How Far Is The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde(TM) A Study Of Human Nature

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Fredric David Savell        Pre 1914 Prose        2nd December 2008

How Far Is ‘The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde’ A Study Of Human Nature?

 Robert Louis Stevenson wrote many books in his times, his most famous has to be ‘The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde’ and how far it is a study of human nature. The book is about a doctor, Jekyll, who creates a potion which can turn him into a monstrous version of himself told by friend Mr Utterson. The novel is set in Victorian times were they had very strict morals, for example it was considered improper to say the word ‘leg’ in mixed company, instead it was referred to as a ‘limb’. This book is what’s known as a Victorian gothic novel, it considers issues in Victorian society that were deemed inappropriate to say. For example Hyde is Jekylls’ ‘alter-ego’, some of the Victorian rich men had one to some extent, for that in the day they were very prudish keeping up appearances, which were very important, however it couldn’t have been the poor men, who were struggling to feed a family of five, buying drugs, gambling and prostitution, they just wouldn’t have been able to afford it which leads me to assume it was the rich, prudish men that were gambling, buying the drugs and prostitution. Also Jekyll by day was a respected doctor but at night when he drank his potion he went mad and killed innocent people much like  ‘Jack the Ripper’ was suspected to be a doctor the way he professionally mutilated his victims. This book shows an interpenetration of human nature between two alter-egos.

In the initial descriptions of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde given to us by Stevenson it is instantly oblivious who is the bad half and who is the good half. For one example the first time we meet Mr Hyde in the book he is portrayed as a very dark and evil person who likes to throw there weight around, an example of this is when it says ‘…damned Juggernaut’ (Page five) The word juggernaut derives from a story in India where there was an annual festival, in this festival chariots rode through town and some times the chariots have slipped out of control, resulting in injury to some people with the stampedes caused, the chariots were called Juggernauts, this lead to the word Juggernaut to refer to examples of an unstoppable, crushing force. This is the scene where he tramples the young girl and he is being described in the statement of how he was rushing her, it is made to seem as if she is helpless and cannot stop him. This links into human nature as it is human nature to look down on and think les of those whom are weaker than us. When we are first introduced to Dr Jekyll he is shown as a nice, warm hearted man. One of the first time we meet him we think he is a well off, kind heartened man. ‘…smooth-faced man of fifty…’ (Page 19) When Stevenson says ‘…smooth-face…’ we think of someone well shaven, handsome and clean. This instantly make us think he isn’t the evil half of himself as it is human nature to assume the beautiful people are the kind people and the ugly people are the bad people, for example in Disney films the baddie in them is most of the times ugly, whereas the hero is most of time beautiful. Also Mr Hyde is described in such a way its like he’s not human or part animal ‘…ape-like fury…’(Page 23) The word ‘ape-like’ instantly makes you think the way he is beating the man up is very brutal and animal like, also because it says ape it is as if Hyde is a less developed human, because humans are ancestors of apes it is believed. This is shows human nature because it is what is in our nature to fight for something like animals, or when we were less developed, would instead of asking for it or. Also Dr Jekyll is described to be ‘Sincere’ ( Page 19) This makes us think of Jekyll as a trustworthy man, as when someone is described as sincere it means they are truthful, honest and open. Sincerity is a feat of kindness and it comes from human nature to be truth telling at all times, much like Kants’ moral theory.  The book also describes the thought changing process in the last chapter when it switches over to Dr Jekyll narrating.

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The reason there is an alter-ego within the narrative is because it makes the book more interesting to read, it also makes the reader have to think about the book and about the two alter-egos within, Jekyll and Hyde, it is also good because Hyde is almost representing Jekylls evil side, the dark part of his that doesn’t get to come out living in a strict Victorian society.  The change from Jekyll to Hyde is described to be not a very nice feeling. For example Stevenson says ‘…a change in the temper of my thoughts, a greater boldness, a ...

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