dr jekyll and mr hyde violence essay

Violence Theme in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay Sample

Throughout the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, readers see a vivid depiction of violence. As the novel proceeds, the characters become increasingly comfortable with the brutality around them. The intense descriptions of violence can be seen with Hyde and Jekyll’s characters throughout the work, the regret subsiding as the novel continues. In addition to the two-faced persona of Jekyll-Hyde, another instance seen would be the town as a whole. It became easier for the characters to cope as the frequency of the murders increased. To gain a deeper understanding, linking this concept of subsiding regret to more familiar situations would be ideal. Thinking about personal experiences, and sympathizing with others’. In the enthralling novel, Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses imagery effectively in order to shape and reinforce the theme that as time goes on, the idea of immoral actions begin to seem less immoral in the doer's eyes.

Within this novel, imagery is used to portray a sense of relatability in order to engage the reader with the entire plotline. In order to commiserate with the situation at hand, the understanding of the diminishing of regret and morality, a link to the real world is necessary. Stevenson states “Street after street and all the folks asleep—street after street, all lighted up as if for a procession and all as empty as a church—till at last I got into that state of mind when a man listens and listens and begins to long for the sight of a policeman.” (Stevenson 6). This quote, the use of imagery from the streetlights, represents the fear which Enfield had at the time. Illustrated by this quote, we can clearly see the clarity of relatability through emotion between the characters and the reader. The portrayal of this novel was the loss of immorality in a specific action being a human trait, not one that makes entities insane. The only fix to said action would be to keep individuals in check, not to be in the dark as Hyde was, understand boundaries, as if looking at someone else committing these actions. It is commonly guessed that the root of Hyde’s entire persona was Dr. Jekyll’s involvement in the medical field. The novel has been set in the Victorian Era, the medical methods not only being ineffective but also the epitome of gore and violence. The author of The Sedulous Ape: Atavism, Professionalism, and Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde, Stephen D. Arata states,

If Jekyll and Hyde articulates in Gothic fiction's exaggerated tones late-Victorian anxieties concerning degeneration, devolution, and "criminal man," it invariably situ ates those concerns in relation to the practices and discourses of lawyers like Gabriel Utterson, doctors like Henry Jekyll and Hastie Lan yon, or even "well-known men about town" (29) like Richard Enfield. The novel in fact asks us to do more than simply register the all-too apparent marks of Edward Hyde's "degeneracy." It compels us also to examine how those marks come to signify in the first place. As Stevenson understood, one thing professional men tend to be good at is close read. (Arata 2)

With the help of the potion, the mind altering substance, Jekyll turns into his alter ego, Mr. Hyde. His violent tendencies had somewhat rooted from his profession. Arata communicates that an individual's personality is loosely co-dependent on their profession or career, Jekyll’s gore tendencies from work transferred to gore tendencies in his personal life. 

While being Mr. Hyde, he fulfills all his gory desires, more appropriately, his immensely immoral wants. The first murder that was seen in the novel, hesitation and regret had been present. Most importantly, he was worried, as he turned back into Jekyll. Stevenson writes,

We told the man we could and would make such a scandal out of this as should make his name stink from one end of London to the other. If he had any friends or any credit, we undertook that he should lose them. And all the time, as we were pitching it in red hot, we were keeping the women off him as best we could for they were as wild as harpies. I never saw a circle of such hateful faces; and there was the man in the middle, with a kind of black sneering coolness—frightened too, I could see that—but carrying it off, sir, really like Satan. ‘If you choose to make capital out of this accident,’ said he, ‘I am naturally helpless. No gentleman but wishes to avoid a scene,’ says he. ‘Name your figure.’ Well, we screwed him up to a hundred pounds for the child’s family; he would have clearly liked to stick out; but there was something about the lot of us that meant mischief, and at last he struck. (Stevenson 7). 

Once Hyde turned back into Jekyll, he instantly had a sense of regret, not enough, though, that he could not continue living through his fantasies. Through the quote, Stevenson shows, through careful diction, that Hyde is somewhat worrisome, regret is present and visible. He had been fearful enough to pay the amount necessary in order for the bystander’s silence. As initially stated in the thesis, as time progresses, Jekyll finds it easier to transform all his violent desires to reality, his mental ease, especially. The author of Carrying On Like a Madman: Insanity and Responsibility in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Melissa J. Ganz, has written,

In the statement, Jekyll refuses to accept responsibility for Carew’s death, insisting that he was in a ‘‘fit of... delirium’’ (Jekyll and Hyde, p. 64) throughout the attack and could not control his actions. At the time, he explains, he had assumed the identity of his ‘‘second and worse [self]’’ (p. 62), the savage Edward Hyde. Although Jekyll’s argument appears blatantly self serving, his attempt to exonerate himself finds support elsewhere in the text. (Ganz 2)

Supporting the ideology of Stevenson’s use of mental ease in terms of immoral action as frequency increases, Ganz proves Jekyll’s initial regret as well as his regret subsiding by the end, trying to barter off responsibility as a fear response. The way Jekyll ends up transforming into his alter ego, Hyde - even without his potion in the later parts of the novel - shows how it is instinctual to be violent, to give into his vicious desires. Evidently, Jekyll’s fantasies becoming more brutal and more instinct-like as time goes on proves his morality has plummeted. 

Following the horrid death of the little girl, the town of London had been horrified. Stevenson had written, Hitherto it had touched him on the intellectual side alone; but now his imagination also was engaged, or rather enslaved; and as he lay and tossed in the gross darkness of the night and the curtained room, Mr. Enfield’s tale went by before his mind in a scroll of lighted pictures. He would be aware of the great field of lamps of a nocturnal city; then of the figure of a man walking swiftly; then of a child running from the doctor’s; and then these met, and that human Juggernaut trod the child down and passed on regardless of her screams. Or else he would see a room in a rich house, where his friend lay asleep, dreaming and smiling at his dreams; and then the door of that room would be opened, the curtains of the bed plucked apart, the sleeper recalled, and lo! there would stand by his side a figure to whom power was given, and even at that dead hour, he must rise and do its bidding. (Stevenson 13)

As entailed from the quotation, Enfield had been initially disturbed by such an immoral action, it had almost been unheard of. It left him worrisome, so much so that he decided to solve the case, along with Utterson, taking matters into their own hands. Although many characters’ thoughts were not depicted within this novel, Utterson and Enfield tend to represent the majority, them stepping up and completing a task others had not had the pride to. As time went on, London calmed down about the scenario, slightly subtracting their fear as the repetition formed knowingness. By the time the very last murder had been commited, the action no longer feared the two as it did at the beginning, the knowingness had seeped in. A loose serial killer causes trauma, which is why London had not completely been over the homicides, to some degree the terror had lessened. Irving S. Saposnik, author of The Anatomy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde had written “London is the geographical location because it best represents the center of the normative Victorian world. The major characters are all professional gentlemen because their respectability provides the facade behind which their essential selves are allowed to masquerade” (Saposnik 2). Saposnik describes the utter instinct of London deciphering immoral news, relating to the murderous circumstances experienced to the novel. London’s initial fear is described as essential, the fear subsided by the end, though out of habit, not a changed mindset. Hearing negative news repetitively increases chances of being habituated to said news. 

The world in general lives by this thesis; the more commonly a task is done, the less of an impact it has on the doer. Stevenson proved the stated thesis by constantly portraying relatability throughout the novel, using imagery to communicate a number of human-like emotions. Fear had been throughout used to show regret, usually through imagery. The wrongdoer is ultimately convinced what they are doing is correct as the frequency of immoral actions increase, as Jekyll had and as Stevenson had shown. Like London, the people around the wrongdoer's actions become less horrified, trying to be sensible and contained about the situation. Just because it is common does not make it right and keeping individuals’ morality rates in check in order to keep lifestyles morally and personally correct, is blatantly vital.

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Essays on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

What makes a good the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde essay topics.

When it comes to writing an essay on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , choosing the right topic is crucial. A good essay topic should be thought-provoking, unique, and analytical. It should also allow for in-depth exploration of the themes, characters, and symbolism in the novel. To brainstorm and choose an essay topic, start by considering the themes and motifs present in the book. Think about the duality of human nature, the concept of good and evil, and the consequences of scientific experimentation. Consider the characters and their motivations, as well as the setting and its significance. A good essay topic should also allow for critical analysis and interpretation, so look for topics that are open to interpretation and analysis.

When choosing a topic, consider What Makes a Good essay topic. A good topic should be specific and focused, allowing for a deep exploration of the subject matter. It should also be relevant and timely, addressing current issues and concerns. Additionally, a good essay topic should be original and unique, offering a fresh perspective on the novel. Finally, a good topic should be interesting and engaging, both for the writer and the reader. By considering these factors, you can brainstorm and choose an essay topic that is both compelling and intellectually stimulating.

Best The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay Topics

• The duality of human nature in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The motif of secrecy and concealment in the novel
• The consequences of scientific experimentation in the Victorian era
• The significance of the setting in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The representation of good and evil in the novel
• The theme of addiction and self-destruction in the novel
• The role of women in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The symbolism of the potion in the novel
• The theme of transformation and identity in the novel
• The portrayal of mental illness in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The impact of social class on the characters in the novel
• The motif of repression and liberation in the novel
• The concept of morality and ethics in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The theme of control and power in the novel
• The significance of the title in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The representation of masculinity in the novel
• The motif of duality in the character of Mr. Hyde
• The theme of guilt and remorse in the novel
• The portrayal of violence and aggression in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The significance of the ending in the novel

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde essay topics Prompts

• Imagine you are Dr. Jekyll and write a journal entry detailing the moments before you first transform into Mr. Hyde.
• Write a character analysis of Mr. Hyde, exploring his motivations and actions throughout the novel.
• Compare and contrast the characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, examining their similarities and differences.
• Analyze the role of the setting in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , focusing on its significance to the plot and themes of the novel.
• Create an alternate ending for the novel, exploring how the story would have unfolded if certain events had transpired differently.

When it comes to choosing The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde essay topics, it's important to consider the themes, characters, and symbolism present in the novel. By brainstorming and selecting a topic that is specific, relevant, and original, you can create an essay that is engaging and thought-provoking. Whether you choose to explore the duality of human nature, analyze the characters, or examine the role of the setting, there are plenty of creative and compelling topics to choose from when writing about The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde .

Jekyll and Mr Hyde Moral

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How Utterson is Presented in Jekyll and Hyde

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Presence of Silence and Language Limitations in Robert Louis Stevenson's Novel

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5 January 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson

Novella; Psychological Thriller, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Gothic, Science Fiction

Gabriel John Utterson, Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Edward Hyde, Richard Enfield, Dr. Hastie Lanyon, Mr. Poole, Inspector Newcomen, Sir Danvers Carew, MP, Maid

1. Stevenson, R. L. (2012). The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-with other short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson (Fantasy and Horror Classics). https://www.scribd.com/book/377905117/Strange-Case-of-Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde-Other-Stories Read Books Ltd. 2. Clunas, A. (1994). Comely External Utterance: Reading Space in" The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". The Journal of Narrative Technique, 24(3), 173-189. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/30225414) 3. Mills, K. (2004). The Stain on the Mirror: Pauline Reflections in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Christianity & Literature, 53(3), 337-348. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014833310405300303) 4. Goh, R. B. (1999). Textual Hyde and Seek:" Gentility," Narrative Play and Proscription in Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Journal of Narrative Theory, 29(2), 158-183. (https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/38/article/375823/summary) 5. Buzwell, G. (2014). Man is not truly one, but truly two’: duality in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The British Library. (https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/duality-in-robert-louis-stevensons-strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde) 6. Maynard, K. K. (2000). The Perils and Pleasures of Professionalism in Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Doyle's A Study in Scarlet and Other Fictions. The European Legacy, 5(3), 365-384. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/713665493?journalCode=cele20) 7. Dury, R. (2005). Strange Language of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. https://www.academia.edu/11373763/Strange_Language_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde_Journal_of_Stevenson_Studies_2_2005_33_50  Journal of Stevenson Studies, 2, 33-50. 8. Stevenson, R. L., & Glasser, B. (2018). Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In Medicine and Literature (pp. 105-118). CRC Press. (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781315375670-8/strange-case-dr-jekyll-mr-hyde-robert-louis-stevenson-brian-glasser)

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Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Analysis and Themes

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The story for Jekyll and Hyde famously came to Robert Louis Stevenson in a dream, and according to Stevenson’s stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, Stevenson wrote the first draft of the novella in just three days, before promptly throwing it onto the fire when his wife criticised it. Stevenson then rewrote it from scratch, taking ten days this time, and the novella was promptly published in January 1886.

The story is part detective-story or mystery, part Gothic horror, and part science fiction, so it’s worth analysing how Stevenson fuses these different elements.

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: analysis

Now it’s time for some words of analysis about Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic 1886 novella. However, perhaps ‘analyses’ (plural) would be more accurate, since there never could be one monolithic meaning of a story so ripe with allegory and suggestive symbolism.

Like another novella that was near-contemporary with Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , and possibly influenced by it ( H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine ), the symbols often point in several different directions at once.

Any attempt to reduce Stevenson’s story of doubling to a moral fable about drugs or drink, or a tale about homosexuality, is destined to lose sight of the very thing which makes the novella so relevant to so many people: its multifaceted quality. So here are some (and they are only some) of the many interpretations of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde which have been put forward in the last 120 years or so.

A psychoanalytic or proto-psychoanalytic analysis

In this interpretation, Jekyll is the ego and Hyde the id (in Freud’s later terminology). The ego is the self in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, while the id is the set of primal drives found in our unconscious: the urge to kill, or do inappropriate sexual things, for instance.

Several of Robert Louis Stevenson’s essays, such as ‘A Chapter on Dreams’ (1888), prefigure some of Freud’s later ideas; and there was increasing interest in the workings of the human mind towards the end of the nineteenth century (two leading journals in the field, Brain and Mind , had both been founded in the 1870s).

The psychoanalytic interpretation is a popular one with many readers of Jekyll and Hyde , and since the novella is clearly about repression of some sort, one can make a psychoanalytic interpretation – an analysis grounded in psychoanalysis, if you like – quite convincingly.

It might be significant, reading the story from a post-Freudian perspective, that Hyde is described as childlike at several points: does he embody Jekyll’s – and, indeed, man’s – deep desire to return to a time before responsibility and full maturity, when one was freer to act on impulse? Early infancy is the formative period for much Freudian psychoanalysis.

Recall the empty middle-class scenes at the beginning of the book: Utterson and Enfield on their joyless Sunday walks, for instance. Hyde attacks father-figures (Sir Danvers Carew, the MP whom he murders, is a white-haired old gentleman), which would fall in line with Freud’s concept of the Oedipus complex and Jekyll’s desire to return to a time before adult life with its responsibilities and disappointments.

However, one fly in the Oedipal ointment is that Hyde also attacks a young girl – almost the complete opposite of the ‘old man’ or father figure embodied by Danvers Carew.

Nevertheless, psychoanalytic readings of the novella have been popular for some time, and it’s worth remembering that the idea for the book came to Stevenson in a dream. Observe, also, the presence of dreams and dreamlike scenes in the novel itself, such as when Jekyll remarks that he ‘received Lanyon’s condemnation partly in a dream; it was partly in a dream that I came home to my own house and got into bed’.

An anti-alcohol morality tale?

Alternatively, a different interpretation: we might analyse these dreamlike aspects of the novel in another way and see the novel as being about alcoholism and temperance , subjects which were being fiercely debated at the time Stevenson was writing.

Here, then, the ‘transforming draught’ which Jekyll concocts represents alcohol, and Jekyll, upon imbibing the draught, becomes a violent, unpredictable person unknown even to himself. (This reading has been most thoroughly explored in Thomas L. Reed’s 2006 study The Transforming Draught .)

Note how often wine crops up in this short book: it turns up first of all in the second sentence of the novella, when Utterson is found sipping it, and Hyde, we learn, has a closet ‘filled with wine’. Might the continual presence of wine be a clue that we are all Hydes waiting to happen? Note how the opening paragraph informs us that Utterson drinks gin when he is alone.

This thesis – that the novella is about alcohol and temperance – is intriguing, but has been contested by critics such as Julia Reid for being too speculative and reductionist: see her review of The Transforming Draught in The Review of English Studies , 2007.

The ‘drugs’ interpretation

Similarly, the idea that the ‘draught’ is a metaphor for some other drug, whether opium or cocaine . Scholars are unsure as to whether Stevenson was on drugs when he wrote the book: some accounts say Stevenson used cocaine to finish the manuscript; others say he took ergot, which is the substance from which LSD was later synthesised. Some say he was too sick to be taking anything.

You could purchase cocaine and opium from your local chemist in 1880s London (indeed, another invention of 1886, Coca-Cola, originally contained cocaine, as the drink’s name still testifies: don’t worry, it doesn’t any more).

This is essentially a development of the previous interpretation concerning alcohol, and arguably has similar limitations in being too restrictive an interpretation. However, note the way that Jekyll, in his ‘full statement’ becomes reliant on the ‘draught’ or ‘salt’ towards the end.

A religious analysis

As such, the story has immediate links with the story Stevenson would write sixty years later. Stevenson was an atheist who managed to escape the constrictive religion of his parents, but he remained haunted by Calvinistic doctrines for the rest of his life, and much of his work can be seen as an attempt to grapple with these issues which had affected and afflicted him so much as a child.

The sexuality interpretation

Some critics have interpreted Jekyll and Hyde in light of late nineteenth-century attitudes to sexuality : note the almost total absence of women from the story, barring the odd maid and ‘old hag’, and that hapless girl trampled underfoot by Hyde.

Some critics have suggested that the idea of blackmail for homosexual acts lurks behind the story, and the novella itself mentions this when Enfield tells Utterson that he refers to the house of Mr Hyde as ‘Black Mail House’ as a consequence of the girl-trampling scene in the street.

As such, the novella becomes an allegory for the double life lived by many homosexual Victorian men, who had to hide (or Hyde ) their illicit liaisons from their friends and families. The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote to his friend Robert Bridges that the girl-trampling incident early on in the narrative was ‘perhaps a convention: he was thinking of something unsuitable for fiction’.

Some have interpreted this statement – by Hopkins, himself a repressed homosexual – as a reference to homosexual activity in late Victorian London.

Consider in this connection the fact that Hyde enters Jekyll’s house through the ‘back way’ – even, at one point ‘the back passage’. 1885, the year Stevenson wrote the book, was the year of the Criminal Law Amendment Act (commonly known as the Labouchere Amendment ), which criminalised acts of ‘gross indecency’ between men (this was the act which, ten years later, would put Oscar Wilde in gaol).

However, we should be wary of reading the text as about ‘homosexual panic’, since, as Harry Cocks points out, homosexuality was frequently ‘named openly, publicly and repeatedly’ in nineteenth-century criminal courts. But then could fiction for a mass audience as readily name such things?

A Darwinian analysis

Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species , which laid out the theory of evolution by natural selection, had been published in 1859, when Stevenson was still a child. In this reading, Hyde represents the primal, animal origin of modern, civilised man.

Consider here the repeated uses of the word ‘apelike’ in relation to Hyde, suggesting he is an atavistic throwback to an earlier, more primitive species of man than Homo sapiens . This reading incorporates theories of something called ‘devolution’, an idea (now discredited) which suggested that life forms could actually evolve backwards into more primitive forms.

This is also linked with late Victorian fears concerning degeneration and decadence among the human race. Is Jekyll’s statement that he ‘bore the stamp, of lower elements in my soul’ an allusion to Charles Darwin’s famous phrase from the end of The Descent of Man (1871), ‘man […] bears […] the indelible stamp of his lowly origin’?

In his story ‘Olalla’, another tale of the double which Stevenson published in 1885, he writes: ‘Man has risen; if he has sprung from the brutes he can descend to the same level again’.

This Darwinian analysis of Jekyll and Hyde could incorporate elements of the sexual which the previous interpretation also touches upon, but would view the novel as a portrayal of man’s – and we mean specifically man ’s here – repression of the darker, violent, primitive side of his nature associated with rape, pillage, conquest, and murder.

This looks back to a psychoanalytic reading, with the ‘id’ being the home of primal sexual desire and lust. The girl-tramping scene may take on another significance here: it’s a ‘girl’ rather than a boy because it symbolises Hyde’s animalistic desire to conquer and brutalise someone of the opposite, not the same, sex.

There have been many critical readings of the novella in relation to sex and sexuality, but it’s important to point out that Stevenson denied that the novella was about sexuality (see below).

A study in hypocrisy?

Or perhaps not: perhaps there is something in the idea that hypocrisy is the novella’s theme , as Stevenson himself suggested in a letter of November 1887 to John Paul Bocock, editor of the New York Sun : ‘The harm was in Jekyll,’ Stevenson wrote, ‘because he was a hypocrite – not because he was fond of women; he says so himself; but people are so filled full of folly and inverted lust, that they can think of nothing but sexuality. The Hypocrite let out the beast’.

This analysis of Jekyll and Hyde sees the two sides to Jekyll’s personality as a portrayal of the dualistic nature of Victorian society, where you must be respectable and civilised on the outside, while all the time harbouring an inward lust, violence, and desire which you have to bring under control.

This was a popular theme for many late nineteenth-century writers – witness not only Oscar Wilde’s 1891 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray but also the double lives of Jack and Algernon in Wilde’s comedy of manners, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). This is a more open-ended interpretation, and the novella does appear to be about repression of some sort.

In this respect, this interpretation is similar to the psychoanalytic reading proposed above, but it also tallies with Stevenson’s own assertion that the story is about hypocrisy. Everyone in this book is masking their private thoughts or desires from others.

Note how even the police officer, Inspector Newcomen, when he learns of the murder of the MP, goes from being horrified one moment to excited the next, as ‘the next moment his eye lighted up with professional ambition’. He can barely contain his glee. The maid who answers the door at Hyde’s rooms has ‘an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy; but her manners were excellent’.

From these clues, we can also posit a reading of the novel which sees it as about the class structure of late nineteenth-century Britain, where Jekyll represents the comfortable middle class and Hyde is the repressed – or, indeed, oppressed – working-class figure.

Note here, however, how Hyde is repeatedly described as a ‘gentleman’ by those who see him, and that he attacks Danvers Carew with a ‘cane’, rather than, say, a club (though it is reported, tellingly, that he ‘clubbed’ Carew to death with it).

A scientific interpretation

The reference to the evil maid with excellent manners places Jekyll’s own duality at the extreme end of a continuum, where everyone is putting on a respectable and acceptable mask which hides or conceals the evil truth lurking behind it. So we might see Jekyll’s scientific experiment as merely a physical embodiment of what everyone does.

This leads some critics to ask, then, whether the novella about the misuse of science . Or is the ‘tincture’ merely a scientific, chemical composition because a magical draught or elixir would be unbelievable to an 1880s reader? Arthur Machen, an author who was much influenced by Stevenson and especially by Jekyll and Hyde , made this point in a letter of 1894, when he grumbled:

In these days the supernatural per se is entirely incredible; to believe, we must link our wonders to some scientific or pseudo-scientific fact, or basis, or method. Thus we do not believe in ‘ghosts’ but in telepathy, not in ‘witch-craft’ but in hypnotism. If Mr Stevenson had written his great masterpiece about 1590-1650, Dr Jekyll would have made a compact with the devil. In 1886 Dr Jekyll sends to the Bond Street chemists for some rare drugs.

This is worth pondering: the use of the ‘draught’ lends the story an air of scientific authenticity, which makes the story a form of science fiction rather than fantasy: the tincture which Jekyll drinks is not magical, merely a chemical potion of some vaguely defined sort. But to say that the story is actually about the dangers of misusing science could be a leap too far.

We run the risk of confusing the numerous film adaptations of the book with the book itself: we immediately picture wild-haired soot-faced scientists causing explosions and mixing up potions in a dark laboratory, but in fact this is not really what the story is about , merely the means through which the real meat of the story – the transformation of Jekyll into Hyde – is effected.

It’s only once this split has been achieved that the real story, about the dark side of man’s nature which he represses, comes to light. (Compare Frankenstein here .)

All of these interpretations of Jekyll and Hyde can be – and have been – proposed, but it’s worth bearing in mind that the popularity of Stevenson’s tale may lie in the very polyvalent and ambiguous nature of the text, the fact that it exists as a symbol without a key, a riddle without a definitive answer.

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Violence & Horror

Hyde and violence.

Hyde gains pleasure from violence.

• In Chapter 1, Enfield reports seeing Hyde trample on a young and innocent girl. Hyde “trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming” .
• The juxtaposition of "trampled calmly" indicates how Hyde feels no remorse for his crimes, and how the act of violence is a habitual event that he fulfils without much contemplation.

Violence against the innocent

• Hyde commits two crimes of violence against innocent and helpless citizens: first, a little girl, and second, an elderly man.
• The violence in the novel centres on Mr Hyde, and raises the question of whether or not violence is an inherent part of man’s nature.
• It is shocking how much pleasure Hyde gets from the murder of Carew - he feels “glee” and tasted "delight from every blow" as he attacked him.

Stevenson explores the relationships between science and violence, dual personality and violence, and Victorian fears and violence.

Science and dual personality

• The theme of violence ties into the theme of science and dual personality: Hyde is the only violent character, acting with “ape-like fury” and feeling “glee” at his brutality.
• In Gothic novels like this one, the idea of ‘doubles’ or ‘two’ characters existing within one entity was common.
• The authors let their character personify the unchecked and darker side of the human consciousness and allow them to commit violent and evil acts.

Victorian fears

• Acts of violence in the novella are against innocent people and provoke horror in the characters around them.
• This would have linked to the context of Victorian crimes in London, and the fear that some invisible force was driving evil into its citizens.
• Hyde is described as “Satan’s signature upon a face” - this shows how he is an embodiment of evil and how he epitomises everything that citizens feared at the time.

1 Plot Summary

1.1 Chapters 1-10

1.1.1 Chapters 1 & 2

1.1.2 Chapters 3 & 4

1.1.3 Chapters 5 & 6

1.1.4 Chapters 7 & 8

1.1.5 Chapters 9 & 10

1.1.6 End of Topic Test - Chapters 1-6

1.1.7 End of Topic Test - Chapters 7-10

2 Characters

2.1 Jekyll & Hyde

2.1.1 Dr Henry Jekyll

2.1.2 Jekyll - Name & Quotes

2.1.3 Mr Edward Hyde

2.1.4 Jekyll/Hyde Quotes - Chapters 1-9

2.1.5 Jekyll/Hyde Quotes - Chapter 10

2.1.6 End of Topic Test - Jekyll & Hyde

2.1.7 Exam-Style Questions - Mr Hyde

2.2 Other Characters

2.2.1 Mr Gabriel John Utterson

2.2.2 Dr Hastie Lanyon

2.2.3 Minor Characters

2.2.4 End of Topic Test - Other Characters

3 Gothic Genre

3.1 Gothic Elements

3.1.1 Gothic Conventions

3.1.2 Gothic Settings & Symbolism

3.1.3 End of Topic Test - Gothic Conventions

4 Key Themes

4.1 Key Themes & Quotes

4.1.1 Science

4.1.2 Dual Nature of Man

4.1.3 Religion & Sin

4.1.4 Violence & Horror

4.1.5 Victorian Gentlemen

4.1.6 End of Topic Test - Key Themes & Quotes

5 Context & Author

5.1 Context & Author

5.1.1 The Victorian Era

5.1.2 Deacon Brodie & Freud

5.1.3 End of Topic Test - Context & Author

6 Literary Techniques

6.1 Literary Techniques

6.1.1 Language

6.1.2 Structure & Form

6.1.3 End of Topic Test - Literary Techniques

7 Grade 9 - Key Character & Theme Questions

7.1 Key Character & Themes - Linked Questions

7.1.1 Grade 9 - Key Characters & Themes

7.1.2 Extract Analysis - Jekyll

7.1.3 Extract Analysis - Duality

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Home › British Literature › Analysis of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Analysis of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on October 7, 2022

Longman, Green, and Company published Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886 as a “shilling shocker.” Stevenson reputedly developed the storyline from a dream he had about a man forced into a cabinet after ingesting a potion that would convert him into a brutal monster. The composition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde began in September 1885, and the final draft was submitted for publication later that same year. Unlike most 19th century literary works, Stevenson’s manuscript was released in book form instead of being serialized in a popular magazine. The publishers withheld its release until January 1886 because booksellers had already placed their Christmas stock. Within six months, Stevenson’s novella sold more than 40,000 copies in England and America.

Dr. Jekyll (right) and Mr. Hyde, both as portrayed by Fredric March in Rouben Mamoulian’s film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931).

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde debates the conflict between good and evil and the correlation among bourgeois values, urban violence, and class structure. Dr. Jekyll is a seemingly placid character whose often-debated scientific research has nonetheless gained him respect amid his peers. The potion that Jekyll develops causes an unexplainable transformation into the violent Mr. Hyde. The Mr. Hyde alter-ego may represent an uncontrollable subconscious desire driven by anger and frustration toward an oppressive English class structure. Hyde’s numerous rampages include trampling a young girl and murdering the prominent English politician Sir Danvers. Although Jekyll prefers living the life of “the elderly and discontent doctor” (84), he cannot control his urge for “the liberty, the comparative youth, the light steps, leaping impulses, and secret pleasures” that the Hyde persona offers him. Dr. Jekyll’s desired liberty is perhaps caused by the restricted lifestyle that bourgeois cultural codes imposed on English society. Several Victorian social critics maintained that inner-city London dwellers were a debased life form living in junglelike conditions analogous to those in Africa. In 1890, William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, claimed that England needed rescuing from its continually degenerating condition since its citizens were gradually turning into “[a] population trodden with drink, steeped in vice, [and] eaten up by every social and physical malady” (quoted in Stevenson, 183). Stevenson’s text describes how hidden desires have always existed in a seemingly perverted civilization.

Literary critics have stressed that Stevenson’s success in the “shilling shocker” market both helped and hindered his career. The rapid success of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde led Henry James to remark that Stevenson’s novella was at first too popular a work to be comfortably called a masterpiece. Henry James was not questioning Stevenson’s talent as a writer but rather was noting that the book’s quick popularity defined it as a story that was easily accessible to the mass public.

Playwright Richard Mansfield produced a stage version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1888. Shortly after Mansfield’s play opened, several East End London prostitutes were murdered by a serial killer nicknamed Jack the Ripper. English newspapers initially termed the slayer the “Whitechapel murderer” and “Leather Apron” before settling on “Jack the Ripper.” Reporters based their stories on the possible correlation between the killings and Mansfield’s theatrical representation of violence. Mansfield’s play was eventually closed because such parallels made it seem as though Jack the Ripper was mimicking the violence depicted in Mansfield’s play, marking the first time that the concept of Mr. Hyde was used in reference to sequential crime sprees. Reports from the Daily Telegraph further damaged the profits for Mansfield’s play by stating that “there is no taste for horror” (17) on the London stage. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde remains a significant canonical text that uses its patchwork narrative to explore the conflation of reality and fictional representation that most postmodern writers still examine.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Caler, Jenni. The Robert Louis Stevenson Companion. Edinburgh: P. Harris, 1980. James, Henry. “Robert Louis Stevenson.” Reprinted in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, edited by Martin A. Danahay, 140–141. Orchard Park, N.Y.: Broadview Literary Texts, 1999. Rose, Brian A. Jekyll and Hyde Adapted: Dramatizations of Cultural Anxiety. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996. Saposnik, Irving S. “The Anatomy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” In The Definitive Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Companion, edited by Harry M. Geduld, 108–117. New York: Garland Publishing, 1983. Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Edited by Martin A. Danahay, 29–91. Orchard Park, N.Y.: Broadview Literary Texts, 1999.

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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Robert louis stevenson, everything you need for every book you read..

Much of the suspense associated with the mysteries of the novel are suspenseful solely because they are deliberately kept secret or repressed by the characters. The novel's secrets come out in spits and spurts. Enfield shares his story with Utterson , but he is only persuaded to share Hyde ’s name at the end. Utterson, upon hearing Hyde's name, does not reveal that he has heard it before, in Jekyll's will. From that point on, most of the story’s revelations are made not through conversation between characters but rather through a sequence of letters and documents , addressed, sealed and enclosed in safes, so that they need to be put together like a puzzle at the end. The dependence on these sheets of paper for the unraveling of the mystery creates a sense of silence and isolation about each character, and leaves the reader not really sure how much we have been allowed in to the intimacies of their minds. Each man seems to be isolated from every other, and there is a sense that this masculine world has been hushed by the need to maintain social reputation. The men avoid gossip, seem almost to avoid speaking completely about anything of substance, and while many of the men describe themselves as friends, their relationships are most defined by the things they keep secret from each other. There are many occasions in which one man will start to talk and then silence himself and keep the remainder, often the most important or personal detail, to himself. The weight of unsaid information is heavy.

Jekyll's actions suggest the possible outcome of such self-repression. He ultimately feels compelled to find a secret outlet for the urges he cannot share—Mr. Hyde. Through Mr. Hyde, Jekyll believes he can maintain his reputation while enjoying his darker urges, but Hyde's takeover of Jekyll suggests that repression only strengthens that which is repressed, puts it under higher pressure so that it explodes.

Reputation, Secrecy and Repression ThemeTracker

Reputation, Secrecy and Repression Quotes in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

"I feel very strongly about putting questions; it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgment. You start a question, and it's like starting a stone. You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting others…”

"Poor Harry Jekyll," he thought, "my mind misgives me he is in deep waters! He was wild when he was young; a long while ago to be sure; but in the law of God, there is no statute of limitations. Ay, it must be that; the ghost of some old sin, the cancer of some concealed disgrace…”

The large handsome face of Dr. Jekyll grew pale to the very lips, and there came a blackness about his eyes. "I do not care to hear more," said he. "This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop."

"I cannot say that I care what becomes of Hyde; I am quite done with him. I was thinking of my own character, which this hateful business has rather exposed."

The death of Sir Danvers was, to his way of thinking, more than paid for by the disappearance of Mr. Hyde. Now that that evil influence had been withdrawn, a new life began for Dr. Jekyll. He came out of his seclusion, renewed relations with his friends, became once more their familiar guest and entertainer…

"I have had a shock," he said, "and I shall never recover. It is a question of weeks. Well, life has been pleasant; I liked it; yes, sir, I used to like it. I sometimes think if we knew all, we should be more glad to get away."

The middle one of the three windows was half-way open; and sitting close beside it, taking the air with an infinite sadness of mien, like some disconsolate prisoner, Utterson saw Dr. Jekyll.

"O, sir," cried Poole, "do you think I do not know my master after twenty years? Do you think I do not know where his head comes to in the cabinet door, where I saw him every morning of my life? No, sir, that thing in the mask was never Dr. Jekyll--God knows what it was, but it was never Dr. Jekyll; and it is the belief of my heart that there was murder done."

“Think of me at this hour, in a strange place, labouring under a blackness of distress that no fancy can exaggerate, and yet well aware that, if you will but punctually serve me, my troubles will roll away like a story that is told. Serve me, my dear Lanyon and save

Your friend, H.J.”

"Lanyon, you remember your vows: what follows is under the seal of our profession. And now, you who have so long been bound to the most narrow and material views, you who have denied the virtue of transcendental medicine, you who have derided your superiors--behold!"

What he told me in the next hour, I cannot bring my mind to set on paper. I saw what I saw, I heard what I heard, and my soul sickened at it; and yet now when that sight has faded from my eyes, I ask myself if I believe it, and I cannot answer.

I am careless; this is my true hour of death, and what is to follow concerns another than myself. Here then, as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end.

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Violence Quotes

How we cite our quotes: citations follow this format: (chapter.paragraph).

"Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground." (1.8)

Mr. Hyde commits violence against innocent children without batting an eye.

The other snarled aloud into a savage laugh; and the next moment, with extraordinary quickness, he had unlocked the door and disappeared into the house. (2.36)

Mr. Hyde’s default personality is one of violent savagery.

"I have been wanting to speak to you, Jekyll," began the latter. "You know that will of yours?" A close observer might have gathered that the topic was distasteful; but the doctor carried it off gaily. (3.2)

Dr. Jekyll does not handle unpleasant conversations by resorting to violence, as some people do (i.e., Hyde).

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Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Essay Plans GCSE English Literature (Characters and Themes)

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

17 September 2023

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7 ESSAY PLANS IN THIS BUNDLE These essay plans summarise the key aspects of the many themes and characters that appear in Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. The specific essay plan themes/characters included in this bundle are: Mr Hyde, Mr Utterson, Duality, Violence, Secrets & the Unknown, Reputation, Evil.

There are also several practice essay questions, as well as an essay tip published at the end of the bundle.

These essay plans feature topic sentences, quotes, techniques, analysis and context .These essay plans are very detailed and can be used in isolation to revise for different possible essay questions. It is designed to be a practical revision resource for the exam. I am a former student on the AQA specification and achieved an 9 in English Literature as a result of creating this resource.

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A bundle is a package of resources grouped together to teach a particular topic, or a series of lessons, in one place.

DR JEKYLL & MR HYDE REVISION PACK- Essay Plans, A Quote Bank , Character Profiles, Theme Summaries,Context,Exemplar Essay and Plot Summary

**OVER 40 PAGES WORTH OF WORK! 7 ESSAY PLANS, 4 THEME ANALYSIS MAPS, 4 CHARACTER PROFILES, 5 PAGE QUOTE BANK, 2 PAGE ESSAY EXEMPLAR, 2 PAGE CONTEXT GUIDE AND BOOK SUMMARY.** This pack has all the materials that I used to get a Grade 9 in GCSE English Literature. This pack has 7 essay plans (analysis, quotes, literary and historical context, topic sentences, technique identification) on the main themes and characters in Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (with practice questions included). The specific essay plan themes/characters included in this bundle are: Mr Hyde, Mr Utterson, Duality, Violence, Secrets & the Unknown, Reputation, Evil There are character profiles (Dr Jekyll, Mr Hyde, Utterson, Dr Lanyon), detailing each character's role in the book, key quotes, development in the book and context relating to them. I have included a context guide which details the social and literary context of the book. The plot summary is a quick description of everything that happens in the book, perfect for revision. The theme analysis maps offer a detailed analysis on the 4 main themes of the book (science, the supernatural, reputation and duality). The quote bank includes the most important quotes for each character and the main themes of the book. Each quote has a technique and specific analysis paired with it. I have also included a grade 9 exemplar essay.

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Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Royal Central School of Speech & Drama - MA Performance Practice & Research

Experienced English Tutor and Professional Playwright and Poet.

Notes || Exam Prep || Character Profiles || Themes || Additional Reading & Videos

This topic is included in  Paper 1 . You can find notes and guides for it below.

• Overview and Key Scenes
• Glossary of Key Terms
• Key Terms Flashcards
• Guide to Paper 1
• How to plan and write a top mark essay
• Question Bank - Characters
• Question Bank - Context
• Question Bank - Emotion and Tone
• Question Bank - Setting
• Question Bank - Themes

Additional Reading & Videos

• The strange double life of Robert Louis Stevenson
• Law, Science, Facts and Morals in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The Beast Within
• A Study in Dualism: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• Duality in Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The effect of Charles Darwin on Victorian literature
• Sigmund Freud and the Psyche

Character Profiles

• Mr Utterson
• Appearance vs Reality
• Secrecy & Reputation
• The Gothic & Supernatural

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Post-Tribune | Of Notoriety: IUN spring theater opens season…

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Post-tribune | of notoriety: iun spring theater opens season with ‘dr. jekyll and mr. hyde’.

Once upon a time, just around a decade ago to be exact, I attended the Chicago pre-Broadway run of a new and reimaged musical stage spin titled “Jekyll & Hyde.”

That run from yesteryear was March 12 to 24 in 2013 presented by Broadway in Chicago at Cadillac Palace Theatre as a musical telling starring “American Idol” star and Tony Award nominee Constantine Maroulis in the title role and singer Deborah Cox as his London forbidden love.

It was dark humor mixed with rock musical moments with forced romance, all intended to be veiled in suspense and thrill. As I explained in my column, it’s not easy to accomplish all as stated and manage it in just two hours. Fast-forward to April 2013 when “Jekyll & Hyde” opened on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre and closed May 12 after just 29 regular performances and 15 previews.

An earlier incarnation of this production had run for four years on Broadway from 1997 to 2001 and headed overseas for more dates all from the efforts of creators Tony and Grammy Award nominee Frank Wildhorn and Oscar and Grammy winner Leslie Bricusse.

Closer to home and ready to face new audiences a decade later in April 2024, the Indiana University Northwest School of the Arts has its non-musical production of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” the play version as adapted by Jeffery Hatcher from the novella “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson.

In Hatcher’s version of the story, he pits the alter-egos Jekyll and Hyde against one another.

“I’m trying to have some fun with the notion that Jekyll and Hyde play a cat-and-mouse game with each other and with the question of just who we should be rooting for,” New York Playwright Hatcher has explained in interviews.

Associate Professor of Theatre Mark Baer brought this production to the Theatre Northwest stage after directing the same script at Commonweal Theatre Company in Minnesota last summer. I’m told directing the same script twice in one year is a first for Baer.

“This production benefits from the deep knowledge of the play I gained from the previous production,” Baer said.

“But it’s remarkable how different two productions of the same script can be with a new cast, design team and performance space. This will be a whole new show.”

For this production, Theater Northwest has partnered with Associate Professor of Theatre Jason Resler of IU South Bend, who serves as costume designer.

“This is a great collaboration between the two regional campuses,” Baer said.

“It is our hope that IU Northwest School of the Arts can forge an even deeper partnership with IU South Bend for future projects, as we have successfully done with other theaters, like Gary’s West Side Theatre Guild.”

The cast of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” includes a mix of students and community members. The evil Mr. Hyde is portrayed by various cast members assigned to dual roles. IU Northwest students include theater majors Gabriel Ashbach (Sir Danvers Carew/Inspector/Drunkard/Porter/Hyde) and Alexander Eddy (Poole/Sanderson/Old Woman/Hyde), as well as fine arts student Dashiana Bingham (Richard Enfield/Student 1/Maid/Hyde). Community members include: Grant Fitch (Dr. Henry Jekyll); Emily Dixon (Elizabeth Jelkes/Child/Student 2); Brandon Hearn (Gabriel Utterson/Hyde); and Rodney Thornton (H.K. Lanyon/Police Doctor/Hyde).

The performance run of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is at the Arts & Sciences Mainstage Theatre on the IU Northwest campus at 7 p.m. April 4 and 5, 3 p.m. April 6, 7 p.m. April 12 and 3 p.m. April 13. Admission is $5 for the general public and students are free. Note, I’m told “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” has “themes of violence and sexuality that are suited for mature audiences. Parental discretion is advised.”

For tickets, visit https://northwest.iu.edu/theatre/forms/ticket-reservations.html.

Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at [email protected].

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