Contents
The Duality of Human Nature Through Jekyll’s discovery of Mr Hyde and his subsequent discovery of how to separate the two sides of his nature, we are able to examine the very nature of what it is to be human.
Jekyll’s struggle with his good and evil sides in order to demonstrate how there is good and evil in everyone. This is main moral in the story as it expressed in numeral circumstances from the beginning, middle and end. In the beginning of the story, Hyde was a part of Jekyll but, he wasn’t overpowering him.
Evil is personified in Hyde: Jekyll says Hyde is ‘alone in the ranks of mankind, pure evil’ (p. 61). His evil lies in being entirely selfish: he will do whatever he wants to satisfy his own appetites without any regard for other people.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a well-known example of a psychiatric disorder, commonly known as split personality.
Hyde, as his name indicates, represents the fleshy (sexual) aspect of man which the Victorians felt the need to “hide” — as Utterson once punned on his name: “Well, if he is Mr. Hyde, I will be Mr. Seek.” Hyde actually comes to represent the embodiment of pure evil merely for the sake of evil.
Hyde!” What theme does this passage best support? It is important to trust your instinct.
Stevenson writes about the duality of human nature – the idea that every single human being has good and evil within them. Stevenson describes how there is a good and an evil side to everyone’s personality, but what is important is how you behave and the decisions you make.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is a novel in which setting plays an important feature. In the book Dr Jekyll represents good and Mr Hyde represents evil, yet they are technically the same person and come to symbolise the good and evil in all of us.
Because we know that Jekyll struggles against the temptation to change into Hyde and eventually loses his ability to control the transformation, we can also think about fog as his internal battle against evil. From this perspective, the fog symbolizes Hyde, and Jekyll is the wind and sunlight fighting against it.
Violence is also used to characterise Mr Hyde as it is only him who commits it. Hyde’s victims are characterised as passivein order to make his acts of violence more shockingly unprovoked. Innocent victims Stevenson deliberately depicts innocent victimsto highlight Hyde’s barbaric acts.
For example Stevenson writes, “A fog rolled over the city in the small hours,” this creates a feeling of mystery and evil because the reader links the fog and darkness to not being able to see what’s coming.
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, religion functions as a lens through which to view good and evil. It gives the characters rules with which to separate good and evil into distinct and clear-cut categories.
Jekyll and his counterpart, Mr. Hyde, could be one of manic depressive psychosis. The diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders and emerging psychological theories during the Victorian Era would have influenced Stevenson and the character of Dr. Jekyll/Mr.
But Jekyll’s transformed personality Hyde was effectively a sociopath — evil, self-indulgent, and utterly uncaring to anyone but himself. Initially, Jekyll was able to control the transformations, but then he became Hyde involuntarily in his sleep.
There is no evidence to suggest, however, that at that stage, the public conceived of the Jekyll and Hyde personality as schizophrenia, because the word had yet to be coined. In fact, the Jekyll and Hyde personality would first become bound to the idea of multiple personality—now called dissociative identity disorder.
Dr Jekyll is determined as he wants his experiment to succeed. He is so determined that he risks losing everything in order for him to succeed – his friendships, reputation and wealth. … Dr Jekyll is respected due to his wealth, reputation as a charitable man and his discoveries in science.
Which theme is introduced in this exposition? Curiosity leads to dark truths.
Which theme does this passage best support? Pride goes before a fall. People should try to be good.
Which theme does this passage best support? Appearances shape people’s opinions. “Sir,” said the butler, turning to a sort of mottled pallor, “that thing was not my master, and there’s the truth.
‘Man is not truly one, but truly two’: duality in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
The book is relevant today because in the same way that Jekyll is addicted to Hyde, people in modern society are addicted to alcohol and cigarettes to relieve pressure. The message in this book is if we ignore our evil side it will return with more vengeance which you wouldn’t be able to control.
1. What is the combined effect of the description of Hyde’s appearance and his residence? Hyde’s appearance differs from the house described in the excerpt. A high estate with a usual gleam of wealth and comfort, was not regarded as dark and mysterious.
routing these embattled vapours’ ‘reinvasion of darkness‘ This is a metaphor to describe the city as Mr Utterson and the police go to find Mr Hyde. A pall is funeral cloth and it creates an atmosphere of death. The imagery used to describe the weather suggests a battle.
dignified and somber in manner or character. And with the same grave countenance he hurried through his breakfast and drove to the police station, whither the body had been carried. While the word is used as an adjective to describe the look on Utterson’s face, its meaning as a noun is suggested by the dead body.
“the foggy cupola” In literature a fog usually symbolises secrecy and eeriness. This can suggest that Dr Jekyll is hiding something. “Dingy window less structure” “Three dusty windows barred with iron”
Throughout the novel, Mr Hyde is presented as an animalistic figure that lacks empathy for others when committing brutal acts of violence. When attacking the old gentleman, Hyde’s “ape-like fury” as he tramples his victim creates a separation from humanity, entering the barbaric during this criminal act.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde details two crimes of violence against innocent and helpless citizens: first, a little girl, and second, an elderly man. The violence in the novel centers on Mr. Hyde, and raises the question of whether or not violence is an inherent part of man’s nature.
Utterson asks his friend to describe Hyde’s appearance, but Enfield, as the quote indicates, proves unable to formulate a clear portrait. He asserts that Hyde is deformed, ugly, and inspires an immediate revulsion, yet he cannot say why.
After this point, Jekyll and Hyde developed a strange relationship. They hated each other. Jekyll hated Hyde because of his pure evil and his power over him. He also had the feeling of horror that Hyde would probably do more horrible things, and that is when he thought of a way that can stop Hyde – committing suicide.
He presents this idea by using two protagonists, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, who are actually the same person. One of these characters symbolizes the normal side of a person represented by the respectable Dr Jekyll, who is a typical upper class Victorian, and the other, Mr Hyde, a deformed man, signifies the purest of evil.
The last, I think; for, O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend.” In Chapter 3, Utterson finally meets Hyde.
The theme of friendship is one which is less explicitly prominent in the text however is fundamental to the plot. ➔ The friendship between Mr Utterson and Mr Enfield establishes Mr Utterson’s interest in Mr Hyde. ➔ It is Utterson’s friendship with Dr Jekyll which causes him to pursue the case so persistently.
Jekyll’s experiment, which Lanyon found so horrifying, was an attempt to separate the two components, and when he discovered the correct formula and drank it, Jekyll was approaching a robust fifty years of age; yet after his transformation into Edward Hyde, he felt younger, lighter, and more sensual.
- Fear of abandonment. People with BPD are often terrified of being abandoned or left alone. …
- Unstable relationships. …
- Unclear or shifting self-image. …
- Impulsive, self-destructive behaviors. …
- Self-harm. …
- Extreme emotional swings. …
- Chronic feelings of emptiness. …
- Explosive anger.