Summary: Evil Prevails Over Good

Alissa Moore
(H) Multigenre 3B
Mrs. Couchman
25 September 2014

Evil Prevails Over Good Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde expresses evil triumphing over good through setting, characterization, and conflict.
In the novel, setting portrays the theme of evil triumphing over good. The setting of the city covered in fog conveys this triumph. After positively identifying the victim’s body as Sir Danvers Carew, Utterson immediately suspects the name of Hyde as the murderer, and he leads a police officer to Hyde’s house. Stevenson presents the fog surrounding them during the car ride as “A great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven […] The dismal quarter of Soho seen under these changing glimpses […] seemed,
in the Lawyer’s eyes, like a district of some city in a nightmare” (23). The dense, dark, gloomy fog that invades and conquers the innocent city foreshadows the negative events occurring within that weather, such as the murder of Carew. The fog’s eerie aura cast over the city represents the power of evils casting their misfortunes and temptations over the good nature within humans and ultimately overcoming them. Other aspects of setting in the novel express evil beating good. To explain, the houses that both Jekyll and Hyde inhabit establish this defeat. The narrator describes Hyde’s house in Soho as run down, small, and beat up with few rooms that are even inhabitable. Mangy children, women of numerous nationalities, and the homeless surround the door of Hyde’s home. On the other hand, the residence of Jekyll consists of one of the best fireplaces in town and elaborate Victorian architectural components. However, Jekyll continuously returns to Soho as a hideaway from the wrongdoings committed by Hyde; consequently, this cycle continues because of his impulses and urges of his evil side, Hyde. In turn, Hyde’s house, a representation of the evils of Victorian society for its lack of detailed and embellished architecture of the social norm, ultimately overpowers Jekyll’s glamorous, status quo, well-respected house. The reoccurring contrast of setting describes evil triumphing over good within the novel.
Characterization within the novel demonstrates evil nature overcoming good nature. The contrasting physical appearances of Jekyll and Hyde express this defeat. Hyde’s demeanor is described as beast-like and sickening. When Einfield tells Utterson the story of Hyde trampling the little girl he comments that Hyde “is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point” (10). In contrast, the narrator describes Dr. Jekyll as a tall, handsome, well put-together Victorian man. The mysterious and unknown ambience of Mr. Hyde establishes an uneasy and indescribable impression of him; however, the reader holds a firm understanding of Jekyll’s appearance and makes judgments based on that understanding. The strange, deformed, unwanted features of Hyde represent his evil nature, while Jekyll’s favorable physical characteristics represent the good of society. The sinister nature of Hyde overcomes the interests of Jekyll’s colleagues, Lanyon and Utterson, so they focus most of their attention on him. Hyde’s appearance attracts more attention and causes the community to be more skeptical of him. Therefore, good trounces evil through physical characteristics. Another aspect of characterization displays evil’s defeat over good. The actions that characterize both Jekyll and Hyde demonstrate the power of evil. Hyde acts violently at random, with no clear rationale, and has little care for his own safety. For example, he brutally beats Sir Danvers Carew to death with a cane. He has no problem with savagely murdering Carew, an important public figure, in the middle of a public street. The extent of Hyde’s capacity for evil emerges and clearly overpowers the gentle civilized actions of Jekyll since he chooses to remain in the form of Hyde. The characterization of Jekyll and Hyde express evil prevailing over good.
Internal conflicts within the novel express the power of evil over good.
Evil impulses most often prevail over choices that humans know are the correct, moral, or good choice. For instance, Dr. Lanyon has to make the decision whether or not he wants to experience Hyde drink the potion and witness its outcome. While telling Hyde his decision, Lanyon tells him, “‘Sir,’ said I, affecting a coolness that I was far from truly processing, ‘you speak enigmas, and you will perhaps not wonder that I hear you with no very strong impression of belief. But I have gone too far in the way of inexplicable services to pause before I see the end” (54). Lanyon’s evil impulse overcomes the good, conservative side of him, which convinces him to experience a most sickening episode. The deterioration of his health after this incident also represents evil nature dooming the good within him. Next, the most obvious conflict that portrays evil defeating good is the battle of choosing between Jekyll and Hyde. In Jekyll’s letter to Utterson, he goes back and forth between the advantages and disadvantages of being Jekyll and those of being Hyde. In his letter, Jekyll writes, “I was still cursed with my duality of purpose; and as the first edge of my penitence wore off, the lower side of me, so long indulged, so recently chained down, began to growl for licence. Not that I dream of resuscitating Hyde; […] no, it was in my own person that I was once more tempted to trifle with my conscience” (65). The strength of the evil half of his personality grows so immensely that it begins to involuntarily overcome his inherently good half. The uncontrollable transformation from Jekyll to Hyde expresses evil triumphing over good. Internal conflicts within the novel demonstrate evil’s superiority over
good.