dr jekyll and mr hyde

Victorian society was split between the very rich, and the very poor. Jekyll was part of the former, born 'to a large fortune,' 'inclined by nature to industry' and he was 'fond of the respect of the wise and good.' However, there was great hypocrisy caused by this social divide, which resulted in Jekyll having a hedonistic side to his personality. While the rich were respectable and 'austere,' the poor visited prostitutes and partook in illegal gambling. However, what Stevenson does in his story, is to unearth the true facts about the rich in Victorian life. He claims that even the most undemonstrative of Victorians indulged themselves in the 'lower elements' of life. Indeed, a conservative estimate gives evidence that there were over 8,000 prostitutes working in London at that time. Therefore, a large number of the male population, being much smaller than today, must have at some time indulged in this ghastly activity.

Jekyll knew this and he reflected that, after all...I was like my neighbours.' Dr. Jekyll also refers to religion a lot. He says that it brands his 'pleasures' as evil. This viewhould We Feel Sympathetic Towards Dr.Jekyll? The two sides to this argument both have substantial reason and theory in their favour. I will deal with both sides and try to come to come to terms with this very deep and sophisticated piece of literature. Should we feel sympathy towards Jekyll? If so I think there are many reasons why. The Victorian time Jekyll lived in was very constricting and perhaps suffocating. Anything other than “perfect” was unacceptable, and if you at any time had done anything below best then you would become an outcast from high society. It is human nature to be curious, and when the things you are curious about are so forbidden – Jekyll lived in a time when his culture created the concept of pornography and the abhorrence of ‘carnality’ yet Victorian London society paradoxically had an incredibly large number of “working girls” in the Capital,