The two books I have chosen for my open study are: The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The first one, written in 1890 by Oscar Wilde, is the story of a young, aristocratic dandy who, influenced by a friend, becomes a hedonistic, selfish man who ends in tragedy. The second, written in 1886 by Robert Louis Stevenson, is the story of a scientist, Dr. Jekyll, who, under the effect of a potion, mutates into a terrifying monster every night, killing whoever doesn 't please him.…
Not everyone is perfect. We all have weaknesses and character flaws. Some people drink too much; others smoking or spending too much money. Many people lead a seemingly moral and righteous life, but have secret, dark thoughts or desires. Mr. Hyde has all these flaws and he flaunted them openly. Actually, when you examine his character on a deeper level, the “respectable” Dr. Jekyll is actually and deeply flawed and immoral character. Mr. Hyde is just another part of him, his immoral subconscious, who, because he is given free reign, does the immoral things that Dr. Jekyll couldn’t do because of his reputation. The greatest flaw that Dr. Jekyll has starts with the incident in his laboratory. He experiments with chemicals and discovers another side of himself. Stevenson characterizes Dr. Jekyll as a desperate man dependent on his symbolic drug to escape the moral confines of Victorian society.…
The doctor scoff down the strange concoction. Suddenly pangs of uneasiness and pain rush through the doctor body stringing him along. A change of deformity had occurred. The doctor was no longer his usual, genteel self. He was of a small stature and dwarfish and a frightening malice seen when in the creature presence. This is one of Henry Jekyll’s shocking discoveries. “Man is not truly one but two”( Stevenson) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde explores the theme of the the duality of man. As well as The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, It explores the dual nature of everything. “ Violent delights have violent ends” ( Shakespeare Ⅱ vi 9). Dr. Jekyll is indulgent with his evil side which creates a violent end for him. Because of this…
In Robert Stevenson’s book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde duality is a reoccurring theme. Stevenson shows his duality through the plot, setting, and character’s dialogue throughout the novel. William Shakespeare shares the theme of duality in his play Romeo and Juliet. The duality of society and the duality of good and evil are a couple of the dualities revealed.…
In the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, although Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde are of the same body, they have completely different personalities, as well as completely different physical appearances. While Dr. Jekyll “‘is a tall fine build of a man” (Stevenson 45), Mr. Hyde is described as “pale and dwarfish” (19). This contrasts the stature of both men. Dr. Jekyll is written to be tall, and Mr. Hyde short. The author writes Dr. Jekyll as having a “large handsome face” (24), yet creates a grotesque image for Mr. Hyde by giving him “an impression of deformity” (19) and “a displeasing smile” (19). These two men are written to be extremely different, not only in nature and appearance, but also…
Dr. Jekyll is a man with a deeply divided sense of private self and public self. He is a doctor and a long-time good friend he is also a scholar. Mr. Hyde thinks about "himself as a fifty years old a large tall man without facial hair". He believes that Dr. Jekyll is devoted to charities and to his religion.…
Curiosity can drive a person to accomplish tasks that normally he or she would not do. Curiosity can drive whoever to accomplish his or her goals. In the book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson is driven by curiosity to find out the truth about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Towards the end of the book he becomes a detective to try and discover that Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll are one person. In the book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Mr. Utterson discovers objects and obtains clues, which drives his curiosity to find out the truth behind the supposedly two men.…
An dining hall containing no more or less than the necessities for a comfortable dinner, materializes seemingly out of nothing. Enter Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 18th century counter-enlightenment luminary; Charles Darwin, 19th century naturalist; Karl Marx, 19th century political philosopher; and Sigmund Freud, 20th century neurologist and founder of psychoanalytic theory. No one is alarmed that four influential thinkers whose lifetimes span over two centuries are meeting for an inexplicable dinner as they were in their intellectual prime. The wall lights autonomously dim as the fire roars despite itself, as the scene exits the whirling depth of the insubstantial and enters the tactile, at least for the authors……
One said that everything has two sides, then so do human natures. As we cannot separate darkness from brightness, since wherever there is a light, there always is a shadow. We too cannot distinct goodness from badness, because underneath our sober and respectable appearances and actions, there lies down a hidden instinct of our own Mr. or Mrs. Hyde.…
In Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, both novels had the demands of social respectability and the desire to pursue pleasure. "Both offer the fantasy solution of having as second self to carry the burden of one's vices." In the society today, men who seem to act like a lady or have feminine behaviors are often considered or seen as or accused of being gay. For much of Oscar Wilde's life and other aristocratic men could embrace the public persona of the "effeminate aesthete and dandy" without being accused of having sexual desire for men. That freedom did not affect tolerance of homosexuality. To the majority of people in Victorian, having sexual desires with the…
At this point in the story, Dr. Jekyll has not completely accepted Edward Hyde as being a part of him. He recognizes that Edward Hyde is “pure evil” but needs further proof that so much evil can be part of a person that is good. The story describes his transformation after drinking the potion as mental, physical, and spiritual. The spiritual part is very interesting because Dr. Jekyll in part always thought he was a fraud and even though he did walk the line of good he expected he was not truly good. I think Hyde was a manifestation of his thoughts of impurity because deep down he believed to have a good soul he must never have impure thoughts. I think this was his true…
I can easily relate to your response, especially when you discussed writing about boring topics in elementary school. In writing, I like to be able add my own creativity, opinion and twist on things. One of the many reasons why I dreaded preparing for the STARR test every year, because there is no way to fit a well developed essay in twenty-six lines. Besides that, I am fond of reading your point of view regarding Eva Hoffman. Even though, I cannot imagine moving to a foreign place, I can imagine what those individuals have done to fit in. High school is strenuous, and I think everyone has said or done something just to fit in. Your response was well thought out and I enjoyed reading your perspective. Keep up the great work and have a great…
Duality can be seen in The picture of Dorian Grey as well as Thomas Hardy’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Vernon Lee’s Dionea. All of these texts present the good and evil in each character and the duality of human nature. Duality can be seen in Dionea as she seems to embody both opposing aspects of duality. When she arrives washed up onto the shore of the small village, she was between life and death, this duality continues when the village people both admire and pity her as she is both civilised and a savage, she is also viewed by the village people in having a negative influence on the girls who surround her. More importantly, Dionea was associated with white pigeons that used to constantly surround her. White symbolises purity however, pigeons…
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde can be a similar story feature of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Stevenson. Dorian Gray is similar to DR. Jekyll for having a double life or a split personality because Dr. Jekyll and Edward Hyde is the same character. Dr. Jekyll had been born wealthy and had grown up handsome, honorable, and distinguished, and yet, he committed secret act of which he was thoroughly ashamed; while, Dorian Gray, is a handsome young man in which he captures the imagination of Basil Hallward and became sinful, he decided to kill Basil when he chooses to see the portrait that reveals the evil side of Dorian. They both have similar features. Edward Hyde is the evil side of Dr. Jekyll and he is…
I recently had the incredible opportunity to see Jekyll and Hyde, written by Leslie Bricusse and composed by Frank Wildhorn. This particular production was directed by Anne Stewart Mark, and staged at the Grand Theatre. I adore this musical, and it was the perfect musical to play around Halloween.…