Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Many texts give us compelling insights into man and society, helping us understand the relationship between texts and the context wherein they are composed. The period and culture that texts are composed in has an immense influence on the outcome of the story. The main themes in a story are a reflection of the social class and the beliefs of the society that the author lived in when writing it. Robert Louis Stevenson explores the idea of the duality of mankind, ethics and morality in his novella…

Since the beginning of time, a battle between good and evil has been occurring. It may be between people or within. This topic is elaborated on in “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, written by Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson. Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet, and travel writer. Stevenson was born on November 13, 1850 and died on December 3, 1894. He wrote “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” which was published on January 5, 1886. This book describes a…

Some biographers have claimed that Robert Stevenson had a history of cocaine and ergot use. Ergot is produced by a fungus that grows on rye and its compounds were used to create synthetic LSD. If the rumors of his ergot habits are true, his psychedelic experiences under the influence could have inspired him to write the “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. Psychedelic hallucinations can force an individual to witness their own lack of self-control. If Stevenson had lost himself to the…

In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Enfield tells his kinsman, Mr. Utterson, the protagonist, about his horrifying encounter with Mr. Hyde: “I was coming home from some place at the end of the world, about three o 'clock of a black winter morning, and my way lay through a part of town where there was literally nothing to be seen but lamps...street after street, all lighted up...” (5-6). Mr. Enfield recalls that it is in the “black” morning, on dark…

To be considered a monstrous character, it takes a little more than pure blood and gore. To be considered a monstrous character, there is an almost formulaic pattern that must be followed in order to have the true attributes of a monster. The characteristics that these monsters share or differ in can determine their true nature. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” Susan Hill’s “The Woman in Black,” and Friedrich…

The first wave of feminism started in the 19th century in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The movement was primarily focused on gaining political power and equal property rights for women. These insane ideas sparked a lot of controversy; the world was not ready for women to be thinking for themselves. Some people were claiming that women were morally superior (Rampton). Had these morally superior women been present in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, The Strange Case of Dr.…

American novelist Patricia Highsmith once wrote in her novel Strangers on a Train, “People, feelings, everything! Double! Two people in each person. There 's also a person exactly the opposite of you, like the unseen part of you, somewhere in the world, and he waits in ambush” (Highsmith.) Duality is simply defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary, as the quality or state of having two parts. The duality of human nature deeply explores how a person cannot be be good without having the ability…

search for the relation between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Robert Louis Stevenson’s story, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is a dark, timeless tale that links good and evil while pushing the restraints of Victorian society. Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on November 13, 1850. He was the only son of his parents. As a child, he was bed ridden due to chronic health problems. He had a nurse, Allison Cunningham, who took care of him. She would read him books such as Pilgrim’s Progress…

Dr. Jekyll whom has been fighting a burden since his youth. Dr. Jekyll does experiments on his self to try and rid himself from the burden but ultimately unleashes his darker side and becomes Mr. Edward Hyde. Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on November 13, 1850, which means he was 35 when The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was published. Stevenson was sickly in his youth and suffered…

Which Literary Classic is Better? The Time Machine and The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are two pieces of classic literature bound together by the Victorian age. While both stories have underlying themes about the struggle of man, both present them in different ways. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells, presents its struggle of man as a society where each class of peoples is against each other, being thoroughly influenced by politics of the time. Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case…