Duality In Jekyll And Hyde

In great works of literature, a common theme displayed the play or novel is duality. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Stevenson, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee contain a heavy amount of duality. Duality in literature is a word or phrase with a dual meaning, usually complete opposites. In Romeo and Juliet, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many hidden phrases that utilize the literary device, duality. In Romeo and Juliet, duality is displayed in Friar Laurence’s soliloquy. Friar talks about the genuine and pure purpose everything has, but Shakespeare utilizes the literary device by telling the audience or reader the that these things …show more content…
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a mystery go Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson, who is investigating the case, reveals that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the same individual. Dr. Jkeyll had created a potion to be free of society and break the law in another man’s disguise, Mr. Hyde. However, both are at constant battle to stay in complete control. The theme of duality is quite apparent to the reader. It is most displayed by Dr. Jekyll himself. "Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil” (Stevenson ). Mr. Hyde is characterized by being the worst parts of Dr. Jekyll. "He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something down-right detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point” (Stevenson ). He is completely evil unlike Dr. Jekyll, who has many good qualities, but has a few evil qualities within himself. "With every day and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and intellectual, I thus drew steadily to that truth by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two” (Stevenson ). Dr. Jekyll soon came to the conclusion that the morals and intelligence of both Dr. Jekyll and Mr, Hyde would collide creating doom and he would not be able to control both as they are both apart of him. "I …show more content…
injustice, wrong vs. right, innocence vs. loss of innocence has been displayed throughout the novel. One example of justice vs. injustice had taken place when Jem and Atticus were exiting the courthouse. “It ain’t right. It ain’t right, Atticus” (Chapter 22). Jim and Atticus both knew that it was not right for Tom Robinson to lose the case; however society had the opposite view on wrong vs. right.Atticus plays the role of the teacher not only for his children, but also society. he believes that everyone has both good and evil within themselves and that the good will overpower the evil. As Atticus fights for Tom Robinson’s, he teaches the people of the society to stand up against racism and to fight for equality. He goes through the struggles of establishing equality as he believes that the good in society will prevail. Atticus dealt with the hardships that came his way. “I wish Bob Ewell would chew tobacco”(Lee ). Bob Ewell spit tobacco on Atticus, who was not bothered by it. Harper Lee shows the duality in human nature by portraying two characters as opposites. Bob Ewell is disrespectful and is considered the “evil”, while Atticus is considered to be the “good” in the battle of good vs. evil. Atticus also endured the harsh language thrown at him. “Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for” (Lee ). Atticus endure the harsh words thrown at him by Mrs. Dubose, a character in which is displayed to be