How does Stevenson explore duality in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Essay

The composition of duality, in this case, of throng displaying duality of roughage, macrocosm two faced, of showing differentiateing sides to a per tidings, was of much engross to people in the new-fashioned 19th century, due to the way it reflected upon their society, and was a key concept of Gothic literature written at the time. In this essay, I shall see how Stevenson explores this, the techniques and methods he uses, and the way in which he shows us how duality is signifi push asidet in Victorian society.The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was iodine of the first tonics to re-introduce the Gothic literary genre, and thus has several elements that ar common to other Gothic novels, which I shall explore in this chapter. With Gothicism world a genre of horror fiction, almost all Gothic novels shake off some kind of hulk as the antagonist. Mr Hyde, although generally regarded as clement (a point which I will explore further later on), is preferably obviously a monster in the original sense, that is, a macrocosm of pure evil and sadism. He is described as a repulsive, marvellous person, for example, by Mr Enfield There is something wrong with his appearance something displeasing, something downright detestable he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldnt specify the point.The concomitant that his features ar non truly described, further only hinted on vaguely, is also important it is common for Gothic literature to prey upon the fear of the unknown. Hyde as a monster is only ever witnessed finished the eyes of others, in other words, at no point in the novel do we perish an explanation from his viewpoint. This is also another Gothic technique, designed to de-humanise the monster if we could see things from its perspective, we could sympathise with it, therefore this is not allowed.In this novel, the view of a monster is combined with another Gothic element the two-bagger. The double is the bringing close together of duality taken to an extreme, physical level a character who has two different forms, often with one being unspoilt, the other evil. communal doubles in Gothic literature include werewolves, people who transfigure from regular humans into a wolf form, and vampires, people who, by night, plough blood-sucking monsters. Hyde is the double of Jekyll although he has a different form, he is not an whole separate person, besides is the evil side of Jekyll. By creating Hyde, Jekyll allows himself to express his inward desires, with show up receiving the consequences, such as shame, guilt, or a loss of respect and reputation. This is procedure of one of the key themes of the book, which is exposing duality in Victorian society, that will be explored later.Finally, there is one thing that sets Jekyll and Hyde apart from other Gothic novels. Usually, they are set in actually remote places, often in foreign, Catholic countries. This distances the reader from the often scary events h appening, however, in Jekyll and Hyde, the fact that it is set in London makes the events seem much closer and real, and therefore scarier. Other than this electric razor point, however, it is easy to see how Stevenson uses the Gothic genre to explore duality in the book.Stevenson also uses a particular style of writing and a soma of techniques that help to explore duality, for example, the story is titled as The Case of, which, as well as being a case as in a particular event, it is in some ways presented almost as a legal case. As the story unfolds, we see Mr Utterson on an investigation, with shew in the form of accounts from Mr Enfield, the maid and others, as well as respective(a) letters and the will made by Dr Jekyll. At the end of the book, we get the full statements of the two main witnesses, Dr Jekyll and Dr Lanyon. As noted before, Mr Hydes reminiscence of the events is never known.By writing in this way, Stevenson clear shows us contrast between the protagonist pro secutor and the antagonist defendant in the book, as well as involving the other characters as more neutral witnesses, but leaving it open to speculation whether they are in this case unavoidably good or bad, exposing their duality, for example with Dr Jekyll, who, although he obviously hates Hyde for his crimes, still continues to solicit becoming him for the purposes of expressing his desires.Another technique Stevenson uses is symbolism, mostly in the form of weather, for example, the city streets were filled with smog when Hyde was out, and in chapters 2 and 4, where Utterson and others are trying to rally Mr Hyde, there is a thick early-morning fog. This, although common in London at the time, still had associations of secrecy and obscurity, as it was the domain of people like dogshit the Ripper, and therefore the perfect setting for the crimes of Mr Hyde. As well as weather, Stevenson employ the symbolism of doors and windows also as fables for secrecy. For instance, in Jekylls laboratory, it is always piece of ass the closed cabinet door that he transforms into Hyde, and it is only when this door is embarrassed down that the mystery is solved. Also, when Utterson and Enfield go to s heyday with Jekyll in Incident at the Window, the window serves as a barrier between Utterson and the truth that Jekyll hides.To comprehend how the book as a whole expresses duality, it is important to understand how coeval readers would have viewed and reacted to the book. Obviously, at the time it was published, readers would have not suspected the idea of transforming into an evil doppelgnger was the key to the mystery about Jekyll and Hyde. We should bear in top dog that the most logical solutions are that Jekyll and Hyde were having a homosexual relationship, that Hyde was the illegitimate son of Jekyll, or that Jekyll was somehow being intimidated and controlled by Hyde, possibly via squeeze or debt contemporary readers would probably have guessed that one of those was the most potential to be the case. It is also important to understand how readers would have viewed Hyde.In the late 19th century, many post-Darwinist theories about evolution and creationism were being discussed and debated, and people were reservoir to accept the idea that humans were descended from apes. From this came the idea that people who were socially unacceptable, that is, anyone who did not confirm to the Victorian ideals of etiquette and manners, could be regarded as less evolved, and in a way sub-human. This is highly evident with Mr Hyde, who is described as being very short, deformed and ape-like.There is, however, a final point about the readers of the book, which I regard as one of the most important, and it is what made the book so shocking and controversial at the time. This is the way in which the book exposes the duality that was present in Victorian society, which is displayed by the important characters in the book. hostel and culture at the ti me were based highly on etiquette and conformity, and of show the best as possible in public. Any persons vices were kept behind closed doors, even with close friends and family, and thus, this lead to people leading very separate public and private lives. In Jekyll and Hyde, Stevenson shows this to some extent with all of the major characters, the most signifi foott of which I shall explore further.Mr Utterson seems to be the most single-track, sincere character, however, he does display moral ambivalency as a lawyer. In his own words, I let my blood brother go to the Devil in his own way. At first, it seems that it is good of him, as a lawyer, to not judge people at all, however, although this seems helpful, it rotter also be bad, for example it means that he will not step in to help someone who is going to the Devil, but rather let them sort things out in their own way. He only seems to change this at the end of the book, and that is only because Poole suspects that Hyde has murdered Dr Jekyll.Mr Carew, an MP, is clearly shown as being a well-mannered gentlemanly figure, but because of this, we can not help but wonder why he is out in a shady district of London at night, and what he said to anger Mr Hyde so much (if anything). This shows once again the idea of having a private life, kept hidden and separate from your public life, which is what Carew appears to be doing.Finally, there is Dr Jekyll. Throughout the book he is described as a good man, who was respectable, admired by his friends, as someone seen as around perfect by Victorian standards. However, beneath the public face we can see that his fascination with Mr Hyde is not purely scientific. Once he has experience what it is like to be in Hydes body, he begins to crave it more, this is because, through Hyde, he can do things that are completely unacceptable, even by modern standards. The book suggests that, as well as murder, he perform many sexual perversions, and similar acts. This shows h ow a man can guide and become a lesser human, as noted before, and that this is achieved by science. At the time, people believed in the idea that humanity could reach a peak level, and then devolve, becoming ape-like once again, Jekyll and Hyde could be seen as a metaphor for this.As you can see, Stevenson uses these characters effectively as well a unspecific variety of literary techniques and in the style of a Gothic novel to explore duality and how it relates to society at the time.