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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

By Elena Rehberg

Dr. Jekyll vs. Mr. Hyde

"Mr. Utterson stepped out and touched him on the shoulder... he had unlocked the door and disappeared into the house" (Stevenson).
"Now that that evil influence... and the knowledge is more than he can bear" (Stevenson).

Throughout the first five chapters of the novella, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the way Mr. Utterson speaks with and of the two defines their character for the audience. Mr. Utterson helps to highlight the good and evil in each of the two men, and therefore, our view of them abides by their interactions with Mr. Utterson. When he speaks with Mr. Hyde in chapter two, he tends to be focused on the rumors he heard of Hyde's appearance. Once Mr. Utterson sees his face and is questioned about how he knew of Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson tells him it was through their common relationship with Dr. Jekyll. Following this, Mr. Hyde exclaims, “'He never told you,' cried Mr. Hyde, with a flush of anger. 'I did not think you would have lied'" (Stevenson), where Mr. Utterson replies, “'Come,' said Mr. Utterson, 'that is not fitting language'” (Stevenson). In this, we see a contrast in the temperament of the two men, and therefore, Mr. Hyde's outrage seems irrational, and the audience can assume that he is easily aggravated. Having made this assumption, his character is seemingly more evil, and this is heightened by his aggressive actions that are discussed throughout the first five chapters.
 This creates an even greater contrast as Dr. Jekyll is being discussed by Mr. Utterson. The audience is given insight into his character "he did good; his face seemed to open and brighten, as if with an inward consciousness of service; and for more than two months, the doctor was at peace" (Stevenson). Dr. Jekyll is described with all positive characteristics in this excerpt to prove his character to the audience, as opposed to Mr. Hyde who is brought down throughout his characterization. The contrast in the depiction of the characters clouds the audience's judgement about good and evil of the two, as well as proves Dr. Jekyll to be trustworthy and reliable, and Mr. Hyde to have a lack thereof. 

Poem

The purpose of the following poem is to highlight the differences in characterization provided for the two characters, Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll. While Mr. Hyde is determined to be the "evil" character, Mr. Jekyll is fascinated with him despite being the "good". This poem will display the varying assumed sentiments of each character based upon their characterization understood through Mr. Utterson. 

                                                            His rage is
A monster.                                          a monster.
I know none
but the one in me.

Rage.                                                  Rage
                                                           so passionate
                                                           he can't understand and
Control                                             Control
can't be obtained.                           can't be obtained.

I can't
                                                            He can't 
know my demon.
                                                            meet his demon.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 10, 2019 at 8:48 AM

    The poem was dope, so that cools. It was creative which is always a fun aspect of the blog posts. The analysis you wrote exemplified a lot of knowledge on the text which is good because it showed that you actually read it. Overall good work and keep up the grind in the second semester.

    ReplyDelete

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