University of Edinburgh

Explore how the theme of duality is explored in ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Duality is key to Stevenson’s message about the divide in human nature. He explores this through highlighting hypocrisy in Victorian society, using terror imagery to reflect the true divide in human nature. Stevenson also explores the idea that the evil in human nature can never be separated and so it will forever be attached to the good in us. Stevenson exposes hypocrisy in the Victorian society to strengthen his message about…

Human nature is and has always been the struggle between good and bad. In the gothic novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson the concepts of humanity as dual in nature, and the importance of reputation are used to create tension between the good Dr. Jekyll and the revel Mr. Hyde. While at the same time representing the suppression of the Victorian time period. “Man is not truly one, but truely two.” The importance of duality in the novel The Strange Case of…

In the story, “The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson, the element of moral ambiguity appears through Dr. Jekyll and his experimentations. Dr. Jekyll lives in an era known as the Victorian Era, in which there are many strict rules and social constraints. By the demands that he should be good all the time, Dr. Jekyll creates a potion to separate his personalities. The separation creates Mr. Hyde, his alter ego, who represents the darker side of Dr. Jekyll,…

Mr. Hyde immensely has a stronger personality than Dr. Jekyll due to after drinking the potion that will return him to his original appearance and character as Dr. Jekyll, each time he takes the potion to remove Edward Hyde, he worsens. Hence, Mr. Hyde has committed violate crimes before and after drinking the potion Dr. Jekyll had developed that did not gave him to have absolute to control his dark side. In the novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll has a struggle…

Throughout chapter 8 of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson employs an external narrative voice and dialogue, in order to describe the weather of London, analyse themes of the novella, and explore the fears of people living in London, during the 1800s. Throughout the chapter, the weather is dark and wild, much like the events that are yet to come in the novella. The door of the cabinet in which Hyde is hiding explores themes of class division, while the exploiting…

The human personality and psyche is constantly evolving from its primitive ancestry, being used in literature to interplay the philosophical ideas of opposing moral concepts, and being one of the reasons behind the loss of innocence. Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 science fiction/Gothic novella, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, follows the lawyer Gabriel John Utterson investigating strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, his nefarious doppelgänger, Edward Hyde.…

On a foggy night with the moon shining pale and bright in the empty sky, there was not a person to be seen except for two men. The street was tranquil and nice, but something horrific took place here. This was a scene from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The story takes place in London in the early 1800’s; it starts with two men, Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield, walking down the street when they come across a door. Mr. Enfield recalls an account of…

In many contemporary stories of heros and villains, the hero always finds a way to ultimately defeat the evil. One famous example of this would be Batman. He is an ordinary man but still finds ways to defeat the evil that seemingly always pegs Gotham. He faces many challenges along the way, both internal and external, but they just motivate him more. The day gets saved by him and everyone has a happy ending, at least for that day. This whole concept of good defeating evil appeared long before…

To be a gentleman is not practical according to Stevenson. Freud in Civilization and its Discontents backs up how Victorian society just can not work correctly and explains why in Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Dr Jekyll is two different people in society. Also, Erich Fromm explains how different people act differently based on their society they live in. Both of these texts have a major role of Dr. Jekyll and the effect of Victorian society. Therefore, Stevenson suggests Victorian society being as…

of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde”, by Robert Lewis Stevenson Understanding a work of fiction, just like understanding a work of art must first start by understanding the author, and his influences. Robert Lewis Stevenson, born on November 13, 1850 in Edinburgh to parents Tom Stevenson, and his mother, Margaret Stevenson. Also an ecclesiastical authority in his life was his grandfather Rev Lewis Balfour (Stevenson1)(Hodges 2). Due to his mothers illness brought on by the difficult birth, it was…