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The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

Decent Essays

As Norman Kerr once wrote “there is an inebriety derangement of the mental derangement of the mental facilities, so that consciousness, perception, reasoning, power, and conscience are impaired.” In Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the character Dr. Jekyll illustrates the comprehension of addiction, in the Victorian era, through the motifs of the obsession with appearance and duality. 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

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