Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Duality in Human Nature Essay

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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Stephanie Buah 2013 Written in the 1880’s, Robert Stevenson’s novel, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is about the duality of human nature. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde immediately indicates the distinction between the two main characters and make the reader suspicious in the sense that they are eager to find out what makes “The strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” so “strange”. The novel talks about how evil of mankind can take over good if we give it an opportunity. What Stevenson suggests through this expression is that, every man is two different people, one good and one evil. If the evil side is blocked for a long period of time, it is uncontrollable once it breaks loose. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Hyde gradually takes over Dr. Jekyll. Jekyll gives Hyde the opportunity to take control over him because he was too good and too weak to stop his evil side. This is Stevenson’s way of commenting about the upper and lower class lives in the Victorian society. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are not the only examples of duality in the novel. The city of London is also portrayed in contrasting terms. Sometimes, it is a foggy, and gothic place, and sometimes it a well-kept society. Just as men have both positive and negative personalities, so does the society. Dr. Henry Jekyll was a highly respected man in the Victorian society. Everyone in the novel liked Henry Jekyll. He was a scientist and he wanted to find and make new stuff. In “Jekyll’s Full Statement of The Case”, Jekyll said that, “man is not truly one, but truly two” which means that, Jekyll believed that man was made up of two personalities, both good and evil. Jekyll also believed that every soul contains two elements of both good and evil, but one is always leading. Jekyll wanted to be both good and evil, so he wanted to free his evil side. Jekyll believed he was only made
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