The term gothic fiction implies a British literary genre from the late eighteenth, and early nineteenth century. The modernized term seems to have been generalized into anything that is dark, gloomy, or depressing. Gothic novels often time posses an emphasis on portraying the terror, a prominent use of supernatural circumstances, the presence of highly stereotyped characters, and the attempt to display techniques of literary suspense. There are also other parallels among this vastly popular genre. Gothic novels often time describe the city of London in corresponding ways. Also a common theme amongst gothic literary works is the duality of human nature, or the quality or characteristic of being twofold. These mutual themes are apparent in …show more content…
Wilde removed many of the references of homosexuality, and added an additional six chapters; after the book was pulled from the shelves due to the public’s response. An additional parallel between the novels is duality and human nature. Both characters posses a dark side, in which they pursue their personal pleasures. Although similar, the two characters go about this in diverse manners. In Stevenson’s novel the Jekyll-Hyde transformation is a physical one. After consuming a potion, Dr. Jekyll seems to separate the evil within himself into another personality all together, While Dorian Grey goes about doing as he pleases, free from the responsibilities of his actions, due to his mystical portrait. Dorian Grey’s portrait prevents him from suffering the mortal consequences for his deeds, including the natural process of aging. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde there is not only two identities, but two individual persons. These individuals are aware of one another’s existence, and set out to protect one another. This scenario does not last long. Jekyll seeks to separate the good and evil within himself, and believes he has ejected the evil completely from himself. Dr Jekyll can prosper without the burden of shame, while Mr. Hyde can go about himself, fulfilling his desires without restrictions. As the story develops Jekyll’s conscious becomes “slumbered” (Stevenson 53), while Hyde grows in stature, and malice.
Stevenson writes ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ with the intention of showing the reader the duality of man and explores this through the juxtaposition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this novella, Stevenson also uses the environment and setting of the story to represent the contrast between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The huge importance of the different physicality of Jekyll and Hyde is illustrative to the completely different characters and the way they are as humans. In Victorian society you could be judged as a rapist, murderer, crook or just plainly evil simply by the way you looked. Stevenson played on
Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a complex and tricky novel to fully grasp, but the reader can come to understand many parallels to their own lives. Stevenson’s creation has stood the test of time because of its power to astonish; even if one previously new the outcome. This power has made Jekyll and Hyde, a pair that will continue to provoke thought in many readers in generations to
In the novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson provides insight into the inner workings of the duality that exists within humans. Dr. Jekyll is a well-respected doctor in his community while his differing personality Mr. Hyde is hideous and considered by the public as evil based on appearance. As the novel progresses Dr. Lanyon begins to investigate Mr. Hyde, he begins to realize similarities between both Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll such as their handwriting which results in the discovery that they are the same person. Dr. Jekyll is able to transform himself into Mr. Hyde by drinking a serum he has created which was intended to purify his good. Stevenson stresses the duality of good and evil that exists
Throughout Western literature, writers have created characters who act as perfect foils to each other with dramatically observable differences. Each pairing has a stronger and weaker in the combination, and usually one outlives the other. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the pairing exists in one body, and yet the struggle is heightened because both aspects of the identity are equal in strength. Ultimately, Stevenson emphasizes it is Jekyll who holds the power of life or death over Hyde. Hyde's "love of life is wonderful," but Hyde is also aware of Jekyll's "power to cut him off by suicide (Stevenson 101)." It is the awareness of each for the other which confirms that neither
Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, explores the duality of human nature. He writes this novel to show us that humans have split personalities, and that there are two sides to human’s personality: good and evil. In the late-Victorian literature, duality appears to be a common theme; serving as a way for modern readers to analyze late-Victorian literature and culture. Stevenson weaves throughout the novel a theme of duality + which appears in the characters of both Jekyll and Hyde as well as in Stevenson’s characterization of London itself.
Gothic Literature includes a gloomy mood and a dramatic description throughout the story. Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a good example of Gothic Literature because it has a gloomy mood which helps the story feel more eerie and also contains a dramatic description which makes the reader feel as if they are in the moment and living the event. For example, in Poe’s story,”...but the first glimpse of the building a sense of insufferable gloom prevademy spirit.”(13). He sets a gloomy and dark mood which is one of the requirements for Gothic Literature and describes it in a way that makes everything sound like a crucial event. He also explains the building using words such as “spirit” making the mood very menacing and creepy. Therefore, “The Fall of the House of Usher” is considered Gothic Literature because it meets all of the requirements and views the world in a dark and mischievous way. (Melissa Medina)
Dr. Jekyll’s obsession with appearance causes him to become addicted to the character Hyde, which the text reveals in the last chapter of the book. For instance, growing up in the Victorian era as a Christian, the laws shunned down upon all activities considered pleasurable. Thus wanting the members of society to be “in favor of self-disciplined moral earnest” (Stevenson 48). Although Dr. Jekyll abides by the strict rules of the Victorian culture, it still sparks a “certain impatient gaiety of disposition” in him, furthering Dr. Jekyll to complete his pleasurable activities in solitude, out of fear of losing his reputation:” I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high and wear a more commonly grave countenance before the public” (Stevenson 47-48). As a result of Dr. Jekyll’s secrecy, he begins to create a draught allowing him to split personalities or create an alter ego, Mr. Hyde. When Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde, he has a sense of freedom to act as he pleases and escape the consequences: “I was the first that ever did so
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In comparison these two men could not have personalities further from opposite, yet somehow are linked to each other. It is a mystery throughout this novel as to how two men with such different personalities could possibly be connected to each other, until it is discovered that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are in fact the same person. Mr. Hyde was created to be an outlet of Dr. Jekyll’s rage that he could not express freely as himself due to the pressure Dr. Jekyll faced in the Victorian Era. Throughout the novel as Dr. Jekyll’s addiction to the potion and the effects that it has on his identity increase he fully succumbs to the destructive urges he has had all along and the old Dr. Jekyll is gone. All people are inherently dual natured, but it is up to each individual to chose to surrender to either their superior, acceptable tendencies or surrendering to their disagreeable, unpleasant
Robert Louis Stevenson made one great story. A story that gives us a perspective of the societies normal good and bad person. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are total opposites although in some ways are alike. To find the qualities that are the same you have to really dig into this story and get into it. In the whole story it describes the differences between them both, rich and poor, ugly and handsome, and one has meaning and the other does not.
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the two main characters, Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde are depicted as contrasting and opposing in personality. In the opening chapters of the novella, Mr. Hyde is portrayed as the epitome of evil, while Henry Jekyll is seen to be genial and kind. Throughout the novella, each character develops and changes; Hyde is perceived to become more evil, while Jekyll to become weaker, distancing himself from his once close friends. In the final chapter of the novella, Jekyll’s personal testimony, when Dr. Jekyll is on his deathbed, he reveals his connection to Mr. Hyde. As the characters change throughout the novella, Stevenson slowly reveals their personalities to the unsuspecting Victorian reader.
The novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde you are introduced to the many significant differences between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. You are shown the mental capabilities of both men. Jekyll is good and tries to do good works where Hyde is the exact opposite and does pure evil works. The second thing shown is their physical differences and capabilities. Jekyll is older but strong meanwhile Hyde is weak and hunched over but later grows stronger as Jekyll grows weaker.
Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde share many similarities and many differences. For example they share similarities and differences in mental, physical, and especially moral. These two men are not two separate people they are the same person.
During the story of “The Strange Case Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, the author presents his knowledge of the duality of man, Stevenson uses this clear contrast to make his point, “every human being contains opposite forces within him or her, an alter ego that hides behind one 's polite fascia”. Where Dr. Jekyll and Hyde contain a dark, scary side inside them, where evil is detained in waiting to surface, but they hide it away, they pretend it does not exist, and they keep it undercontrol. He presents this idea by using two characters, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, who are actually the same person. One of these characters signifies the normal side of a person characterized by Dr. Jekyll, who is a classic higher class individual, and the other, Mr. Hyde, a deformed man, shows the purest of evil, but the truth cannot be denied that as Dr. Jekyll said “man is not truly one, but truly two.”
Imagery plays a key role in the exploration of Dr. Jekyll's double character. Stevenson's use of imagery intensifies the plot and its relationship between good and evil (Rollyson 1863-1864). For example, Hyde is described as "apelike" and "like a monkey" while Dr. Jekyll is portrayed as handsome and elegant with "proper stature" (25-26, 38). This example indicates a "reverse evolutionary process" and confirms Jekyll's disastrous attempt to interfere with the order of nature (Page 763). In general, Hyde is illustrated as animalistic, ugly, and deformed mainly to conjure an evil opinion of this character. However, the physical description may be more than simply symbolic. "During the Victorian era, many believed in physiognomy," which was the belief that one could judge a criminal from his or her physical appearance. Hyde is depicted as a vampire who "feeds on the very life of his victims" (Abbey, et al. 327). ."..[Hyde was] drinking pleasure with bestial avidity from any degree of torture to another, relentless like a man of stone" (33). This vampire image suggests the way in which indulgence of evil eats away man's capacity for goodness. Lastly, Stevenson chose ideal names to suit and describe the personalities or actions of his characters. Just as Hyde hides in Jekyll, "Je kyll" hides in "Jekyll." In French, "Je" means I and "kyll" probably