Similarities Between Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

Throughout history, men have attempted to play God in their attempts to pass human limitation placed upon them. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein are two horrific British tales of science gone horrendously wrong. Shelley’s novel eloquently tells the story of a young scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who constructs a living monster out of decomposing body parts. While in contrast, Stevenson’s novel describes the account of one, Henry Jekyll, who fabricates a potion to bring out the pure evil side of himself. Although the two scientist differ in their initial response and action to their creations, there are strong similarities between the two, as their attempts to play God is portrayed negatively. This is witnessed in …show more content…
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is violence against the innocent. This theme is evident on multiple occasions, were Victor’s creation brutally kills an innocent character in the book. For instance, this is witnessed when the creature is casually sleeping in the woods when a boy stumbles upon him. He happens to seize a young boy, who he wishes to education and create a friendship to break the bonds of loneliness. This is found in chapter sixteen, “I could seize him, and educate him as my companion and friend, I should not be so desolate in this peopled earth” (Shelly, Chapter 16, paragraph 25). Unfortunately the boy screamed in horror when he saw the creatures form and in out of utter fear the creature grasped his throat to silence him. Consequently resulted in the death of the young boy, “I grasped his throat to silence him, and in a moment he lay dead at my feet” (Shelly Chapter 16, paragraph 29). In similar fashion, the theme is presented in Stevenson’s novel were the text repeatedly depicts Hyde as a creature of immense evil. Although the reader is only presented with two of Hyde’s crimes, the nature in both emphasizes his depravity. Both of the crimes are directed at innocents, the first of his victims is a small, female child whom he tramples. “Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the …show more content…
Jekyll share the common ground of lacking responsibility for their actions. We see this in chapter seven of Frankenstein, when Justine is accused of Williams’s murder. Victor knowing that his creature killed William, remains silent because if he would confess the truth, everyone he loves would hate him. Victor states, “My take was not one to announce publicly; it’s astounding horror would be look upon as madness by the vulgar. Did anyone indeed exist, except I, the creator, who would believe” (Shelly 77). It is revealed to us later in Shelly’s novel that Victor’s lack of responsibility leads to the death of another innocent loved one. Similarly, Dr. Jekyll has an obligation to confess the truth to Mr. Utterson about the death of Sir Carew. Nevertheless, Jekyll burns the evidence of the murder in hopes of retaining the confidentiality of Mr. Hyde. “and on the hearth there lay a pile of grey ashes…which had resisted the action of the fire; the other half of the stick was found behind the door” (Stevenson, chapter 4, 3rd to last par). However, they differ in responding to their creations after they played God. In Frankenstein, Victor is exuberant about his creation, but once his creation becomes animated with life. He horrifically abandon’s his work. After seeing the reality of his creation, he comprehends what he has just done. Stated in the book, “Oh no mortal man could support the horror of that countenance” (Shelly 57). In