How evil is portrayed in: The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Mist and Moonlight
The streets of London are obscured by the weather, just as the mysteries of Mr
Hyde’s crimes and existence, and his relationship with Jekyll, are themselves
obscured. The mist makes the layout of the streets hard to follow, and makes the
Gothic façade in question in chapter one jut ominously from the others. Effects of
light are used to forewarn and indicate the coming on of Jekyll’s transformations and
Hyde’s violence, and the moon sheds an eerie light over the most suspenseful
moments.
When Mr. Hyde is first described, he is associated with a strange, unnerving
sensation, a sensation of evil. Mr. Enfield describes it as a “deformity”, but it is not
a physical condition – it is something more ethereal and unexplained. This, from the
outset, is what marks Hyde as a different kind of being from the other characters,
whose professionalism and reserve keep them on the right side of the law. Not only is
Hyde again and again associated with this intangible deformity, but it seems also to
affect those around him, who feel a kind of instinctive and powerful hatred for Hyde
that is beyond their normal limits. For instance, Hyde's housekeeper, an old woman,
wears an expression of “odious joy” when she thinks Hyde might be in trouble.
Hyde's evil seems to bring out the dark side of others, suggesting the reality of the
duality that Jekyll has been trying to prove, that there is evil and good, odious and
joyous, in everything.
Letters and Documents
There are many complicated, convoluted interactions between the characters in Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Confessions, transferrals of responsibility, and even the narrative
itself are all forms of documentation that create the suspense and mystery of the
book. The characters are often sworn to secrecy or are repressing their own disgust
or disbelief and therefore tend to put their feelings in writing rather than speaking or
revealing details to each other. This creates a web of secret documents that weaves
its way between scenes and between characters. The story begins with the lawyer
Utterson’s fear of the new will of Dr. Jekyll – this document holds power over him
and over Jekyll – and the final three documents that Utterson finds left to him from
Dr. Jekyll make clear everything that the will obscured. In this way, Stevenson frames
the whole novel with items of documentation, and plays with the line between myth
and truth.
Science, Reason and the Supernatural
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde creates 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. Jekyll confesses at the end of the novel that he has been fascinated by the
duality of man and has taken to both chemical and mystical methods to try and get
to the truth. This inclusion of a spiritual side to Jekyll’s philosophy shows his to be a
mind unlike those of the lawyers and doctors of his society, who restrict themselves
to traditional reason.
The result of Jekyll's explorations—Mr. Hyde—is something beyond reason, which
shocks and overwhelms the sensitive intellectual dispositions of the other characters
and leaves Dr. Jekyll permanently removed from his educated, medical self.
The laboratory is the main setting of the mysterious events in the story, but far from
being a place of science and medicine, the lab is deserted and strange, more Gothic
than a place of science. In this setting the novel seems to hint at the insufficiency or
, even obsolescence of science. Jekyll, once a man of science, is leaving all that
behind, leaving it unused, as he seeks new, unknown knowledge and truth. Jekyll's
goals frighten and disgust the men of science, such as Lanyon, with whom he used
to friends. Lanyon, in fact, is so shocked, overwhelmed, and unable to process what
Jekyll has done that he dies soon after learning of it. He can’t bear the destruction of
his stable, rational worldview. Utterson, meanwhile, is also unable to comprehend
what is going on between Jekyll and Hyde—he thinks the relationship something
criminal but comprehensible, such as blackmail—until the truth is revealed to him.
Hyde is described, quite literally, as being beyond rational description—his most
noticeable trait is an unexplainable air of evil or deformity, which can neither be
described concretely nor ascribed to any medical cause. This idea of deformity, both
of the body and of the mind, fuels the power of the supernatural over the natural.
And behind all the action of Jekyll and Hyde in the novel, a fear lurks for all the
characters- the threat of madness and the threat of a new world, of new science,
new traditions, new disorders and that traditional science and reason can’t
comprehend or deal with.
How Stevenson creates an atmosphere of suspicion and fear in the
novel
Stevenson creates an atmosphere of suspicion and fear in the novel, beginning with a baleful figure of unknown
origin, a mysterious act of violence, and hints of blackmail and secret scandal which lead to an impossible truth.
In the opening chapter, Stevenson highlights Einfield's inability to account the events that they have witnessed
of Mr Hyde trampling on a young girl. He deliberately never gives a physical description of Mr Hyde which
adds an air of mystery to his character. He described him having “something wrong with his appearance,
something displeasing, something downright detestable”. The rule of three intensifies just how disturbingly ugly
Mr Hyde is. Furthermore the alliteration of the hard “D” sound creates a harsh tone mimicking Mr Hyde's
aggressive demeanour. Mr Enfield further makes Mr Hyde sound inhuman. He called him a “figure” making
him seem like a ghost like implying that Mr Hyde had a supernatural quality. Enflield can not give specific
descriptions on the physicality of Mr Hyde. It is as if Hyde’s ugliness is not physically but metaphysical and it is
his soul that is unattractive rather than his face. Language fails around Hyde implying he is a creature so chilling
and does not belong to the natural word. This creates a sense of fear of Mr Hyde and just how powerful he is.
Stevenson wavers the reader from the truth by providing false assumptions of the events. This is shown by the
narrative of the character Utterson who is a friend of Dr Jekyll. He takes an interest in affairs that society would
ignore. Being a lawyer implies he is a steadfast rationalist and a fundamentally unimaginative man. He is a
devout Christian and reads some “volume of dry divinity” keeping up with the Victorian society. He will
therefore not be able to find out the truth of Jekyll and Hyde as he is religious and therefore never will formulate
the idea of sin within his friend and will only believe in the coherent world of logic and refuse to indulge into
superstition. One of the fundamental themes of the novel is the clash between Victorian doctrine and the
supernatural, and Utterson emerges as the embodiment of this rationality, always searching out the logical
explanation for events and purposely ignoring spiritual flights of fancy. Because he is a lawyer, he believes
Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll when “Henry Jekyll” “forged for a murderer”. By allowing Utterson and his
Victorian perspective to dominate the novel’s point of view, Stevenson leads the reader astray from the truth
creating tension and suspense.
Stevenson creates a sense of unease in the novel with the characters. Richard Einfield is“a well known man
about the town” suggesting he is respectable in society. However Stevenson then arouses the sense of suspicion
when he describes that Enfield was coming home from “some place at the end of the world” on a “black winter
morning”. The connotations of night are darkness and evil implying that it is unsafe. Furthermore the
juxtaposition of “black winter morning” contrasts good and evil.This language suggests that Enfield has a dark
hidden self which creates a sense of fear. The reader is questioned why a respectable man is out late at night.
Mist and Moonlight
The streets of London are obscured by the weather, just as the mysteries of Mr
Hyde’s crimes and existence, and his relationship with Jekyll, are themselves
obscured. The mist makes the layout of the streets hard to follow, and makes the
Gothic façade in question in chapter one jut ominously from the others. Effects of
light are used to forewarn and indicate the coming on of Jekyll’s transformations and
Hyde’s violence, and the moon sheds an eerie light over the most suspenseful
moments.
When Mr. Hyde is first described, he is associated with a strange, unnerving
sensation, a sensation of evil. Mr. Enfield describes it as a “deformity”, but it is not
a physical condition – it is something more ethereal and unexplained. This, from the
outset, is what marks Hyde as a different kind of being from the other characters,
whose professionalism and reserve keep them on the right side of the law. Not only is
Hyde again and again associated with this intangible deformity, but it seems also to
affect those around him, who feel a kind of instinctive and powerful hatred for Hyde
that is beyond their normal limits. For instance, Hyde's housekeeper, an old woman,
wears an expression of “odious joy” when she thinks Hyde might be in trouble.
Hyde's evil seems to bring out the dark side of others, suggesting the reality of the
duality that Jekyll has been trying to prove, that there is evil and good, odious and
joyous, in everything.
Letters and Documents
There are many complicated, convoluted interactions between the characters in Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Confessions, transferrals of responsibility, and even the narrative
itself are all forms of documentation that create the suspense and mystery of the
book. The characters are often sworn to secrecy or are repressing their own disgust
or disbelief and therefore tend to put their feelings in writing rather than speaking or
revealing details to each other. This creates a web of secret documents that weaves
its way between scenes and between characters. The story begins with the lawyer
Utterson’s fear of the new will of Dr. Jekyll – this document holds power over him
and over Jekyll – and the final three documents that Utterson finds left to him from
Dr. Jekyll make clear everything that the will obscured. In this way, Stevenson frames
the whole novel with items of documentation, and plays with the line between myth
and truth.
Science, Reason and the Supernatural
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde creates 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. Jekyll confesses at the end of the novel that he has been fascinated by the
duality of man and has taken to both chemical and mystical methods to try and get
to the truth. This inclusion of a spiritual side to Jekyll’s philosophy shows his to be a
mind unlike those of the lawyers and doctors of his society, who restrict themselves
to traditional reason.
The result of Jekyll's explorations—Mr. Hyde—is something beyond reason, which
shocks and overwhelms the sensitive intellectual dispositions of the other characters
and leaves Dr. Jekyll permanently removed from his educated, medical self.
The laboratory is the main setting of the mysterious events in the story, but far from
being a place of science and medicine, the lab is deserted and strange, more Gothic
than a place of science. In this setting the novel seems to hint at the insufficiency or
, even obsolescence of science. Jekyll, once a man of science, is leaving all that
behind, leaving it unused, as he seeks new, unknown knowledge and truth. Jekyll's
goals frighten and disgust the men of science, such as Lanyon, with whom he used
to friends. Lanyon, in fact, is so shocked, overwhelmed, and unable to process what
Jekyll has done that he dies soon after learning of it. He can’t bear the destruction of
his stable, rational worldview. Utterson, meanwhile, is also unable to comprehend
what is going on between Jekyll and Hyde—he thinks the relationship something
criminal but comprehensible, such as blackmail—until the truth is revealed to him.
Hyde is described, quite literally, as being beyond rational description—his most
noticeable trait is an unexplainable air of evil or deformity, which can neither be
described concretely nor ascribed to any medical cause. This idea of deformity, both
of the body and of the mind, fuels the power of the supernatural over the natural.
And behind all the action of Jekyll and Hyde in the novel, a fear lurks for all the
characters- the threat of madness and the threat of a new world, of new science,
new traditions, new disorders and that traditional science and reason can’t
comprehend or deal with.
How Stevenson creates an atmosphere of suspicion and fear in the
novel
Stevenson creates an atmosphere of suspicion and fear in the novel, beginning with a baleful figure of unknown
origin, a mysterious act of violence, and hints of blackmail and secret scandal which lead to an impossible truth.
In the opening chapter, Stevenson highlights Einfield's inability to account the events that they have witnessed
of Mr Hyde trampling on a young girl. He deliberately never gives a physical description of Mr Hyde which
adds an air of mystery to his character. He described him having “something wrong with his appearance,
something displeasing, something downright detestable”. The rule of three intensifies just how disturbingly ugly
Mr Hyde is. Furthermore the alliteration of the hard “D” sound creates a harsh tone mimicking Mr Hyde's
aggressive demeanour. Mr Enfield further makes Mr Hyde sound inhuman. He called him a “figure” making
him seem like a ghost like implying that Mr Hyde had a supernatural quality. Enflield can not give specific
descriptions on the physicality of Mr Hyde. It is as if Hyde’s ugliness is not physically but metaphysical and it is
his soul that is unattractive rather than his face. Language fails around Hyde implying he is a creature so chilling
and does not belong to the natural word. This creates a sense of fear of Mr Hyde and just how powerful he is.
Stevenson wavers the reader from the truth by providing false assumptions of the events. This is shown by the
narrative of the character Utterson who is a friend of Dr Jekyll. He takes an interest in affairs that society would
ignore. Being a lawyer implies he is a steadfast rationalist and a fundamentally unimaginative man. He is a
devout Christian and reads some “volume of dry divinity” keeping up with the Victorian society. He will
therefore not be able to find out the truth of Jekyll and Hyde as he is religious and therefore never will formulate
the idea of sin within his friend and will only believe in the coherent world of logic and refuse to indulge into
superstition. One of the fundamental themes of the novel is the clash between Victorian doctrine and the
supernatural, and Utterson emerges as the embodiment of this rationality, always searching out the logical
explanation for events and purposely ignoring spiritual flights of fancy. Because he is a lawyer, he believes
Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll when “Henry Jekyll” “forged for a murderer”. By allowing Utterson and his
Victorian perspective to dominate the novel’s point of view, Stevenson leads the reader astray from the truth
creating tension and suspense.
Stevenson creates a sense of unease in the novel with the characters. Richard Einfield is“a well known man
about the town” suggesting he is respectable in society. However Stevenson then arouses the sense of suspicion
when he describes that Enfield was coming home from “some place at the end of the world” on a “black winter
morning”. The connotations of night are darkness and evil implying that it is unsafe. Furthermore the
juxtaposition of “black winter morning” contrasts good and evil.This language suggests that Enfield has a dark
hidden self which creates a sense of fear. The reader is questioned why a respectable man is out late at night.
