Jekyll and Hyde Essay Samples

Jekyll and Hyde

...street in the first chapter reinforces this theme of duality. The street is described as merely an anonymous street in London, whose shop fronts "like rows of smiling women" have a brightness that stands out in contrast to the dingy neighborhood. And yet on this street, two doors from the corner, stands a dreary, Gothic house, which "bore in every feature the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence." As we proceed further in the novel, Jekyll¹s house itself will be seen to have an innate duality: congenial, prosperous, respectable, as well as threatening, mysterious, and sinister. This duality is manifested by each of its two facades: the respectable, Jekyll side of the house stands out in contrast with the seediness of its neighboring structures. The Hyde façade is bleak, neglected, and lowering on a street in which it stands out among thriving, well-kept, and prosperous commercial structures. The theme of duality is also marked by the symbolic nature of the name, Hyde. Hyde derives from the more familiar word Œhide,¹ and stands for the hidden aspects of Jekyll as encompassed by Mr. Hyde. Indeed, later in Chapter 2, Mr. Utterson claims that "If he shall be Mr. Hyde . . . I shall be Mr. Seek." The first chapter also contains elements foreshadowing the evilness and future crimes of Mr. Hyde. In the end of chapter ‘, Enfield refers to Hyde as "really like Satan." A few lines later, Hyde remarks "No gentleman but wishes to avoid a scene," is the first hint that we have that Hyde is an ally, or a manifestation, of the devil. Stevenson is playing on the well-known remark of Percy Bythe Shelly¹s in Peter Bell the Third that "The devil is a gentleman." Hyde¹s assertion that he is a gentleman (especially considering his recent behavior) with the class implications of the word represents the irony implicit in the way Stevenson uses the word. The symbolic nature of the mysterious cellar door that Hyde disappears through is important to note, which is referred to five times in the space of two pages of text. Doors are traditionally powerful and mysterious symbols, representing the possibility of things hidden or revealed, or traditional moments of finality. Stevenson himself wrote a ‘882 short store, "The Sire of de Maletroit¹s Door,¹ in which the young Denis de Bealui reaps the consequents, of walking through the wrong door. In addition, doors have powerful allegorical reference in biblical works, works Stevenson read throughout his childhood. In Genesis 4:7, it reads "sin lieth at the door," which means that the sinner must avoid sin. The door, in this case, then represents the literal path to evil. It is also interesting to note the absence of female characters in this novel, especially compared to theatrical or film adaptations of the novel. There is female which plays a large part in this novel, instead, it is a novel concerned for the most part with middle-age gentlemen (with the possible exception of Hyde, but even he is described as a gentleman in this chapter). That evening, Mr. Utterson returned home and removes Dr. Jekyll¹s will, which had strange stipulations. It provided that in the case of the death of Henry Jekyll, all possessions should revert to the mysterious Edward Hyde. Even stranger, in case of the disappearance of Dr. Jekyll for three months, Edward Hyde should step into Henry Jekyll¹s shoes without delay. After considering the implications of the will with what he has learned about Edward Hyde, he sets off for the residence of Dr. Lanyon, another dear friend of Dr. Jekyll. When they begin talking about Jekyll, Utterson discovers that Lanyon has not been friends with Jekyll for ten because of a disagreement over "unscientific balderdash." He, however, had never heard of Hyde. After leaving Lanyon, Utterson begins to imagine the scene described by Enfield with Mr. Hyde, as well as the reason behind the relationship of Hyde and Jekyll, and ponders that if he can only see the face of Hyde, he might see a reason for his friends¹ relationship with the man. From that point forward, Utterson begins to haunt the streets around the mysterious door, looking for Mr. Hyde. One night, he runs into Mr. Hyde and confronts him as he was about to enter the door. Utterson introduces himself as an old friend of Dr. Jekyll, and Hyde questions how Utterson knew him. Hyde then asks for Utterson¹s address and Utterson, in response, gives him a business card. Utterson, not replying, asks for a favor, to be able to see Hyde¹s face. After complying, Hyde asks how Utterson knew him, and Utterson replies by description, claiming that they have common friends, Jekyll for instance. Mr. Hyde angrily replies that Jekyll never told you anything and disappears into the day. After leaving this scene, Utterson goes to see Dr. Jekyll, but only Poole, his butler, is home, Jekyll is out. Utterson gleans from his conversation, however, that Jekyll’s house, around the corner from the mysterious door, is in an L shape, and that Hyde only enters by the old dissecting room door, but does not dine in the house. After leaving Jekyll¹s home, Utterson walks home and decides that Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll. In an effort to remedy this situation, he decides to look for something in Hyde¹s past to blackmail him with, if Jekyll will let him. It is interesting to note the description of Mr. Hyde, as he first appears in the novel during this chapter. Although the reader is continually reminded that Hyde is akin to the devil and evil, Hyde¹s qualities are never attached to any nameable detail. We are meant to think that decent people instinctively know that there is something morally wrong with him...

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