Discuss The Ways That Evil Is Portrayed In Stevenson's "The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde".

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Jonny Green

Discuss The Ways That Evil Is Portrayed In Stevenson’s “The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde”

The “Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was written in 1885 during the Victorian Era. The book was based in the streets of London, which, at this period in time were a very dangerous place to be in. The city had an eerie dark thick fog that gently whispered through the streets and this was known as the London smog. The cause of the smog was all the factories in London because it had become a very industrial place. The fog helps to provide a mysterious & horrific atmosphere. This type of atmosphere can give a sense of terror to the reader to give an even greater horror in the book. London was the biggest and wealthiest city in the world at this time but although it was the biggest city, at night the streets were empty, lonely and cold. Stevenson used the night-time setting a lot in his novel as it was dangerous to be out at this time. The novel ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ was first published in London in 1886. There was very little crime at this time but life was very different in the lower class areas. Mr. Hyde lived in one of the poorer areas in London called Soho. Although the typical London streets were dead at night Soho came alive. The atmosphere of this part of London is an ideal place for Mr Hyde to live in. It reflects the attitude and actions towards his view on life because it was a dirty, scummy place with very little tolerance on behaviour.

     At this time in England, Jack the ripper was bringing even greater fear and anxiousness to the London streets. He murdered six prostitutes in a very brutal way. Jekyll and Hyde and Jack the ripper stories became confused in the public’s imagination due to the stories being around at the same time with the same fear implied. This helps to give off a more believable story for Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde.

     Around the time the novel was published a man called Charles Darwin wrote a book on the Origin of Species. In his book he describes his theory on the evolution of man, and how man evolved from apes. Before this book, people had strongly believed that God had created them. His book had gone against Christian beliefs and caused uneasiness with people. Victorians strongly believed in their superiority as humans over animals, but it made some people re-think and consider that maybe Charles Darwin’s theory could be could be correct. Stevenson shows us the confusion between our instinctual side and our primate roots by creating a man that can behave how he would like to without causing an upset to his reputation.

     In the Victorian times, middle-class people had a standard style of living. People were made to follow an authority, which was that church overruled and controlled your life. If you were to break any of the 10 commandments you would be looked upon as a very sinful person how had been extremely wrong. It was a greater sin in these days as it would be today. The Victorians had double standards and many would get drunk and use prostitutes even though they would say that these acts went against their virtues. Stevenson wrote Jekyll and Hyde to protest against the hypocrites of his time.

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     Stevenson grew up with his family in a middle-class society. There were very strict rules for middle-class men to follow in this period which were to live and behave in a respective way. I think that Stevenson felt very restricted on the things he would like to do and created Hyde as a reflection on a free man who had to follow no rules.

     During the 1820’s, Mary Shelly wrote the very famous book ‘Frankenstein’ which was so successful that it became a best selling book for 30 years. ‘Frankenstein’ was published 50 years before ‘The ...

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