How Does Stevenson Use His Novella 'the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' to Exlore the Duality of Human Nature? Essay Example
How does Stevenson use his novella 'The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' to exlore the duality of human nature?
Throughout the novella ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ Robert Louis Stevenson explores the duality of human nature. Duality is shown not only through the various characters, but also in the setting to portray facets of the duality within the novella. The title and front cover of the book itself creates duality the word ‘case’ suggesting the genre to be that of a detective novella, whereas the gothic cover points towards the genre being horror.
The novella itself is constructed on binary oppositions, with a very clear theme of Good versus Evil, in which ‘good’ is initially portrayed by Dr. Jekyll. Where he is described as a “well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty” who was well respected as a person an eminent and respected member of his profession due to his many qualifications ‘M.D, D.C.L, LL.D,F.R.S’ etc. Jekyll himself has duality within his character, even when just looking at the Jekyll side of the personality, duality is still shown even in the part of the personality seen as ‘good’. As he is a well respected doctor of science and is well known for his great hospitality and compassion ‘every mark of capacity and kindness’ where he is obviously seen as the human form of all things good. However aspects of evil are quickly shown in his personality where examples of selfishness are shown ‘I cannot say I care what becomes of him’ and when he begins to look ‘deadly sick’ - Sickness here, denotes criminality as to the Victorian audience criminals were thought to be ill of mind or body. However, even as Hyde becomes a more significant character, Jekyll’s character still remains honourable until the final chapter.
Jekyll is aware of his dual personality, but he represents the many members of Victorian society leading two different lives without acknowledgment of it. This dual life relates directly to Stevenson himself as a well
Throughout the novella ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ Robert Louis Stevenson explores the duality of human nature. Duality is shown not only through the various characters, but also in the setting to portray facets of the duality within the novella. The title and front cover of the book itself creates duality the word ‘case’ suggesting the genre to be that of a detective novella, whereas the gothic cover points towards the genre being horror.
The novella itself is constructed on binary oppositions, with a very clear theme of Good versus Evil, in which ‘good’ is initially portrayed by Dr. Jekyll. Where he is described as a “well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty” who was well respected as a person an eminent and respected member of his profession due to his many qualifications ‘M.D, D.C.L, LL.D,F.R.S’ etc. Jekyll himself has duality within his character, even when just looking at the Jekyll side of the personality, duality is still shown even in the part of the personality seen as ‘good’. As he is a well respected doctor of science and is well known for his great hospitality and compassion ‘every mark of capacity and kindness’ where he is obviously seen as the human form of all things good. However aspects of evil are quickly shown in his personality where examples of selfishness are shown ‘I cannot say I care what becomes of him’ and when he begins to look ‘deadly sick’ - Sickness here, denotes criminality as to the Victorian audience criminals were thought to be ill of mind or body. However, even as Hyde becomes a more significant character, Jekyll’s character still remains honourable until the final chapter.
Jekyll is aware of his dual personality, but he represents the many members of Victorian society leading two different lives without acknowledgment of it. This dual life relates directly to Stevenson himself as a well