Preview

Sexuality in Jekyll and Hyde Essay Example

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1350 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Sexuality in Jekyll and Hyde Essay Example
Sexuality

Human sexuality is one topic that will remain taboo throughout time. Promiscuity is considered very undesirable, and often people who abuse their sexuality are condemned. Indeed, the term "in-between the sheets" refers to a whole new personality which one can become while in the bedroom. Human sexuality is considered an unmentionable public topic. The only time one may feel comfortable exploring sexual ideas or fantasies is with an intimate partner who has similar sexual experiences and standards. Many times after a sexual fantasy is explored, many people feel guilty or dirty after their experience. Even in today's society, women do not want to reveal how many sexual partners they have had for fear of judgment. In the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses the double characters to pronounce the internal struggle between human impulses, and society's structural norms and expectations. As Dr. Jekyll, the character feels pressured by society to attain a certain public image, one that resembles an ideal and humble man who would never violate or even whisper about sex. Mr. Hyde serves as Dr. Jekyll's alter ego. Mr. Hyde allows Dr. Jekyll to explore and violate social norms without guilt or consequences. If Dr. Jekyll is not responsible for Mr. Hyde's actions, there is no limit to Mr. Hyde's freedom. Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde in order to violate societal norms because without this alter ego, Dr. Jekyll would not be able to explore human sexuality without social punishments. Many of Stevenson's characters in the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde pride themselves of being goodly, modest gentlemen. They do not act out of line, do not speak of radical notions, and try their best to fit into society. "One particular element in human nature that was notoriously ignored was, of course, the sexual passion, for there shame, fear and the proprieties united to draw a veil of silence or a gloss of euphemism over

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde used imagery, diction, and details. With all of this working together, it conveys a nightmarish tale. In conclusion, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde to have a grim mood to add on to the scariness of the…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The world portrayed in the hospital ward is one of sexual repression and inhibition. This is exemplified in the Big Nurse as well as in Nurse Pilbow, who is frightened of the patients' sexuality. It is frequently emphasized that the Big Nurse has large breasts, the mark of her femininity, but she tries to conceal them. Everything about her and the ward is sterile, cold, and lifeless, from the Big Nurse's manner down to the white starched uniforms of the staff.…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Robert Louis Stevenson has been coined the title of a literary genius for his work, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Put shortly Jekyll and Hyde, is a story about a man investigating the secrets of a second man, who is in fact two different men living two different personas. Though the story is indeed short enough to read within a few passing hours, it is long enough to force the reader to question their own duality. Is man truly one? Or is each man composed of two separate halves, the good, and the evil? It is undeniable that the case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is strange indeed. However, it is also a work of art filled with impossible sciences.…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson leaves the reader to ponder whether not Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the same person or two different people. The book describes several commonalities and differences between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The differences and commonalities are not just found in the physical description of the characters but also in their personalities and their actions. It is my opinion that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are in fact one person with two separate personalities.…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The victorian era commanded Dr. Jekyll to repress his inner persona, in both his public and private life's. Leaving Dr. Jekyll with a choice, to repress himself and be respected as a professional, or to let himself flourish and be seen as unrespectable and a bit maniacal. By creating Mr. Hyde Dr. Jekyll believes that he has solved his problem of inner repression cause by the culture forced upon him. While in reality, by constructing Mr. Hyde Dr. Jekyll is inevitably driving himself to insanity, and developing case of dissociative identity disorder (DID). Both leading to Dr. Jekyll's impending…

    • 100 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The characters of Jekyll and Hyde show Stevenson’s theory about the duality of man’s personality. Jekyll is good, respected character “Born to a large fortune” and “fond of respect of the wise and good among my fellow men... with every guarantee of and honourable and distinguished future”.…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jekyll and Hyde

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the Victorian society, many things were unacceptable or looked down upon. Because of this rigid societal upbringing, it was difficult for Dr. Jekyll to act on all of his wants and needs. Most people living in the Victorian age must have had some sort of other secret life because of the strict boundaries of how to think and how to act. Hyde expressed the freer, more natural man that Jekyll could never show publicly. He had to maintain a professional, well mannered persona for the society he lived in.…

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most importantly, Dr. Jekyll struggles to conquer his addiction that shows his evil side. Specifically, In Dr. Jekyll’s full statement of his case, he explains what he feels while murdering his victim; “With a transport of glee, I mauled the unresisting body, tasting delight from every blow” (49). In this, Stevenson creates a gruesome image of Mr. Hyde’s point of view of the murder. This imagery clearly shows evil conquering his good side. Therefore,…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Generally, human beings are “dual creatures”. Dr. Jekyll explains in his “moral” state “that [he] learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man…even if [he] could rightly be said to be either, it was only because [he] was radically both.” Dr. Jekyll argues there is a more primitive, darker side of every individual. This “darker side” is more animalistic than anything, perhaps it is the vicarious savagery within every human being. During Dr. Jekyll’s mutation to Hyde, he describes it as “natural and human… [the feeling of being Mr. Hyde] seemed more express and single , than the imperfect and divided countenance [he] had been hitherto and accustomed to call [his]... Edward Hyde…was pure evil.” Dr. Jekyll is a socially acceptable individual recognized as a respectable gentleman. On the other hand, Hyde is completely liberated. Hyde appears to personify the pure evil of human nature as a whole. Because of Dr. Jekyll’s control of his emotional…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From being a kid without any friends to being one of the most prolific authors in history, Stephen King has never steered clear of a thrilling story. Ruth King would sit out on her porch on warm, summer nights reading her paperback novels with young Stephen listening to her read aloud. (Wukovits 15). At seven years old, Stephen’s mother introduced him to one of his favorite stories ‘The Strange Case Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ by Robert Louis Stevenson. Stephen King remembers it by saying, “That was a very happy summer for me.” When discussing his memories of that summer, he…

    • 1988 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Repressed desires will be satisfied in some way shape or form. An outlet will be found, and deeper darker forces will arise. Dr. Jekyll’s deeper darker forces come forth after years of his persona not acceptable in the eyes of others being repressed because of the pain that desires cause. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the repression of Dr. Jekyll’s alter ego eats away at him; for the repression of this other being can no longer be caged. Through the repression and absolution of his deepest desires, Dr. Jekyll’s desire for unattainable perfection in the eyes of his peers, dissection of good and evil within himself, and acceptance into society without worry of his darker side being found out…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jekyll Hyde

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Civility and propriety have been the staples of peaceful civilizations for thousands of years. these civilizations thrived due to mans ability to stifle and suppress our baser urges, to bury all that is primal and impulsive beneath fine clothing and proper etiquette. however, this beast that is the true instinct of all men yet lives just behind weary or angry eyes, waiting for the conditioning of society to falter, if only for a moment. ... . The story of Jekyll and Hyde is an analysis of these urges, this nature, made corporeal against the nurture of society.…

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Despite the many differences in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Talented Mr. Ripley. The two novels relate greatly when it comes of acts of evil and dishonesty. The motivation for their evil is dissatisfaction with their current lifestyle. Dissatisfaction comes in many forms it can stem from boredom, self judgement, rage, and many more that won't be covered in this paper.…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    • 1973 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll has an aching curiosity to discover the vulgar and divergent side to life that he’s never been able to experience before. With prolonged amounts of time spent pondering about the measures needed to be taken to attain what he wants, Henry Jekyll creates a plan and gathers quantities of chemicals and salts that he believes will transform him into a different being; a sinister being that could commit the sins that he had always been disciplined to avoid but inwardly always wanted to do himself. After consuming his concoction of chemicals, Dr. Jekyll alters into what we soon become very well accustomed to, Mr. Hyde. With a new evil being to escape into, Jekyll experiences things he couldn’t before, but is also guilty for the crimes that Hyde commits as well. Jekyll and Hyde, although the same person in principle, are two very different people with altered personalities, looks, motives, and actions.…

    • 1973 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays