitude required for the antagonist of the story, Mr. Hyde to hide his wicked behavior from the society as a whole. According to the history of the Victorian age, “Traditional ways of life were fast being transformed into something perilously unstable and astonishingly new” (1049). The population in England was growing at an astounding rate, illustrating the transition

This creature is horrible in its thoughts and actions; a connection that is plain from reading. Stevenson hopes that we will not allow ourselves to fall into this base form of living. The appearance and actions of Mr. Hyde could be symbols in Stevenson's allegory. The message to be gathered from all this information is that we must closely regulate our thoughts and actions, or risk becoming that which we despise.

written an 1886 and has gone down in history as one of the most famous

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a book of suspense. It is about a person named H. Jekyll that has 2 different sides to him. Jekyll has a good side, which is a totally different human being compared to the bad one. Jekyll is a very respected guy in the daytime (which is the good side), and a bad person in the nighttime. After so long, people find out why he has this odd characteristic to himself.

Paragraph: Stevenson presents Mr. Hyde as frightening character through the use of an animalistic description. He ‘snarls’ when Utterson refers to their common friends, and has a ‘hissing intake’ of breath. These beastly phrases all indicate to danger and ‘hissing’ suggests serpent-like behavior, and when that’s linked to context it’s a reference to the original sin story and it reminds us of how Satan shape shifted (into a snake) and mislead Adam & Eve. People in the novella also describe him as having ‘Satan’s signature upon his face’ this pinpoints how he is presented as a intimidating and frightening character. Victorian readers, (who read the Bible) will recognise that the reference to Satan is the most intimidating and evil image possible and also highlights just how horrible Hyde can be at times.