Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde

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        The Strange Case of DR. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

“There are some things that should be kept private”

The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is about a person who is a famous scientist that believes the idea of each person having two different personalities, this is what is shown in the story on how the two different personalities effects Dr. Jekyll and is loved one around him. The story was published in 1888, a crucial time in the British history when the Victorian had reigned over Britain. During the Victorian time, the British Empire was the largest empire in the world it was believed that the sun never set on the empire, as it covered nearly each continent. The story reflects the Victorian society where things were completely different compared to today, people had different living standards also reputation was an important factor because it was all about individual respect and people were recognised only if they had respect. Throughout the Victorian period, many scientists established their theories and one of the main theories was the theory of evolution, which was created by the famous naturalist Charles Darwin. He came up with an idea of humans possibly could have shared a common ancestor with chimpanzees. This theory increasingly spread, however was rejected as it came in conflict with the creation of Adam and Eve which is in the bible. This era was a turning point in the British history because inventions were being introduced, industrial revolution had begun and gothic horror was rapidly being believed. The story was popular when written at the time because there were all these ideas of evolution and gothic literature which were being believed quickly and therefore caught people’s interest. It is still popular today because it is still influencing films such as batman, Spiderman all films that have this idea of dual personalities.

Mr Utterson is someone who is “embarrassed in discourse” also he is “never lighted by a smile”, the first quote suggests that he does not interact as much, his conversations are short and not flowing also the fact that he does not contribute to his conversation, moreover the second quote tells us that he has never smiled however, it gives us an impression that when he smiled he was lighted. There was “something that eminently human beaconed from his eye”: this quote explains that there was a change in personality of Utterson, because after he drank wine at his ‘friendly meeting’ he opened himself. This gives us an impression that he purposely kept his facade in a serious way and shows that he is a man of trustworthy also a man who considers his job very austerely making him look devoted. Furthermore, Mr Enfield is described as a “well-known man about town” this tells us that he is very sociable and attends parties and therefore is popular, another thing this suggests is that he is very informative. The descriptions above suggest that both the characters have a good reputation and are able to socialise however both of them have different ways because Utterson is ‘austere with himself’ whereas Enfield is more of a jolly guy and gets on with people more, also Utterson does not find it right to open himself to everyone and has his own way. This tell us that they both differentiate from each other and do not enjoy each other company as shown in the story when they go on their Sunday walks because they “said nothing” and “looked singularly dull” the writer says this to suggest because this represents that they both looked bored from each other’s company as there was nothing in common, they were lacking in something making them look uninterested also Mr Utterson was finding it difficult to express himself. I chose these quotations because it tells us how their personalities had an impact on their talks.

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The story was published in the Victorian time, when privacy was an essential aspect because people did not find it suitable to disclose things, as it would affect their respect and reputation. It was thought of as rude to disclose secrets because it would affect reputations of others as well of themselves because people would then think about them in a negative way and everyone in the society would neglect him, so therefore in those times it was fundamental to have a good reputation so the society does not think of you in a negative way also they had to ...

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