Duality
| Duality | Jeanne Reeser | | English 104 | Professor Kathleen McAlister |
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Course: English 104
Professor: Kathleen McKalister
Student: Jeanne Reeser
Assignment: Formal Essay
Duality
In many late-Victorian English writers’ works, there appears this reoccurring theme of a “double” or “split personality” residing in one character. The “double” or “split personality” usually coincided with a specific historical event or social attitude during the time that the novel was written. The theme of the double in the novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as in the contemporary film the Fight Club, represents certain historical events/social attitudes. In the following the theme of the double of Self-restraint (west/colonizer) versus Self-indulgence/Decadence (East/Colonized) is presented in the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, while the theme of the double of Capitalism (Representing Materialism) versus Socialism is presented in the film Fight Club and finally how this novel and this film differ as well as share similarities in the representation of the theme of the “double” or “split personality” in these three areas: the double is represented by a male, Fight Clubs duality differs in that it represent a historical ideology, and which were produced during two very different times.
In the novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the theme of the double that is present is Self-restraint versus Self-indulgence embodied in the person Dr. Jekyll. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote/published the novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, around the year 1886 or during the Late Victorian era. During this era the society is dominated by this idea of self-restraint, self-restraint was seen as the mode in which one could have a successful life in the Victorian Era. Certain things such as drinking gin, going to the theater, etc. were seen as “evil” or acts of Self-indulgence in the Victorian Era and one must restrain himself/herself from these things. On the first page of the
|
Course: English 104
Professor: Kathleen McKalister
Student: Jeanne Reeser
Assignment: Formal Essay
Duality
In many late-Victorian English writers’ works, there appears this reoccurring theme of a “double” or “split personality” residing in one character. The “double” or “split personality” usually coincided with a specific historical event or social attitude during the time that the novel was written. The theme of the double in the novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as in the contemporary film the Fight Club, represents certain historical events/social attitudes. In the following the theme of the double of Self-restraint (west/colonizer) versus Self-indulgence/Decadence (East/Colonized) is presented in the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, while the theme of the double of Capitalism (Representing Materialism) versus Socialism is presented in the film Fight Club and finally how this novel and this film differ as well as share similarities in the representation of the theme of the “double” or “split personality” in these three areas: the double is represented by a male, Fight Clubs duality differs in that it represent a historical ideology, and which were produced during two very different times.
In the novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the theme of the double that is present is Self-restraint versus Self-indulgence embodied in the person Dr. Jekyll. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote/published the novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, around the year 1886 or during the Late Victorian era. During this era the society is dominated by this idea of self-restraint, self-restraint was seen as the mode in which one could have a successful life in the Victorian Era. Certain things such as drinking gin, going to the theater, etc. were seen as “evil” or acts of Self-indulgence in the Victorian Era and one must restrain himself/herself from these things. On the first page of the
Cited: Cohen, Ed. “Hyding the Subject?: The antinomies of Masculinity in the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Novel: A forum of Fiction 37.1/2 (2003): 181-199. Academic Research Premier. Web. 2 April 2013. Livesey, Margot. "The Double Life of Robert Louis Stevenson." Atlantic Monthly (10727825) 274.5 (1994): 140-147. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Apr. 2013. Stevenson, Robert. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.New York. Dover Publication, INC.1991. Print.