Jekyll and Hyde

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Jekyll and Hyde Essay

In this essay I will be writing about how Stevenson presents themes in the novella Jekyll and Hyde. I will be writing about how duality is presented in the novella through the differences between Jekyll and Hyde. Stevenson had an ambition to write about duality of human nature and link it with good and evil.

Firstly, the theme of duality is presented through the use of pathetic fallacy. In chapter 4 pathetic fallacies was used to show the elements of good and evil. When “the fog rolled in”, it suggests that the fog surrounds Hyde because he is evil. The fog creates a nightmarish atmosphere. It also suggests that something mysterious and hidden is about to happen. However, the weather changes when they describe Carew. The use of weather shows that Carew is in the right when “the moon shone on his face as he spoke”. Before Hyde murdered Carew the sky was “cloudless”, but when the murder was just about to happen, “the fog rolled in”. The fog warns the reader that something ominous or sinister will happen. Other readers may think that the fog is just an extra feature to fill in with the murder.

This novella would have been more horrific and shocking to a Victorian reader. This is because in the 1880s they were not used to the “ferocity” of Carew’s death. However, some Victorians may have thought that it was nothing but good entertainment. The Victorians believed that if you were small and ugly, like Hyde, you were evil on the inside. Alternatively, they thought that if you were tall and hansom, like Jekyll, you were respectable and virtuous, and that you never had it in you to kill someone.

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The modern audience may think that this was nothing to be afraid of because in the modern world horror books always have murders in them. We are more desensitised to murders because of the special effects we se on TV. On the other hand, they may think that this book is true in saying that everyone has two sides but everyone is a “hypocrite”. This is because they use their good side more than they use their evil side.

Duality is also shown through the symbols of doors and windows. Hyde’s door was “blistered and distained”, so this ...

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