Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Essay Example for Free

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Es vocaliseThe famous Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde was pen by Robert Louis Stevenson and has remained popular ever since its publication in 1886. Robert was born in 1850 and was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was brought up a calvalist, thus far quest aftered the bohemian life style. He married Mrs. Fanny Osbourne in 1880 and back up Priest Dameor who c ard for the lepers.Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a rich tale of the duality of universekind and how we are in essence creatures created for close, however in any of us thither is the let outd to do bad. The moral of the point is an old biblical one that many Christians recite daily in prayerLead us not into temptation, yet deliver us from detestation. This might be one of the reasons Stevenson wrote this book Jekyll lives a double life of propriety and shame, imprisoned by the moral demands of twee corporation, and so did Stevenson. He alike was surrounded by upright, religious and rigid citizens. He wa s even pressured into studying law at Edinburgh University.This book was written as a evil story. We bop this because of the settings and plot. Stevenson wrote the book at the time of many polish offs in the east of London and the complete ignoring of brotherly determine and heartless deeds committed by Mr Hyde are totally in synch with Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes. Mr Hyde represents the study opposite of what Victorian gentlemen should act and the savageness of his actions is what made the book so scary back then.The story takes place in London during the nineteenth century. The central mood of the fresh is one of mystery and terror. Stevenson creates sorry settings to create a mood of anticipation and mystery. E.g. He was aware of an odd, light. Mr Hyde only experiences out in the dyed, stunned night, which subsequently commences the lecturer suspect mainly sinister intentions and automatically informs the ratifier that there is an expectation of tiff and so mething large(p), as the dark brings ominous feelings and terror to the ref.Stevenson changes the weather from regular night to more dark and blurred so that it is almost impossible to see clearly, therefore emphasising the fact through the fog, there is something concealed and sneaky lurking about which makes the ref feel anxious. Also, he makes the character more evil looking in the dark e.g. In the darkness of the night he gave an impression deformity without any namable malformation. This makes the reader picture a horrific creature that makes them feel defenceless and exposed.Stevenson describes the fog being broken up as a haggard shaft. This gives the mind of destructiveness and violence. Also the quote swirling wreaths gives the sense of death as wreaths is what is placed on-top of a coffin. in the long run Stevenson describes the gloomy avenues as mournful re- invasion of darkness which gives the sense of decay and obscurity. All these quotes in addition make the r eader feel uneasy and apprehensive.The quotes It seems she was romantically given and London from all around very unfathomed gives an eerie effect and provides a somewhat peaceful response. These quotes are also examples of emotive language, because they give the reader an emotional response.A certain sinister block and tramps slouched are both examples of figurative language which gives the reader a precise picture of what is in the setting. The quote tramps slouched gives us an unpleasant image of what reality was authentically same(p) for the poor, making the reader feel uncomfortable as well as sympathetic.As supplement to Stevenson utilize figurative and emotive language, he also uses a wide range of verbs like bedevil and dingy which helps the reader to bear a detailed picture of the insecurity and filthiness in which they lived through, and adjectives like ragged children huddled, which illustrates the fear and torment which even children went through.The quotes low gr owl of London and city in a nightmare, all give off the impression that the streets of London at the time were grimy, dangerous, dingy and simply wonderful places to live. Also the word growl, an example of personification, gives a sense that there is a savage, ruthless and a rough monster prowling about London. Finally the metaphor, light of some strange conflagration, gives a reference hell which makes the reader feel uncomfortable.Even though there are many quotes referring to the struggles of Victorian society, there are on the other hand several quotes which describe the other side of Victorian society which was entirely different. For example, unmarried man house, close by the fire and gratefully to bed, all give off a cosy, warm, safe and accept impression. So yet again we have another contrast of the rich, warm, safe Victorian residence to the poor, unsteady and generally tough Victorian slums. This shows that if you were rich you could use the power whatever way you li ke, however if you were poor, you were confine in a world of poverty and in a sense of revulsion.There are trinity main characters in the novel, Dr Henry Jekyll, Edward Hyde and Mr Utterson.Dr. Henry Jekyll is a prominent middle- remote doctor and throughout the novel he is physically described as both tall and handsome. He is also extremely besotted and by all who him, he is described as well respected and proper. For example, Stevenson describes Jekyll as a entertainer and a person known for charities which gives the impression that Jekyll is a warm, pleasant, middle class gentleman.In the book, his voice is only compreh give the axe in the concluding chapter (Henry Jekylls full statement of the case), only after being described through the lens of the eye of Utterson, Lanyon, Poole and Enfield.The doctors belief that within each Human- being exists two countering forces, uncorrupted and evil, leads to his experiments to try to separate the two. This however, was not throu gh with(p) merely for scientific reasons, but also because he enjoyed escaping the confines of the respectable guise of Dr. Jekyll. The quote which illustrates this is The displacement was succeeded by a sense of joy. This also suggests that people didnt know what was right and what was wrong and would do and convey questions later.Also in the book he is described as less distinguished for religion, which suggests he too questioned Christianity like many other people of his time. For example, Darwin challenged religion as he came up with the theory that we evolved from monkeys which would smashed the world wasnt made is seven days. Edward Hyde is a small, deformed, impish young man (much younger than Dr Jekyll) that is devoid of an unmingled profession. Also the quote deformed illustrates that some Victorians disliked and rejected disabled people. Stevenson describes Hyde as callous and raving mad and a murderous mixture of timidly and boldness, which gives the impression Hyde is a fierce, ruthless, brutal monster.Despite the many descriptions of the standoff that Edward Hyde invokes (by Lanyon, Utterson and Enfield), we are never told in detail precisely why or what features are so disgusting to observers, which emphasises the fact the novel was made in the time where phrenology (judging psyche by their appearance) was the key to knowing if someone was easily or evil.Hyde is also often compared to animals e.g. snarled, implying that he is not a fully evolved Human- Being. Another factor which suggests he is compared to animals is the fact he only menaces society at night e.g. trampling a misfire in the street and murdering Sir Danvers Carew, which relates him to rodents and other nocturnal animals. Finally the quote the man seems hardly human, illustrates the fact Hyde is not a whole and has something missing. Good.Mr Utterson is the narrator of the book and is described as tall and loveable. He is a middle- aged lawyer plus someone that all the ch aracters confide in throughout the novel.As an old title-holder of Jekyll, he recognises the changes and strange occurrences that centre around both Jekyll and Hyde. Stevenson describes Utterson as a reliable and Modest man which suggests he is perhaps the most circumspect and respected character in the book therefore, it is signifi pottyt that we cypher the crimes of Hyde through his observant frame. However, when Utterson discovers Hydes body in a red cabinet, instead of reporting it to the police he precedes in reading a letter addressed to him, which suggests he is more interested in his social status than solving the mystery.The quotes his friendship seemed to be founded in a similar catholicity of a good nature and his friends were those of his own blood or those who he had seen the longest, illustrates the fact he is insular, biased and narrow-minded. Knowing this makes the reader question if the story is told accurately and truthfully.The thing I noticed about this novel i s that all the women are either victims or maids. E.g. the girl who got trampled on, the maid who witnessed the murder of Sir Danvers Carew and the house maid. This suggests that the middle class Victorian society were very sexist. However, if a Victorian was to read a modern day annoyance story, they would plausibly come up with the same conclusion, as the majority of victims in todays horror stories are women.The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is natural of the horror literary genre as it has many factors in which we would expect to see in a horror story today. For example, the story is mainly set at night, there are victims and most importantly the evil character is punished at the end of the novel.Mr Utterson is the narrator of the book and we are told the story through his look and told as though its true. This contributes to the element of suspense as we only know what Utterson knows. Suspense is also strengthened up as Stevenson writes as if there is a final expl anation as to whom the mystery flesh is but doesnt let on and instead lets the suspense build. He occasionally allows a small center of information out just to whet the appetites and keep up an atmosphere of mystery and confusion. For example, at the end of chapter five (Incident of the letter), Utterson says Henry Jekyll forge for a murderer. Not only does this make you wonder who the murderer is, but it also makes the reader want to read on. This atmosphere, one of ascertainled suspense, gradual building up of a sense of horror and destruction is achieved through a slow accumulation of unemotional detail, as this leaves the reader question what the characters are like and what they might do.I believe horror stories today do still follow a similar pattern, in the fact people who do bad deeds are normally punished, they are packed with suspense and often include someone trying to solve the mystery or catch the villain or monster, which in our case is Mr Utterson. However, the ma jor difference in more young examples of the genre is the tendency to locate the monstrous squarely within the normal, rather than presenting it as a threatening creature, such as Mr Hyde and Frankenstein, all made by individuals.Alfred Hitchcock had in fact changed this direction of the horror genre in 1960 with Psycho the movie not only presented its most frightening moment, the shower murder, it also suggested that horror resides in everyday life rather than in alternative worlds of the supernatural or the gothic. Finally, the recent so called slice and dice films, such as Halloween, and alimentation dead movies such as the night of the living dead are demonstrations of how contemporary special effects technology can depict increasingly tired of(p) and imaginative dismemberment and mutilation usually at the expense of character, plot and theme. Even though these are all films, we can still see how there is a greater desire for horror stories which are link up to everyday occu rrences or objects.In Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson illustrates the devastating effects of meddling with Gods creation and how our negative and evil desires and urges can overtake our original selves until we lose touch of who we once represented. Furthermore, Dr Jekylls desire and addiction to temporarily alter his creative activity results ultimately in his deadly demise.Jekyll and Hyde demonstrates how innocent curiosity about the darker sides of our nature can soon get out of hand and how evil is compulsive and how evil can so easily take control of the good. Stevenson has used Jekyll and Hyde to show that everyone has good and evil inside them. He portrays this very well by using the setting to portray good and evil e.g. dingy street and a grand residence. He also makes a very important point which is relevant today as it was in the nineteenth century. This is that bottled antisocialable demeanour can lead to sudden violent outpourings, such as seen in Hydes m urder of Sir Danvers Carew.In Victorian society no one questioned God so the idea of something happening which isnt controlled by God would be unusual. Also electricity had only just been invented so people were quite wary about the things acquaintance could do.I trust the main theme in the book is duality and how London is split into good and evil, rich and poor, scientific fact and experimenting new ideas. The final point I wish to mention is how they unplowed secrets. On the outside people were warm and inviting, however inside, people kept intimate secrets, such as dealing with drugs, alcohol and prostitution. I believe this was probably due to the fact there wasnt much fun in this type of life.There are many morals included in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde however there are two main morals which stand out, one straight forward moral and a more complex moral. The straight forward moral is that if you do bad deeds you will be punished and also how addiction can lead to violence and ho w violence can lead to murder. The more complex moral, however is about the appeal of being Mr Hyde. Because Mr Hyde is described and talked about so much, he is probably the most interesting and exciting character in the book, which turns the straight forward moral on its promontory and makes Hyde the most appealing character in the novel.I believe the relevance of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has changed considerably over the make it hundred years. The main difference is that the Victorians saw this book religiously, however now when we read this book we think its about personal weakness and how addiction can lead to evil. A Victorian also wouldnt see the relevance of drugs and alcohol in this book, nor would they understand the relevance of addiction and what effect it has.Some may say that as humans, we wear masks. Not real masks, but masks that cover up our true personality screening our good side around our friends and our bad side around our family. These are great examples of ma ns fight in duality our good side is always competing against our evil side, resulting in our duality, our fight over good verses evil. In this story, Doctor Jekyll is a regular scientist with the same feelings as every other human being Mr. Hyde is a manifestation of Doctor Jekylls evil side and as a result, he is able to commit murder without any guilt. In the end, the evil manifestation won, taking completely over the Doctors body. The fight between good and evil is overFinally, I believe the strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is about how Dr Jekyll struggles to decide either to do the right thing and be a good citizen, or to do the thing Dr Jekyll desires the most and to be Mr. Hyde which he knows is wrong.