Critical Response “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson
Mode: Reading
Genre: Prose
Text: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Task: How does Robert Louis Stevenson explore the duality of human nature in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?
“The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” is a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson. It concerns the theme of duality in human nature. Duality is an interesting theme because it was a new idea around the time the story was written and it makes you think about the two very different sides of human nature, good and evil.
The novella was written in 1886, during the Victorian era. At that time, concepts such as duality were only just beginning to be studied. Generally, Victorians …show more content…
There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never met a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why.”
This suggests that the reason Mr Enfield dislikes Hyde is because of his appearance, which, along with disliking people due to class, was quite common in the Victorian era, but duality brings in a completely different idea. It brings in the idea that people are neither good or bad, but that everyone is both, regardless of social class or appearance. The reason that other characters may take a disliking to Hyde when they see him is that from how he appears, they recognise that there is something evil in …show more content…
Jekyll is upper class so a respectable public image is necessary.. His character is wealthy, people like him and he lives in a nice house. Jekyll doesn’t accept responsibility for the things Hyde does, but he does accept that Hyde is a part of him: “I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could be rightly said to be either, it was only because I was radically both.”
This shows us how Jekyll believes in duality. He strongly believes that he has two sides. Hyde, on the other hand is described as if he is lower class. People see him as deformed and don’t respect him. Hyde doesn’t care about Jekyll. He is thought to want Jekyll out of the way so he can have what is in Jekyll’s will: “‘I thought it was madness,’ he said , as he placed the obnoxious paper in the safe, ‘and now I begin to fear it is