How does Stevenson explore the theme of duality in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?
How does Stevenson explore the theme of duality in 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'? 'The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson: which fascinated the world with its original ideas, terrified Victorian high society as it unearthed its true ways of life. This classic, which is famous for its haunting and horrifying suggestions was first published in 1886, and hitherto still engrosses and disturbs readers of this time. Not only did Stevenson explore the theme of duality and how there are two sides to a person: the good and the evil that is embedded inside ourselves: 'man is not truly one, but truly two' he also discreetly touched upon different matters that he himself believed in. Stevenson used his novel to criticise the Victorian society, which he lived in: showing how hypocritical it was. He attacked the men of his time, peeling off their masks to show how they were respectable by day but turned into demons by night; the wealthy and respected camouflaged their evil secrets and desires and hid them behind paper like walls, just out of sight. He unveiled and presented to the world the scandalous passages the upper class had weaved demonstrating how there really was a fine line between it and the classes beneath it. This essay will explore and interpret and try to understand how Stevenson explores the theme of duality in 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'?
Chapter 1: Story of the Door
Chapter 1: Story of the Door Summary: The narration of the novel begins with two men, Mr. Utterson, a quiet, respectable lawyer and his distant relative Mr. Richard Enfield, taking a walk through a crowded street in London. On their way, they encounter a mysterious cellar door which prompts Mr. Enfield to recount a strange experience that happened on this very street. At three o¹clcok one night, Mr. Enfield was coming through town when he saw a disfigured man, "a Juggernaut," maliciously trample an eight-year old girl (who was in the street because she was sent for a doctor) in the street. After apprehending the man, Enfield, the doctor, and the family of the girl decides that, instead of sending for the police, they would blackmail the man to give a hundred pounds to the girl¹s family. Amenable, the mysterious man, later identified as Mr. Hyde, disappears behind the strange door that Utterson and Enfield originally encountered. He returned with ten pounds in gold and a check signed by a very respectable third party. Fearing that the check is a forgery, the doctor, Enfield, and the family force the man to stay with them until the banks open and he can cash the check. When the banks open, Enfield cashes the valid check, assuming Hyde has possession of the check because of blackmail. Throughout the narrative, the man whose name was on the check was not revealed. At the end
Jekyll and Hyde chapter by chapter summary.
Chapter 1: Story of the Door Summary: The narration of the novel begins with two men, Mr. Utterson, a quiet, respectable lawyer and his distant relative Mr. Richard Enfield, taking a walk through a crowded street in London. On their way, they encounter a mysterious cellar door which prompts Mr. Enfield to recount a strange experience that happened on this very street. At three o¹clcok one night, Mr. Enfield was coming through town when he saw a disfigured man, "a Juggernaut," maliciously trample an eight-year old girl (who was in the street because she was sent for a doctor) in the street. After apprehending the man, Enfield, the doctor, and the family of the girl decides that, instead of sending for the police, they would blackmail the man to give a hundred pounds to the girl¹s family. Amenable, the mysterious man, later identified as Mr. Hyde, disappears behind the strange door that Utterson and Enfield originally encountered. He returned with ten pounds in gold and a check signed by a very respectable third party. Fearing that the check is a forgery, the doctor, Enfield, and the family force the man to stay with them until the banks open and he can cash the check. When the banks open, Enfield cashes the valid check, assuming Hyde has possession of the check because of blackmail. Throughout the narrative, the man whose name was on the check was not revealed. At the end
How does Stevenson create an atmosphere of mystery and suspense yet at the same time, leave us a number of clues which help us to discover the real identity of Hyde before the last two chapters?
The first eight chapters of this novel serve as a mystery story. How does Stevenson create an atmosphere of mystery and suspense yet at the same time, leave us a number of clues which help us to discover the real identity of Hyde before the last two chapters? Robert Louis Stevenson, one of the masters in adventure writing during the Victorian era, was born in Edinburgh on the 13th of November 1850 into a Calvinistic and bourgeois family. His father, Thomas Stevenson, was an engineer, who like many of his ancestors, built many of the deep-sea lighthouses on the coast of Scotland. His mother, Isabella Mary Balfour had descended from a family containing ministers of the church as well as members of the legal profession. It is therefore not surprising that as well as having a strict Christian upbringing, Stevenson's childhood was formed by the strict code of respectability of the Victorian middle class men. Throughout his childhood, Stevenson suffered numerous health problems primarily due to an affection of the lungs, a condition which would plague him throughout his life. As his father was usually gone on business and his mother too suffered from an illness in the lungs which rendered her incapable to care for her sickly child, the task to look after Stevenson was given to Alison Cunningham, or otherwise known as 'Cummy' who was a fundamentalist Christian with whom
How does Robert Louis Stevenson explore the duality of human nature in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?
How does Robert Louis Stevenson explore the duality of human nature in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Robert Louis Stevenson incorporated the ideology of the duality of human nature into his Victorian thriller novella: 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'. This does not emerge fully until the last chapter. The text not only de-familiarizes the duality of human nature as its central theme but forces us to wonder the properties of this duality and to consider each of the novella's chapters as we weigh up the various theories. Jekyll asserts that "man is not truly one, but truly two," implying that everyone has two parts to their personality, 'Good' and 'Bad' instead of just yourself and he imagines the human soul as the battleground for an "angel" and a "fiend," both opposing forces each struggling for mastery. The novella tackles many different theories that circulated at the time. When the novella was published, there was uproar that it suggested we have two parts to our personalities. This theory went against many influential Victorian religious beliefs. Robert Louis Stevenson's believed that people had a dual personality and this is echoed in the novella. The inspiration for the novella could have come from many different people and events, most notably: a dream that Stevenson had repeatedly as a child relevant event about Deacon Brody who was a cabinet maker by day and
How does Stevenson Explore the Divided Nature of Human personality and Victorian Society in The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?
How does Stevenson Explore the Divided Nature of Human personality and Victorian Society in The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? In my essay I am going to discuss the story called The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. This story is a pre 20th century gothic novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson. When I say a gothic novel I don't mean something of the dark ages but rather a story that has a dark deep story which ventures into the unknown. This story is typical of the 19th century when people had radical ideas which were questionable to those in Victorian society. The story starts with a person called Mr Hyde trampling over a young girl and producing a cheque with Dr Jekyll's name on it to pay for the damage done to the girl. Later Dr Jekyll's friends find that he has made a will to a man named Mr Hyde that was to be given to him under doctor Jekyll's death or disappearance. His friends think that he has been threatened or forced to make a will to this wicked man Mr Hyde. Later in the story the whole mystery was revealed to us. Dr Jekyll was involved in an experiment which was supposed to break the bond between good and evil. This barrier of good and evil could be put in comparison with Soho and Cavendish Square. The experiment that Dr Jekyll was involved in made his evil side come out which was Mr Hyde but to do this Dr Jekyll had to drink a potion. After a
"If I Am The Chief Of Sinners, Then I Am The Chief Of Sufferers Also" - To What Extent Can The Reader Feel Sympathy For Dr Jekyll?
"If I Am The Chief Of Sinners, Then I Am The Chief Of Sufferers Also" - To What Extent Can The Reader Feel Sympathy For Dr Jekyll? In terms of this book, I think that it's difficult for me to place Jekyll as a complete sinner or a complete sufferer due to the varying influences of the other characters, the society of the time and the drug that Jekyll uses. My opinion of him tends to fluctuate throughout the book. Certainly, some of the language used by Stevenson can be rather grotesque at times and at others, heart wrenching. As the storyline progresses, the reader becomes more aware of what has happened to the reputable Dr Henry Jekyll and how his life gets turned upside down. However, our suspicions are only totally confirmed in "Dr Lanyon's Narrative" and "Henry Jekyll's statement of the case". Through the story, Jekyll displays acts of recklessness but also kindness and surprising self-control at times. It's these episodes, mainly in his statement of the case that I will analyze in order to draw a conclusion about his character and to what extent the title quote is true. I believe that the quote "If I am the chief of sinners than I am the chief of sufferers also" essentially refers to Jekyll transforming into Hyde. By all the pleasures in the lifestyle that this change brings, Jekyll has completely gone against G-d's will and the laws of nature (being the chief of
How does Stevenson present the conflict between good and evil in Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?
How does Stevenson present the conflict between good and evil in 'Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'? 'Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' is a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson set in Victorian London and written in 1886. It can be said that Stevenson took ideas directly from his own experiences when creating the plot, as many aspects of the novella can be compared directly to his life. Stevenson grew up in Edinburgh, which had the same dramatic contrast between the rich and the poor sides as the London in which 'Jekyll and Hyde' is set and it is clear that he was influenced by the things he saw when going about his every day life; the divide between wealth and poverty. The idea of the unhappily conflicted personality of Jekyll could easily be based upon himself; the young Stevenson aspired to become a writer but this profession was looked down on by society as writers were seen as leading immoral and hedonistic lifestyles. His parents certainly disapproved of his choice and wanted him to pursue a more respectable career. Stevenson decided to take a law degree, but did not stop writing, thereby creating for himself a double life. The genre of the book is gothic horror and could also be said to have elements of science fiction. One clear influence would be 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley, written in 1818. This, like 'Jekyll and Hyde', has themes of the worrying developments in science and
jekyll and hyde
How does Stevenson present the conflict between good and evil in 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'? In this piece of coursework, I will be presenting how Robert Louis Stevenson shows the conflicts between 'good and evil'. "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" is a novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson was born on the 13th November 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The novel was written in the late 19th century and is set in Victorian London. The precise date as to which the novel was written was within 1886. Stevenson wished to create a novel that was based on the duality of personalities which was much depicted within plays and films at that time and tried to make it influential to the growth in understanding the subconscious mind. Stevenson's background was strict as he had a strong up bringing in the sense of being forced to do things to ensure that he remained civil and to be brought up into a respectable and courteous man. He had been forced by his father to do civil engineering and also had a few problems and conflicts with his father along the way. This relates to the good and evil shown within Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. This could be conveyed as a case of his father leading him to the 'correct' path which he desires his son to achieve, being firm and sophisticated like an upstanding person, therefore portraying the likes of Dr Jekyll in which case is the 'good'
How Stevenson uses his techniques as a writer to present character and atmosphere in 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyd
How Stevenson uses his techniques as a writer to present character and atmosphere in 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' by the young Robert Louis Stevenson was published in 1886. The story, which concerns the way in which an individual is made up of different emotions and desires, some good and some evil is told from the point of view of John Utterson. Mr Utterson is a lawyer and friend to the respected and brilliant scientist, Dr. Henry Jekyll. After relating a disturbing tale of an angry fiend assaulting a small girl, Utterson begins to question the odd behaviour of his friend. As Mr Utterson investigates and is entangled further into the life of Dr. Jekyll, he uncovers a story so horrific, so terrifying, that he is shocked. In the final chapter, Jekyll confesses in a full statement, that he has led a double life, his researches into separating his personality into good and evil, and the gradual ascendancy of evil and monstrous Mr Hyde over hypocritical Dr Jekyll. This transformation though, one day becomes involuntary and Jekyll is unable to reverse it because he has run out of the original batch of special chemical solutions. As the truth is about to surface, tragic events occur that end the whole situation dramatically and decisively. The themes which Robert Louis Stevenson addresses in his novel 'The Strange Case