'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' is set in Victorian times, where the well-respected lawyer Utterson investigates the mysterious goings on surrounding his good friend Dr Jekyll and the evil Mr Hyde.

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‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ is set in Victorian times, where the well-respected lawyer Utterson investigates the mysterious goings on surrounding his good friend Dr Jekyll and the evil Mr Hyde. The book was written in 1886 and therefore contains many theories around in Victorian times such as physiognomy. This is when people believed physical appearance could define a criminal type character. This is evident throughout the book due to the description of Hyde and also of more civilised characters. The idea of original sin is perhaps ‘watered down’ in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by introducing the idea of drugs to bring out evil characteristics in one person.

The setting of ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ is set in Victorian London. Stevenson uses clear descriptions of misty nights and a ‘night under the face of the fogged city moon’, which give an impression of evil and mystery to the story long before it has truly begun. ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ is at one point mentioned as ‘very cool and a little damp, and full of premature twilight.’ This is a first hand example of the split personality coming through, the darkness showing through too early, damp, a total opposite to the respectable setting of Victorian London.

Many people in Victorian times believed in the theory of physiognomy, however, Golding also makes some symbolic use of appearances. In ‘Lord of the Flies’ Jack and Ralph first met when the conch is blown. Jack leading the choir is described as ‘tall, thin and bony: his hair was red’ ‘His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness’ this gives the idea that Jack looks evil. His red hair and black overalls can be associated with the colour of the devil and the colour of death / destructions.

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The use of physiognomy in ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ is very obvious, especially in the descriptions of Hyde.  Many different characters give across description of Hyde as ‘a little man who was stumping along’ and to further demonstrate Hyde as an evil character, he is often described using reference to animals, as in the line ‘Hyde shrank back with a hissing intake of breath’.

Although often Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde seems to be a light-hearted tale of mystery and intrigue, Stevenson takes great pains to show that the evil Mr. Hyde is very deadly. There is certainly ...

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