¬¬To what extent are Macbeth and Jekyll and Hyde tales that explore the psychological rather than the supernatural?
Shakespeare and Robert Louis Stevenson both write about the psychology of man, meanwhile also exploring what is known to be the ‘supernatural’, which refers to superhuman appearances, and things such as ghosts, or witches, which are beyond human understanding. ‘Psychology’ refers to the study of the mind and how the human brain works, including human behaviour and how different things affect this. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the supernatural is shown through the use of a magic potion, while in Macbeth the idea is presented through appearances such as ghosts and witches. However, the question that we must pose …show more content…
Hyde is described many times in the novel as a “devil” and as being “devilish” These descriptions of Hyde have very strong associations with evil and they very clearly show that Hyde really is “pure evil”. There is a semantic field of evil and hell in the text, mainly always referring to Hyde. He is “not like a man”, which links to Macbeth, when Banquo says the sisters should be women but their beards make him think differently. Jekyll himself describes Hyde as having an “imprint of deformity and decay”, which explains why so many people actually hate Hyde even if they do not know him personally. I think as an audience, we come across a real sense of hatred and repugnance towards Hyde, just as with the weird sisters in Macbeth. Both of these characters represent the epitome of evil, they personify evil, showing how controlling this side of any man can actually …show more content…
The adjective “black” suggests dark and ambiguous, like he should not be having such desires. Macbeth desperately wants to take and keep power, even if he is completely aware of the sin he is committing, which shows that he is stubborn and gets what he wants. This suggests to the audience that although Macbeth seems very reliant on other people, once he has set his mind on something, he is willing to do anything to achieve it. In a similar way, Jekyll is also a character that is very stubborn about what they want. Jekyll creates the impossible by splitting his personality into two separate beings, although he also is aware of the possible consequences -just like Macbeth- yet he wants to be a perfect version of himself so desperately that he is willing to defy any laws or any morals to achieve this. In Chapter 10, Jekyll says, “temptation of a discovery so singular and profound”, meaning that it is not enough for him to have created the potion and he cannot resist taking it to test what might happen”. The adjective “profound” suggests that his urge it too great, even incontrollable. Both Macbeth and Jekyll have set ideas in their minds that they want to take forward. This becomes a psychological problem when the characters become tied to and controlled by their ambitions, as it causes them to lose control over their own
Shakespeare and Robert Louis Stevenson both write about the psychology of man, meanwhile also exploring what is known to be the ‘supernatural’, which refers to superhuman appearances, and things such as ghosts, or witches, which are beyond human understanding. ‘Psychology’ refers to the study of the mind and how the human brain works, including human behaviour and how different things affect this. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the supernatural is shown through the use of a magic potion, while in Macbeth the idea is presented through appearances such as ghosts and witches. However, the question that we must pose …show more content…
Hyde is described many times in the novel as a “devil” and as being “devilish” These descriptions of Hyde have very strong associations with evil and they very clearly show that Hyde really is “pure evil”. There is a semantic field of evil and hell in the text, mainly always referring to Hyde. He is “not like a man”, which links to Macbeth, when Banquo says the sisters should be women but their beards make him think differently. Jekyll himself describes Hyde as having an “imprint of deformity and decay”, which explains why so many people actually hate Hyde even if they do not know him personally. I think as an audience, we come across a real sense of hatred and repugnance towards Hyde, just as with the weird sisters in Macbeth. Both of these characters represent the epitome of evil, they personify evil, showing how controlling this side of any man can actually …show more content…
The adjective “black” suggests dark and ambiguous, like he should not be having such desires. Macbeth desperately wants to take and keep power, even if he is completely aware of the sin he is committing, which shows that he is stubborn and gets what he wants. This suggests to the audience that although Macbeth seems very reliant on other people, once he has set his mind on something, he is willing to do anything to achieve it. In a similar way, Jekyll is also a character that is very stubborn about what they want. Jekyll creates the impossible by splitting his personality into two separate beings, although he also is aware of the possible consequences -just like Macbeth- yet he wants to be a perfect version of himself so desperately that he is willing to defy any laws or any morals to achieve this. In Chapter 10, Jekyll says, “temptation of a discovery so singular and profound”, meaning that it is not enough for him to have created the potion and he cannot resist taking it to test what might happen”. The adjective “profound” suggests that his urge it too great, even incontrollable. Both Macbeth and Jekyll have set ideas in their minds that they want to take forward. This becomes a psychological problem when the characters become tied to and controlled by their ambitions, as it causes them to lose control over their own