The Strange Cases of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in Fiction and Film
Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) and the film adaptation, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2003), directed by Maurice Phillips, are accounts of the same story but told differently. Stevenson’s novella, as well as Phillips’ film version, follows a respected English physician and scientist named Dr. Henry Jekyll as he secretly struggles to suppress his dark side, and the experiments he conducts to separate his good nature from the evil that festers in his mind. Dr. Jekyll, however, unintentionally creates a separate being comprised solely of his pure evil nature, known as Mr. Edward Hyde, who controls Jekyll’s mind and body and produces an independent existence for himself. As each version of the story begins its own path, the book with a lengthy description of Utterson, a lawyer with a seemingly unfriendly personality but undying loyalty for his friends, and the movie with a monologue from Dr. Jekyll, they both …show more content…
Jekyll only takes one drink of the drug for Mr. Hyde to come out and to keep emerging. However, in Philips’ movie, Jekyll keeps injecting himself so the beast inside shows his face. He is adjusting and experimenting with the main chemicals in the drug to control his transformation. Conversely, in chapter ten of Stevenson’s book, Dr. Jekyll must take double doses of a different potion every six hours to avoid becoming Mr. Hyde, because his condition was getting so bad that even when he was himself he would indulge in his dark desires which would end up causing a transformation (Stevenson 104). In Philips’ retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, we see Dr. Jekyll drink the concoction, transforming him only mentally not physically. He becomes a cruel sexual predator, who rapes women. However, in the book, Mr. Hyde is violent and cruel but not a rapist. The following is an
Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) and the film adaptation, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2003), directed by Maurice Phillips, are accounts of the same story but told differently. Stevenson’s novella, as well as Phillips’ film version, follows a respected English physician and scientist named Dr. Henry Jekyll as he secretly struggles to suppress his dark side, and the experiments he conducts to separate his good nature from the evil that festers in his mind. Dr. Jekyll, however, unintentionally creates a separate being comprised solely of his pure evil nature, known as Mr. Edward Hyde, who controls Jekyll’s mind and body and produces an independent existence for himself. As each version of the story begins its own path, the book with a lengthy description of Utterson, a lawyer with a seemingly unfriendly personality but undying loyalty for his friends, and the movie with a monologue from Dr. Jekyll, they both …show more content…
Jekyll only takes one drink of the drug for Mr. Hyde to come out and to keep emerging. However, in Philips’ movie, Jekyll keeps injecting himself so the beast inside shows his face. He is adjusting and experimenting with the main chemicals in the drug to control his transformation. Conversely, in chapter ten of Stevenson’s book, Dr. Jekyll must take double doses of a different potion every six hours to avoid becoming Mr. Hyde, because his condition was getting so bad that even when he was himself he would indulge in his dark desires which would end up causing a transformation (Stevenson 104). In Philips’ retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, we see Dr. Jekyll drink the concoction, transforming him only mentally not physically. He becomes a cruel sexual predator, who rapes women. However, in the book, Mr. Hyde is violent and cruel but not a rapist. The following is an