The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is told through three people the first is Mr Utterson who’s a lawyer and Dr Jekyll’s friend. Mr Utterson is the one who finds a letter from Dr Lanyon (in the letter Dr Lanyon has discovered Hyde is in fact Jekyll) then there’s Dr Jekyll’s letter explaining why. Basically the story is about a science discovery where a doctor discovers a potion that changes his appearance and personality and he becomes dark and evil. The novel shows us how addictions become bad for you it could be said that the potion could be described as drugs people use today. Dr Jekyll realises that his discovery of the potion is causing peoples injuries and deaths and he tries to stop using the potion but unfortunately it’s too late and it’s taken over him so the experiment unfortunately leads to his own death because Jekyll chooses to end his life so that Hyde cannot exist, a way of ending ‘evil’ he says “…this is my hour of death…I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end…”.
The setting is in London where it’s foggy ‘ a fog rolled over the city’ this is symbolic of Dr Jekyll not seeing what’s happening with him turning in to Hyde clearly. Dr Jekyll and Hyde’s house was also symbolic. While describing the houses, one of Jekyll’s and one of Hyde’s Stevenson tells us they are joined which is symbolic of the two different personalities of what Jekyll and Hyde have even though they are both the same person originally. Dr Jekyll is described as ‘the very pirk of the properties’ showing he is well thought of and respected as a man and also lives in a respectful area, whereas Hyde is presented as being small and dark this is a contrast. Hyde is also described to having ‘ape like fury’ showing his anger and strength.
The setting demonstrates the evil in the novel. The gothic foggy, grey moonlit setting is one that would be likely to be used in a horror film and it is used to create atmosphere.
The use of language by Stevenson is Archaic which is old, scientific and well crafted and he uses lots of descriptions and symbolism (animalism) ‘ape like fury’ along with metaphors and similes. Victorian languae and excellent sentence structure is all through the novel. The scientific language “in proportion as crystals melted…” and “ throw off small fumes of vapour…” are just two examples, these are symbolic because it was at the same time that scientific breakthroughs took part in Victorian London.
Dr Jekyll’s character contrasts with Mr Utterson, even though Jekyll is seen as a good side , it could be argued that he is evil for taking the potion. M r Utterson and Dr Lanyon are both good men and Dr Jekyll who tries to be good gets addicted to the potion.
Throughout the novel several themes are explored they are; Temptation, Good vs. Evil, Self knowledge and the consequences of our actions, we know the consequences of things we do yet we still do them.
