Another way Robert Louis Stevenson presents Mr Hyde is through the way other people refer to him. The first time he is named Robert Louis Stevenson uses “the damnable man” this isn’t a positive way to start. Throughout the novella Hyde is addressed in a number of different ways these include “my prisoner”, “the creature”, “The masked thing” and “it”. All of these give the idea that Mr Hyde is not human and not respected. Because of this you find it very difficult to sympathise with Hyde because you are distanced form the character. What also makes it hard for the reader to sympathise with Hyde is that Robert Louis Stevenson uses animal references such as: “Ape like”. Because Robert Louis Stevenson uses animal references the reader can’t relate or sympathise with Hyde as well as if Robert Louis Stevenson described in a human like way.
Emotive Language is another way Robert Louis Stevenson presents the character of Hyde. He uses emotive language to emphasize how bad Hyde is. Some of the emotive language he uses is “deformed”. This emphasizes how ugly Hyde is. He could have just used ugly but deformed has a more dramatic and lasting effect. Another example of emotive language Robert Louis Stevenson uses is: “pure evil”. This indicates that Hyde is entirely evil and there is no good in him at all. Again this has a more dramatic effect on the reader. He also uses “snarled aloud into a savage laugh” This again is very dramatic and again Robert Louis Stevenson is using animal references.
Robert Louis Stevenson also uses similes and metaphors to present the character of Hyde. One he uses near the start is: “like some damned juggernaut”. This gives the image that Hyde was unstoppable and anything that got in his way would be mowed down. The reason Robert Louis Stevenson uses metaphors and similes are because it helps the reader to picture what Robert Louis Stevenson is trying to say and therefore the reader finds it easier to understand.
Another way Robert Louis Stevenson uses language to present Hyde is by using contrasts. An example of this is: “Trampled calmly,” this is describing something mean such as trampling and doing it a normal fashion. This is very effective because you wouldn’t really think to do have the words together because they are contrast because of this the reader notice it more and realise what it actually means. So it has a more dramatic and lasting effect on the reader. Another example of this is: “mixture of timidity and boldness” Timidity and boldness are total opposites so to have a mixture of timidity and boldness is very strange and unusual, which then makes the reader think that Hyde is very strange and unusual.
Another thing that Robert Louis Stevenson does to present the character of Hyde is have characters not fully concentrate on him and concentrate on someone else who is more pleasing to look at. A prime example of this is in the chapter of the Carew murder case, when the maid is looking at Danvers Carew instead of Hyde. This makes Hyde action as a bigger shock as it seems to come out of nowhere. Also it adds an air of mystery around Hyde as he is one of the main characters and he is not concentrated as much. Also it is also thought that when people know very little about things some are intrigued but the majority have a great fear of the unknown.
One point that is blatantly obvious is Robert Louis Stevenson does to present the character of Hyde is by describing his appearance. A common saying use through out life is: “Don’t judge a book by its cover” well this saying does not apply here, as I think that Robert Louis Stevenson has Hyde’s appearance say a lot about him. Through out the book Robert Louis Stevenson makes it obvious that Hyde is ugly and displeasing to look at. But he is not only ugly but also he gives him an undistinguishable air of deformity, which makes him even uglier. This also adds an element of mystery to Hyde’s appearance, as this deformity cannot be explained so it is left to the reader to visualization Hyde, as they want. However Robert Louis Stevenson does describe Hyde in detail he makes him pale and dwarfish. His paleness gives the impression that he is not really alive as dead people are pale and people who are alive generally have some colour in their face. His height could be referring to the fact that he is less important side of Jekyll. Robert Louis Stevenson also makes Hyde have a displeasing smile, which makes people feel uncomfortable around him, as it is not seen as genuine. Normally people don’t loath people just upon appearances, but it seems that everyone who comes into contact with Hyde do just because of his appearance.
Reactions of other people towards Hyde also tells the reader a lot about how Robert Louis Stevenson presents Hyde. Near the beginning of the book is prime example of general reaction towards Hyde. Right after Hyde has trampled over the little girl Mr Enfield catches him. Robert Louis Stevenson writes: “collared my gentleman,……….. but gave me one look, so ugly that it brought out the sweat on me like running” This shows that Enfield’s reaction towards Hyde was fear which is a negative reaction. This was the same reaction of the girl, we know this because it says: “Well, the child was not much the worse, more frightened.” Mr Enfield not only feared Hyde but also loathed him, but it was not just Enfield who loathed Hyde but the child’s family and the doctor. The child’s family had just cause to loath Hyde, but you would have thought that as the doctor was a usual doctor he would be impartial, but his reactions was one of the worst. We know his because Robert Louis Stevenson puts: “I saw that Sawbones turned sick and white with the desire to kill him”. Because the child was not injured it could have just stopped there because these people had taken such a disliking to Hyde they decided to threaten to make a scandal of it if he didn’t compensate for what he had done. So this shows clearly that people don’t react to Hyde in a positive manner.
So overall it is clear that Robert Louis Stevenson doesn’t present Hyde in a good light. In fact he does the opposite and makes him as detestable and evil as possible and he does this through his appearance, the language he uses to describe Hyde, Hyde’s action, by using contrasts, reactions of other people and many other ways.
Hyde maybe portrayed as evil and hated but Jekyll isn’t he is portrayed very differently.
Jekyll isn’t involved in the book as much as Hyde. This is because that Jekyll isn’t all that interesting compared to Hyde. Because of this through out the novella we are distanced from Jekyll. Even though we are distanced from Jekyll we can still gather some information on how Robert Louis Stevenson presents him. The first reference to Jekyll is: “endorsed on the envelope as Dr Jekyll's Will” this is a prime example that Jekyll is slightly mysterious as the first reference is his name on an envelope which doesn’t really tell us much, but if we deduce and infer it is likely that Jekyll is an fairly old, or of bad health as he has a will prepared if he did die. He is probably a wealthy man as he has got a will, which indicates he has possessions and riches. It then goes on to indicate that Jekyll is well educated and a prominent man as this quote indicates: “Henry Jekyll, M.D., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., & c.,” This again signals that he is wealthy as he is well educated.
The next time we come across Jekyll in the book is in the chapter “Incident of the Letter” This is right after the Carew murder case and everyone is after Hyde, who is supposed to receive all of Jekyll’s possessions. So Utterson goes to see Jekyll. When Utterson gets there Jekyll doesn’t look well at all, we know this because it says: “sat Dr Jekyll, looking deadly sick”. Utterson then asks if he is hiding Hyde, which indicates that Utterson isn’t confident in Jekyll’s choice of friends. This gives the reader that impression that Jekyll isn’t capable of doing things by himself. Also another point that confirms this is that he has Poole his butler, this also indicates yet again that he is wealthy. These are just some of the points that we get from the novella, which presents his character.
The main part of the novella we get to know how Robert Louis Stevenson presents Jekyll is in the last chapter: “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case”. This chapter’s title sounds very formal and something that would be said in court. I think Robert Louis Stevenson uses this reflect Jekyll, as he is well respected and well educated therefore we assume that he is very formal. This chapter is in first person so immediately the reader is closer to Jekyll than they ever been throughout the book. This chapter is also the only chapter to be in the present tense so the reader can see how everything escalated out of control. Because of this I think the reader instantaneously becomes more sympathetic towards Jekyll. In this Chapter we learn about his motive for creating Jekyll, which was try to get rid of the bad side of humans. So originally he was trying to do something good and help humanity from itself. Here the reader recognises why Jekyll did what he did and also understands that originally he had good intentions. The reader then finds out how Jekyll looses control and how immediately he knows he has done something wrong. Because of this the reader feels sorry for Jekyll. However some people may be very cynical of Jekyll and say that it was his own fault, as he should have not tried to play God. Others my say that his ideas were not plausible because good and evil are binary opposites, so without one you can’t have the other. Although he says he knew had done wrong, he also says that he enjoyed his evil side as it granted freedom. But the reader can relate to this to a certain extent because we all would like to be free and do as we please but because of the society we live in sometimes we are not permitted to.
So overall Jekyll is presented as an old, wealthy, good intentioned man who tried to separate the good part of humans from the bad parts of humans. Unfortunately the experiment went wrong and he lost control and paid the price for trying to play God. Or his basic idea was flawed which led to his down fall.
Overall the way both of these characters are portrayed and presented in many different ways but all very effective. Hyde the pure evil, loathed and ugly side. Jekyll the old, wealthy, well-respected and good intentioned man. Because of the books dramatic effect on people it has had a lasting effect on society and will continue to do so.
