Jekyll And Mr Hyde Human Nature EssayJekyll wanted to separate his good side from his evil impulses creating a potion that would allow him to do that physically. After drinking a potion, he could change into Hyde, a person with no conscience.
Jekyll: Reputable Scientist. Dr. Jekyll takes science very seriously, and he even conducts his own experiments.
The fact that the phial is 'crushed' is a metaphor for how science has destroyed Jekyll. (3) 'self-destroyer' - this is the supernatural as the idea of committing suicide goes against the bible's teaching, ie the 'natural course' in life.
Jekyll believes that Lanyon is stuck in the past, rejecting groundbreaking science because of religious beliefs. Lanyon believes that Jekyll's scientific methods goes against his own, showing the controversy between scientific progress and religious beliefs.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde creates a tension between the world of reason and science and the world of the supernatural, and seems to suggest the limits of reason in its inability to understand or cope with the supernatural phenomena that take place.
Outspoken. Dr Lanyon describes Dr Jekyll's experiments as 'unscientific balderdash', claiming that Jekyll's experiments are ridiculous and not the 'correct' science. "Unscientific balderdash." This shows that Dr Lanyon doesn't agree with Jekyll's experiments or 'believe' in them, as he calls them 'balderdash'.
Jekyll and Mr.Hyde are in fact a single character. Until the end of the novel, the two personas seem nothing alike—the well-liked, respectable doctor and the hideous, depraved Hyde are almost opposite in type and personality.
His physical ugliness and deformity symbolizes his moral hideousness and warped ethics. Indeed, for the audience of Stevenson's time, the connection between such ugliness and Hyde's wickedness might have been seen as more than symbolic.
The book is relevant today because in the same way that Jekyll is addicted to Hyde, people in modern society are addicted to alcohol and cigarettes to relieve pressure. The message in this book is if we ignore our evil side it will return with more vengeance which you wouldn't be able to control.
Mr Hyde is described as devilish, evil, and a criminal mastermind. His first appearance in the novel shows him violently trampling a young girl. He is smaller and younger than Jekyll suggesting that Dr Jekyll's good side is larger than his bad and that his evil side develops later in life than the good.
Stevenson states that Jekyll is the hypocrite because he was aware that when he transformed he became savage and uncivilized yet he still “let out the beast Hyde†(86). Various acts of hypocrisy occur which were committed by characters other than Dr. Jekyll, primarily by Mr. Utterson.
The Importance of ReputationFor the characters in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, preserving one's reputation emerges as all important. The prevalence of this value system is evident in the way that upright men such as Utterson and Enfield avoid gossip at all costs; they see gossip as a great destroyer of reputation.
Reputation in the Victorian AgeDespite perceived shortcomings in one's family, personality, wealth, and so on, the Victorians always put up a front to maintain a good appearance and uphold their reputation.
Dr Jekyll is a well-respected and intelligent scientist. He is a wealthy man and lives in a house with his butler, Poole. As the novel progresses, Jekyll becomes unpredictable and decides to leave all of his belongings and wealth to the scoundrel, Mr Hyde, in his will.
Jekyll is able to make the moral decision to commit suicide for the greater good of society, thereby stopping Mr. Hyde, who, of course, dies with him.
The Victorian Era, with its stuffy rules, explosion of science and technology, and epic class disparity was the perfect setting for a story that, at its heart, is an exploration of the duality of human nature. On one side, you have the posh existence of gentlemen like Dr. Jekyll.
Jekyll is able to make the moral decision to commit suicide for the greater good of society, thereby stopping Mr. Hyde, who, of course, dies with him.
