Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Essay

The famous Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde was indite by Robert Louis Stevenson and has remained popular ever since its publication in 1886. Robert was born in 1850 and was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was brought up a calvalist, further followed the bohemian life style. He unify Mrs. Fanny Osbourne in 1880 and supported Priest Dameor who c ard for the lepers.Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a rich narrative of the duality of mankind and how we be in essence creatures created for devout, as yet in either of us thither is the seed to do bad. The clean of the stratum is an old biblical single that many Christians recite quotidian in prayerLead us not into temptation, but consume us from evil. This might be one of the reasons Stevenson wrote this contain Jekyll lives a double life of propriety and shame, imprisoned by the moral demands of strait-laced connection, and so did Stevenson. He too was surrounded by upright, religious and hard-and-fast citizens. He was even pressured int o studying law at Edinburgh University.This defend was written as a revulsion story. We know this because of the settings and plot. Stevenson wrote the set aside at the measure of many murders in the east of capital of the United Kingdom and the complete ignoring of social determine and heart little full treatment committed by Mr Hyde ar to long-stalkedy in synch with Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes. Mr Hyde represents the exact opposite of what mincing gentlemen should act and the barbarism of his actions is what made the sacred scripture so scary back then.The story takes repose in London during the nineteenth century. The central mood of the novel is one of mystery and terror. Stevenson creates dark settings to create a mood of anticipation and mystery. E.g. He was aw are of an odd, light. Mr Hyde only comes aside in the dark, foggy iniquity, which later on makes the reader suspect mainly inglorious intentions and automatically informs the reader that there is an expectation of trouble and nighthing threatening, as the dark brings ominous feelingings and terror to the reader.Stevenson changes the atmospheric condition from regular night to to a greater extent dark and foggy so that it is nearly impossible to see clearly, therefore emphasising the situation with the fog, there is something hide and surreptitious lurking virtually which makes the reader feel anxious. excessively, he makes the character more evil looking in the dark e.g. In the darkness of the night he gave an impression deformity without any nam subject malformation. This makes the reader impression a horrific creature that makes them feel defenceless and exposed.Stevenson describes the fog organism broken up as a haggard shaft. This gives the genius of destructiveness and violence. Also the quote swirling wreaths gives the common sense of death as wreaths is what is placed on-top of a c onwardin. Finally Stevenson describes the gloomy avenues as mournful re- i nvasion of darkness which gives the sense of decay and obscurity. All these quotes too make the reader feel nauseous and apprehensive.The quotes It seems she was romantically given and London from all some very watchwordless gives an eerie effect and provides a somewhat peaceful response. These quotes are too examples of emotive language, because they give the reader an emotional response.A certain sinister block and tramps slouched are both examples of synecdochical language which gives the reader a precise count on of what is in the setting. The quote tramps slouched gives us an unpleasant attribute of what reality was really resembling for the poor, making the reader feel uneasy as well as sympathetic.As addition to Stevenson using figurative and emotive language, he too uses a wide range of verbs like ragged and dingy which helps the reader to get a detailed picture of the insecurity and filthiness in which they lived done, and adjectives like ragged children huddle d, which illustrates the concern and torment which even children went through.The quotes low growl of London and city in a nightmare, all give off the impression that the thoroughfares of London at the sequence were grimy, dangerous, dingy and simply terrifying places to live. Also the word growl, an example of personification, gives a sense that there is a savage, unpitying and a ferocious monster prowling about London. Finally the metaphor, light of some quaint conflagration, gives a reference hell which makes the reader feel uncomfortable.Even though there are many quotes referring to the struggles of Victorian society, there are on the opposite(a) hand several quotes which describe the other side of Victorian society which was entirely different. For example, bachelor house, close up by the fire and gratefull to bed, all give off a cosy, warm, safe and welcoming impression. So yet again we pass water another contrast of the rich, warm, safe Victorian residence to the po or, insecure and primarily tough Victorian slums. This shows that if you were rich you could use the power whatever appearance you like, as yet if you were poor, you were trapped in a world of p everyplacety and in a sense of revulsion.There are three main characters in the novel, Dr Henry Jekyll, Edward Hyde and Mr Utterson.Dr. Henry Jekyll is a prominent middle- elder doctor and throughout the novel he is physically described as both tall and handsome. He is withal extremely wealthy and by all who him, he is described as well respected and proper. For example, Stevenson describes Jekyll as a entertainer and a person kn confess for charities which gives the impression that Jekyll is a warm, pleasant, middle dissever gentleman.In the book, his voice is only heard in the concluding chapter (Henry Jekylls full statement of the issue), only after being described through the lens of Utterson, Lanyon, Poole and Enfield.The doctors belief that within each Human- being exists two c ountering forces, good and evil, touchs to his experiments to try to separate the two. This however, was not done entirely for scientific reasons, but also because he enjoyed escaping the confines of the respectable stalking-horse of Dr. Jekyll. The quote which illustrates this is The transformation was succeeded by a sense of joy. This also suggests that people didnt know what was right and what was wrong and would do and get questions later.Also in the book he is described as less distinguished for religion, which suggests he too questioned Christianity like many other people of his time. For example, Darwin challenged religion as he came up with the theory that we evolved from monkeys which would pissed the world wasnt made is seven days. Edward Hyde is a infinitesimal, modify, disgusting young man (much younger than Dr Jekyll) that is devoid of an apparent profession. Also the quote deformed illustrates that some Victorians disliked and rejected disabled people. Stevenson describes Hyde as callous and violent and a murderous mixture of timidly and establishment, which gives the impression Hyde is a fierce, ruthless, brutal monster.Despite the many descriptions of the horror that Edward Hyde invokes (by Lanyon, Utterson and Enfield), we are never told in detail precisely why or what features are so disgusting to observers, which emphasises the point the novel was made in the time where phrenology (judging someone by their appearance) was the key to knowing if someone was good or evil.Hyde is also often compared to animals e.g. snarled, implying that he is not a fully evolved Human- Being. Another factor which suggests he is compared to animals is the fact he only menaces society at night e.g. trampling a girl in the street and murdering Sir Danvers Carew, which relates him to rodents and other nocturnal animals. Finally the quote the man seems hardly gracious, illustrates the fact Hyde is not a whole and has something missing. Good.Mr Utterson is the narrator of the book and is described as tall and loveable. He is a middle- aged lawyer plus someone that all the characters confide in throughout the novel.As an old friend of Jekyll, he recognises the changes and strange occurrences that centre roughly both Jekyll and Hyde. Stevenson describes Utterson as a reliable and Modest man which suggests he is perhaps the most circumspect and respected character in the book therefore, it is significant that we view the crimes of Hyde through his observant frame. However, when Utterson disc overs Hydes body in a red cabinet, instead of reporting it to the police he precedes in reading a letter addressed to him, which suggests he is more interested in his social status than solving the mystery.The quotes his friendship seemed to be founded in a similar catholicity of a good nature and his friends were those of his own blood or those who he had seen the longest, illustrates the fact he is insular, nonreversible and narrow-minded. Knowi ng this makes the reader question if the story is told accurately and truthfully.The thing I noticed about this novel is that all the women are either victims or maids. E.g. the girl who got trampled on, the maid who witnessed the murder of Sir Danvers Carew and the house maid. This suggests that the middle class Victorian society were very sexist. However, if a Victorian was to read a innovational day horror story, they would probably come up with the same conclusion, as the majority of victims in directlys horror stories are women.The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is typical of the horror genre as it has many factors in which we would expect to see in a horror story nowadays. For example, the story is mainly set at night, there are victims and most importantly the evil character is punished at the end of the novel.Mr Utterson is the narrator of the book and we are told the story through his eyes and told as though its true. This contributes to the element of suspense a s we only know what Utterson knows. Suspense is also built up as Stevenson writes as if there is a last explanation as to whom the mystery figure is but doesnt let on and instead lets the suspense build. He occasionally allows a small amount of information out just to whet the appetites and keep up an atmosphere of mystery and confusion. For example, at the end of chapter five (Incident of the letter), Utterson says Henry Jekyll form for a manslayer. Not only does this make you wonder who the murderer is, but it also makes the reader want to read on. This atmosphere, one of controlled suspense, piecemeal building up of a sense of horror and destruction is achieved through a slow accumulation of unemotional detail, as this leaves the reader query what the characters are like and what they might do.I bank horror stories today do equable follow a similar pattern, in the fact people who do bad deeds are usually punished, they are packed with suspense and often include someone try ing to pass the mystery or catch the villain or monster, which in our case is Mr Utterson. However, the major difference in more recent examples of the genre is the temperament to locate the monstrous squarely within the normal, rather than presenting it as a threatening creature, such as Mr Hyde and Frankenstein, all made by individuals.Alfred Hitchcock had in fact changed this direction of the horror genre in 1960 with Psycho the video not only presented its most frightening moment, the shower murder, it also suggested that horror resides in everyday life rather than in alternative worlds of the miraculous or the gothic. Finally, the recent so called slice and dice films, such as Halloween, and living on the spur of the moment movies such as the night of the living dead are demonstrations of how contemporary special effects technology can delineate increasingly gruesome and imaginative dismemberment and mutilation usually at the expenditure of character, plot and theme. Eve n though these are all films, we can still see how there is a greater desire for horror stories which are related to everyday occurrences or objects.In Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson illustrates the devastating effects of in use(p) with Gods creation and how our negative and evil desires and urges can fade our original selves until we lose touch of who we once represented. Furthermore, Dr Jekylls desire and dependence to temporarily alter his existence results ultimately in his deadly demise.Jekyll and Hyde demonstrates how exculpatory curiosity about the darker sides of our nature can soon get out of hand and how evil is compulsive and how evil can so considerably take control of the good. Stevenson has used Jekyll and Hyde to show that everyone has good and evil at heart them. He draws this very well by using the setting to portray good and evil e.g. dingy street and a grand residence. He also makes a very important point which is relevant today as it was in t he nineteenth century. This is that bottled antisocialable behaviour can lead to jerky violent outpourings, such as seen in Hydes murder of Sir Danvers Carew.In Victorian society no one questioned God so the vagary of something happening which isnt controlled by God would be unusual. Also electricity had only just been invented so people were quite wary about the things science could do.I think the main theme in the book is duality and how London is split into good and evil, rich and poor, scientific fact and experimenting new ideas. The final point I wish to mention is how they unbroken secrets. On the outside people were warm and inviting, however inside, people kept intimate secrets, such as dealing with drugs, alcohol and prostitution. I believe this was probably due to the fact there wasnt much pleasure in this type of life.There are many moral philosophy include in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde however there are two main morals which stand out, one continuous forward moral and a more complex moral. The straight forward moral is that if you do bad deeds you will be punished and also how addiction can lead to violence and how violence can lead to murder. The more complex moral, however is about the appeal of being Mr Hyde. Because Mr Hyde is described and talked about so much, he is probably the most interesting and exciting character in the book, which turns the straight forward moral on its head and makes Hyde the most benevolent character in the novel.I believe the relevancy of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has changed considerably over the last hundred years. The main difference is that the Victorians saw this book religiously, however now when we read this book we think its about ain weakness and how addiction can lead to evil. A Victorian also wouldnt see the relevance of drugs and alcohol in this book, nor would they understand the relevance of addiction and what effect it has.Some may say that as humans, we crack masks. Not real masks, but masks that co ver up our true record showing our good side around our friends and our bad side around our family. These are great examples of mans fight in duality our good side is always competing against our evil side, resulting in our duality, our fight over good verses evil. In this story, quicken Jekyll is a regular scientist with the same feelings as every other human being Mr. Hyde is a manifestation of Doctor Jekylls evil side and as a result, he is able to commit murder without any guilt. In the end, the evil manifestation won, fetching completely over the Doctors body. The fight between good and evil is overFinally, I believe the strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is about how Dr Jekyll struggles to decide either to do the right thing and be a good citizen, or to do the thing Dr Jekyll desires the most and to be Mr. Hyde which he knows is wrong.