Jekyll and Hyde

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Philip Mcloughlin     English GCSE

How does R.L Stevenson explore good and evil in human nature in the novel ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’?

R.L Stevenson’s novel, ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’, has been described by many as a parable of the struggle between good and evil, a story of mystery. The single dominant theme in this noel is that of the double, the divided nature of man and that things are not always what they appear.

Although the setting for Stevenson’s novel appears to be Victorian London, it is clear to see that Stevenson has Edinburgh in mind with, like Jekyll, its twin identities, the prosperous and rich ‘New Town’ and the ‘Old Town’ of poverty and desperation.

The Victorian Era was a big time of change for scientists and religious followers the world over. Scientific experiments were becoming much more common, and, as with anything which involved science, religion played a big part. Stevenson taps into these changes in his novel, as Dr. Hastie Lanyon, a good friend and fellow scientist of Dr. Henry Jekyll, soon becomes both suspicious and worried about Jekyll’s mysterious scientific experiments. Stevenson also taps into the fears and concerns of people living in the Victorian age; using topics such as poverty, death, murder and desperation.

Stevenson’s novel links with other 19th century Gothic novels, such as ‘On the Origin of Species’, one of many books which tried to explain the theory that mankind was, in fact, descended from apes (‘the beast in man.’) Krafft-Ebing’s ‘Pyschopathia Sexualis’, published in 1886, attempted to analyse the topic of sexual desires.

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In this novel, Mr Utterson is presented a largely unexciting man, ‘cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse’ but also as a ‘somehow lovable’ man. Utterson represents the perfect Victorian gentleman, he can be described as a responsible, modest man. He also seems to be quite a caring person, as this quotes shows, ‘the last good influence in the lives of down-going men.’ He is also described as being ‘undemonstrative’ and having an ‘approved tolerance for others.’ Even when he suspects Jekyll of criminal activities, such as blackmail or the sheltering of a murderer, he keeps these suspicions to himself rather ...

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