dr jekyll and mr hyde literary analysis essay

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Full Analysis and Themes

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The story for Jekyll and Hyde famously came to Robert Louis Stevenson in a dream, and according to Stevenson’s stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, Stevenson wrote the first draft of the novella in just three days, before promptly throwing it onto the fire when his wife criticised it. Stevenson then rewrote it from scratch, taking ten days this time, and the novella was promptly published in January 1886.

The story is part detective-story or mystery, part Gothic horror, and part science fiction, so it’s worth analysing how Stevenson fuses these different elements.

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: analysis

Now it’s time for some words of analysis about Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic 1886 novella. However, perhaps ‘analyses’ (plural) would be more accurate, since there never could be one monolithic meaning of a story so ripe with allegory and suggestive symbolism.

Like another novella that was near-contemporary with Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , and possibly influenced by it ( H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine ), the symbols often point in several different directions at once.

Any attempt to reduce Stevenson’s story of doubling to a moral fable about drugs or drink, or a tale about homosexuality, is destined to lose sight of the very thing which makes the novella so relevant to so many people: its multifaceted quality. So here are some (and they are only some) of the many interpretations of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde which have been put forward in the last 120 years or so.

A psychoanalytic or proto-psychoanalytic analysis

In this interpretation, Jekyll is the ego and Hyde the id (in Freud’s later terminology). The ego is the self in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, while the id is the set of primal drives found in our unconscious: the urge to kill, or do inappropriate sexual things, for instance.

Several of Robert Louis Stevenson’s essays, such as ‘A Chapter on Dreams’ (1888), prefigure some of Freud’s later ideas; and there was increasing interest in the workings of the human mind towards the end of the nineteenth century (two leading journals in the field, Brain and Mind , had both been founded in the 1870s).

The psychoanalytic interpretation is a popular one with many readers of Jekyll and Hyde , and since the novella is clearly about repression of some sort, one can make a psychoanalytic interpretation – an analysis grounded in psychoanalysis, if you like – quite convincingly.

It might be significant, reading the story from a post-Freudian perspective, that Hyde is described as childlike at several points: does he embody Jekyll’s – and, indeed, man’s – deep desire to return to a time before responsibility and full maturity, when one was freer to act on impulse? Early infancy is the formative period for much Freudian psychoanalysis.

Recall the empty middle-class scenes at the beginning of the book: Utterson and Enfield on their joyless Sunday walks, for instance. Hyde attacks father-figures (Sir Danvers Carew, the MP whom he murders, is a white-haired old gentleman), which would fall in line with Freud’s concept of the Oedipus complex and Jekyll’s desire to return to a time before adult life with its responsibilities and disappointments.

However, one fly in the Oedipal ointment is that Hyde also attacks a young girl – almost the complete opposite of the ‘old man’ or father figure embodied by Danvers Carew.

Nevertheless, psychoanalytic readings of the novella have been popular for some time, and it’s worth remembering that the idea for the book came to Stevenson in a dream. Observe, also, the presence of dreams and dreamlike scenes in the novel itself, such as when Jekyll remarks that he ‘received Lanyon’s condemnation partly in a dream; it was partly in a dream that I came home to my own house and got into bed’.

An anti-alcohol morality tale?

Alternatively, a different interpretation: we might analyse these dreamlike aspects of the novel in another way and see the novel as being about alcoholism and temperance , subjects which were being fiercely debated at the time Stevenson was writing.

Here, then, the ‘transforming draught’ which Jekyll concocts represents alcohol, and Jekyll, upon imbibing the draught, becomes a violent, unpredictable person unknown even to himself. (This reading has been most thoroughly explored in Thomas L. Reed’s 2006 study The Transforming Draught .)

Note how often wine crops up in this short book: it turns up first of all in the second sentence of the novella, when Utterson is found sipping it, and Hyde, we learn, has a closet ‘filled with wine’. Might the continual presence of wine be a clue that we are all Hydes waiting to happen? Note how the opening paragraph informs us that Utterson drinks gin when he is alone.

This thesis – that the novella is about alcohol and temperance – is intriguing, but has been contested by critics such as Julia Reid for being too speculative and reductionist: see her review of The Transforming Draught in The Review of English Studies , 2007.

The ‘drugs’ interpretation

Similarly, the idea that the ‘draught’ is a metaphor for some other drug, whether opium or cocaine . Scholars are unsure as to whether Stevenson was on drugs when he wrote the book: some accounts say Stevenson used cocaine to finish the manuscript; others say he took ergot, which is the substance from which LSD was later synthesised. Some say he was too sick to be taking anything.

You could purchase cocaine and opium from your local chemist in 1880s London (indeed, another invention of 1886, Coca-Cola, originally contained cocaine, as the drink’s name still testifies: don’t worry, it doesn’t any more).

This is essentially a development of the previous interpretation concerning alcohol, and arguably has similar limitations in being too restrictive an interpretation. However, note the way that Jekyll, in his ‘full statement’ becomes reliant on the ‘draught’ or ‘salt’ towards the end.

A religious analysis

As such, the story has immediate links with the story Stevenson would write sixty years later. Stevenson was an atheist who managed to escape the constrictive religion of his parents, but he remained haunted by Calvinistic doctrines for the rest of his life, and much of his work can be seen as an attempt to grapple with these issues which had affected and afflicted him so much as a child.

The sexuality interpretation

Some critics have interpreted Jekyll and Hyde in light of late nineteenth-century attitudes to sexuality : note the almost total absence of women from the story, barring the odd maid and ‘old hag’, and that hapless girl trampled underfoot by Hyde.

Some critics have suggested that the idea of blackmail for homosexual acts lurks behind the story, and the novella itself mentions this when Enfield tells Utterson that he refers to the house of Mr Hyde as ‘Black Mail House’ as a consequence of the girl-trampling scene in the street.

As such, the novella becomes an allegory for the double life lived by many homosexual Victorian men, who had to hide (or Hyde ) their illicit liaisons from their friends and families. The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote to his friend Robert Bridges that the girl-trampling incident early on in the narrative was ‘perhaps a convention: he was thinking of something unsuitable for fiction’.

Some have interpreted this statement – by Hopkins, himself a repressed homosexual – as a reference to homosexual activity in late Victorian London.

Consider in this connection the fact that Hyde enters Jekyll’s house through the ‘back way’ – even, at one point ‘the back passage’. 1885, the year Stevenson wrote the book, was the year of the Criminal Law Amendment Act (commonly known as the Labouchere Amendment ), which criminalised acts of ‘gross indecency’ between men (this was the act which, ten years later, would put Oscar Wilde in gaol).

However, we should be wary of reading the text as about ‘homosexual panic’, since, as Harry Cocks points out, homosexuality was frequently ‘named openly, publicly and repeatedly’ in nineteenth-century criminal courts. But then could fiction for a mass audience as readily name such things?

A Darwinian analysis

Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species , which laid out the theory of evolution by natural selection, had been published in 1859, when Stevenson was still a child. In this reading, Hyde represents the primal, animal origin of modern, civilised man.

Consider here the repeated uses of the word ‘apelike’ in relation to Hyde, suggesting he is an atavistic throwback to an earlier, more primitive species of man than Homo sapiens . This reading incorporates theories of something called ‘devolution’, an idea (now discredited) which suggested that life forms could actually evolve backwards into more primitive forms.

This is also linked with late Victorian fears concerning degeneration and decadence among the human race. Is Jekyll’s statement that he ‘bore the stamp, of lower elements in my soul’ an allusion to Charles Darwin’s famous phrase from the end of The Descent of Man (1871), ‘man […] bears […] the indelible stamp of his lowly origin’?

In his story ‘Olalla’, another tale of the double which Stevenson published in 1885, he writes: ‘Man has risen; if he has sprung from the brutes he can descend to the same level again’.

This Darwinian analysis of Jekyll and Hyde could incorporate elements of the sexual which the previous interpretation also touches upon, but would view the novel as a portrayal of man’s – and we mean specifically man ’s here – repression of the darker, violent, primitive side of his nature associated with rape, pillage, conquest, and murder.

This looks back to a psychoanalytic reading, with the ‘id’ being the home of primal sexual desire and lust. The girl-tramping scene may take on another significance here: it’s a ‘girl’ rather than a boy because it symbolises Hyde’s animalistic desire to conquer and brutalise someone of the opposite, not the same, sex.

There have been many critical readings of the novella in relation to sex and sexuality, but it’s important to point out that Stevenson denied that the novella was about sexuality (see below).

A study in hypocrisy?

Or perhaps not: perhaps there is something in the idea that hypocrisy is the novella’s theme , as Stevenson himself suggested in a letter of November 1887 to John Paul Bocock, editor of the New York Sun : ‘The harm was in Jekyll,’ Stevenson wrote, ‘because he was a hypocrite – not because he was fond of women; he says so himself; but people are so filled full of folly and inverted lust, that they can think of nothing but sexuality. The Hypocrite let out the beast’.

This analysis of Jekyll and Hyde sees the two sides to Jekyll’s personality as a portrayal of the dualistic nature of Victorian society, where you must be respectable and civilised on the outside, while all the time harbouring an inward lust, violence, and desire which you have to bring under control.

This was a popular theme for many late nineteenth-century writers – witness not only Oscar Wilde’s 1891 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray but also the double lives of Jack and Algernon in Wilde’s comedy of manners, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). This is a more open-ended interpretation, and the novella does appear to be about repression of some sort.

In this respect, this interpretation is similar to the psychoanalytic reading proposed above, but it also tallies with Stevenson’s own assertion that the story is about hypocrisy. Everyone in this book is masking their private thoughts or desires from others.

Note how even the police officer, Inspector Newcomen, when he learns of the murder of the MP, goes from being horrified one moment to excited the next, as ‘the next moment his eye lighted up with professional ambition’. He can barely contain his glee. The maid who answers the door at Hyde’s rooms has ‘an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy; but her manners were excellent’.

From these clues, we can also posit a reading of the novel which sees it as about the class structure of late nineteenth-century Britain, where Jekyll represents the comfortable middle class and Hyde is the repressed – or, indeed, oppressed – working-class figure.

Note here, however, how Hyde is repeatedly described as a ‘gentleman’ by those who see him, and that he attacks Danvers Carew with a ‘cane’, rather than, say, a club (though it is reported, tellingly, that he ‘clubbed’ Carew to death with it).

A scientific interpretation

The reference to the evil maid with excellent manners places Jekyll’s own duality at the extreme end of a continuum, where everyone is putting on a respectable and acceptable mask which hides or conceals the evil truth lurking behind it. So we might see Jekyll’s scientific experiment as merely a physical embodiment of what everyone does.

This leads some critics to ask, then, whether the novella about the misuse of science . Or is the ‘tincture’ merely a scientific, chemical composition because a magical draught or elixir would be unbelievable to an 1880s reader? Arthur Machen, an author who was much influenced by Stevenson and especially by Jekyll and Hyde , made this point in a letter of 1894, when he grumbled:

In these days the supernatural per se is entirely incredible; to believe, we must link our wonders to some scientific or pseudo-scientific fact, or basis, or method. Thus we do not believe in ‘ghosts’ but in telepathy, not in ‘witch-craft’ but in hypnotism. If Mr Stevenson had written his great masterpiece about 1590-1650, Dr Jekyll would have made a compact with the devil. In 1886 Dr Jekyll sends to the Bond Street chemists for some rare drugs.

This is worth pondering: the use of the ‘draught’ lends the story an air of scientific authenticity, which makes the story a form of science fiction rather than fantasy: the tincture which Jekyll drinks is not magical, merely a chemical potion of some vaguely defined sort. But to say that the story is actually about the dangers of misusing science could be a leap too far.

We run the risk of confusing the numerous film adaptations of the book with the book itself: we immediately picture wild-haired soot-faced scientists causing explosions and mixing up potions in a dark laboratory, but in fact this is not really what the story is about , merely the means through which the real meat of the story – the transformation of Jekyll into Hyde – is effected.

It’s only once this split has been achieved that the real story, about the dark side of man’s nature which he represses, comes to light. (Compare Frankenstein here .)

All of these interpretations of Jekyll and Hyde can be – and have been – proposed, but it’s worth bearing in mind that the popularity of Stevenson’s tale may lie in the very polyvalent and ambiguous nature of the text, the fact that it exists as a symbol without a key, a riddle without a definitive answer.

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Home › British Literature › Analysis of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Analysis of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on October 7, 2022

Longman, Green, and Company published Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886 as a “shilling shocker.” Stevenson reputedly developed the storyline from a dream he had about a man forced into a cabinet after ingesting a potion that would convert him into a brutal monster. The composition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde began in September 1885, and the final draft was submitted for publication later that same year. Unlike most 19th century literary works, Stevenson’s manuscript was released in book form instead of being serialized in a popular magazine. The publishers withheld its release until January 1886 because booksellers had already placed their Christmas stock. Within six months, Stevenson’s novella sold more than 40,000 copies in England and America.

Dr. Jekyll (right) and Mr. Hyde, both as portrayed by Fredric March in Rouben Mamoulian’s film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931).

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde debates the conflict between good and evil and the correlation among bourgeois values, urban violence, and class structure. Dr. Jekyll is a seemingly placid character whose often-debated scientific research has nonetheless gained him respect amid his peers. The potion that Jekyll develops causes an unexplainable transformation into the violent Mr. Hyde. The Mr. Hyde alter-ego may represent an uncontrollable subconscious desire driven by anger and frustration toward an oppressive English class structure. Hyde’s numerous rampages include trampling a young girl and murdering the prominent English politician Sir Danvers. Although Jekyll prefers living the life of “the elderly and discontent doctor” (84), he cannot control his urge for “the liberty, the comparative youth, the light steps, leaping impulses, and secret pleasures” that the Hyde persona offers him. Dr. Jekyll’s desired liberty is perhaps caused by the restricted lifestyle that bourgeois cultural codes imposed on English society. Several Victorian social critics maintained that inner-city London dwellers were a debased life form living in junglelike conditions analogous to those in Africa. In 1890, William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, claimed that England needed rescuing from its continually degenerating condition since its citizens were gradually turning into “[a] population trodden with drink, steeped in vice, [and] eaten up by every social and physical malady” (quoted in Stevenson, 183). Stevenson’s text describes how hidden desires have always existed in a seemingly perverted civilization.

Literary critics have stressed that Stevenson’s success in the “shilling shocker” market both helped and hindered his career. The rapid success of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde led Henry James to remark that Stevenson’s novella was at first too popular a work to be comfortably called a masterpiece. Henry James was not questioning Stevenson’s talent as a writer but rather was noting that the book’s quick popularity defined it as a story that was easily accessible to the mass public.

Playwright Richard Mansfield produced a stage version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1888. Shortly after Mansfield’s play opened, several East End London prostitutes were murdered by a serial killer nicknamed Jack the Ripper. English newspapers initially termed the slayer the “Whitechapel murderer” and “Leather Apron” before settling on “Jack the Ripper.” Reporters based their stories on the possible correlation between the killings and Mansfield’s theatrical representation of violence. Mansfield’s play was eventually closed because such parallels made it seem as though Jack the Ripper was mimicking the violence depicted in Mansfield’s play, marking the first time that the concept of Mr. Hyde was used in reference to sequential crime sprees. Reports from the Daily Telegraph further damaged the profits for Mansfield’s play by stating that “there is no taste for horror” (17) on the London stage. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde remains a significant canonical text that uses its patchwork narrative to explore the conflation of reality and fictional representation that most postmodern writers still examine.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Caler, Jenni. The Robert Louis Stevenson Companion. Edinburgh: P. Harris, 1980. James, Henry. “Robert Louis Stevenson.” Reprinted in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, edited by Martin A. Danahay, 140–141. Orchard Park, N.Y.: Broadview Literary Texts, 1999. Rose, Brian A. Jekyll and Hyde Adapted: Dramatizations of Cultural Anxiety. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996. Saposnik, Irving S. “The Anatomy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” In The Definitive Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Companion, edited by Harry M. Geduld, 108–117. New York: Garland Publishing, 1983. Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Edited by Martin A. Danahay, 29–91. Orchard Park, N.Y.: Broadview Literary Texts, 1999.

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Essays on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

What makes a good the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde essay topics.

When it comes to writing an essay on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , choosing the right topic is crucial. A good essay topic should be thought-provoking, unique, and analytical. It should also allow for in-depth exploration of the themes, characters, and symbolism in the novel. To brainstorm and choose an essay topic, start by considering the themes and motifs present in the book. Think about the duality of human nature, the concept of good and evil, and the consequences of scientific experimentation. Consider the characters and their motivations, as well as the setting and its significance. A good essay topic should also allow for critical analysis and interpretation, so look for topics that are open to interpretation and analysis.

When choosing a topic, consider What Makes a Good essay topic. A good topic should be specific and focused, allowing for a deep exploration of the subject matter. It should also be relevant and timely, addressing current issues and concerns. Additionally, a good essay topic should be original and unique, offering a fresh perspective on the novel. Finally, a good topic should be interesting and engaging, both for the writer and the reader. By considering these factors, you can brainstorm and choose an essay topic that is both compelling and intellectually stimulating.

Best The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay Topics

• The duality of human nature in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The motif of secrecy and concealment in the novel
• The consequences of scientific experimentation in the Victorian era
• The significance of the setting in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The representation of good and evil in the novel
• The theme of addiction and self-destruction in the novel
• The role of women in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The symbolism of the potion in the novel
• The theme of transformation and identity in the novel
• The portrayal of mental illness in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The impact of social class on the characters in the novel
• The motif of repression and liberation in the novel
• The concept of morality and ethics in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The theme of control and power in the novel
• The significance of the title in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The representation of masculinity in the novel
• The motif of duality in the character of Mr. Hyde
• The theme of guilt and remorse in the novel
• The portrayal of violence and aggression in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The significance of the ending in the novel

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde essay topics Prompts

• Imagine you are Dr. Jekyll and write a journal entry detailing the moments before you first transform into Mr. Hyde.
• Write a character analysis of Mr. Hyde, exploring his motivations and actions throughout the novel.
• Compare and contrast the characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, examining their similarities and differences.
• Analyze the role of the setting in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , focusing on its significance to the plot and themes of the novel.
• Create an alternate ending for the novel, exploring how the story would have unfolded if certain events had transpired differently.

When it comes to choosing The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde essay topics, it's important to consider the themes, characters, and symbolism present in the novel. By brainstorming and selecting a topic that is specific, relevant, and original, you can create an essay that is engaging and thought-provoking. Whether you choose to explore the duality of human nature, analyze the characters, or examine the role of the setting, there are plenty of creative and compelling topics to choose from when writing about The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde .

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5 January 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson

Novella; Psychological Thriller, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Gothic, Science Fiction

Gabriel John Utterson, Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Edward Hyde, Richard Enfield, Dr. Hastie Lanyon, Mr. Poole, Inspector Newcomen, Sir Danvers Carew, MP, Maid

1. Stevenson, R. L. (2012). The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-with other short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson (Fantasy and Horror Classics). https://www.scribd.com/book/377905117/Strange-Case-of-Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde-Other-Stories Read Books Ltd. 2. Clunas, A. (1994). Comely External Utterance: Reading Space in" The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". The Journal of Narrative Technique, 24(3), 173-189. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/30225414) 3. Mills, K. (2004). The Stain on the Mirror: Pauline Reflections in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Christianity & Literature, 53(3), 337-348. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014833310405300303) 4. Goh, R. B. (1999). Textual Hyde and Seek:" Gentility," Narrative Play and Proscription in Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Journal of Narrative Theory, 29(2), 158-183. (https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/38/article/375823/summary) 5. Buzwell, G. (2014). Man is not truly one, but truly two’: duality in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The British Library. (https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/duality-in-robert-louis-stevensons-strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde) 6. Maynard, K. K. (2000). The Perils and Pleasures of Professionalism in Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Doyle's A Study in Scarlet and Other Fictions. The European Legacy, 5(3), 365-384. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/713665493?journalCode=cele20) 7. Dury, R. (2005). Strange Language of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. https://www.academia.edu/11373763/Strange_Language_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde_Journal_of_Stevenson_Studies_2_2005_33_50  Journal of Stevenson Studies, 2, 33-50. 8. Stevenson, R. L., & Glasser, B. (2018). Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In Medicine and Literature (pp. 105-118). CRC Press. (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781315375670-8/strange-case-dr-jekyll-mr-hyde-robert-louis-stevenson-brian-glasser)

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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Introduction of the the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde.

Written by Robert Louis Stevenson , a Scottish novelist, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, presents a gothic fiction genre . The novel was published in 1886. The storyline revolves around the character , Dr Henry Jekyll, Mr Gabriel John Utterson’s friend, who changes his personality with a potion that he comes across during his research. He takes on the personality of Mr Edward Hyde, who is very cruel and evil-minded. The duality of persona is, since then, presented with the name of Jekyll and Hyde.

Summary of The The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Mr Utterson, a lawyer, relates the story of his weekly strolls when he comes across his friend, Enfield, who recounts him the story of a horrible attack he has witnessed. He states that once he has come across a person, Mr Hyde. He saw Mr Hyde attacking a young girl, and disappearing behind a door. However, shortly after that he emerges with a check of a handsome amount and after paying the guardians of that young girl, disappears again. Surprisingly, the check bears the signatures of a respectable person. They also agree not to drag the matter further. However, later Dr Jekyll, who is also Mr Utterson’s client, visits him to get his will written in the name of Mr Hyde. Recalling that incident, Uttersonon soon starts having nightmares about London ’ incident.

Feeling confused, Utterson visits his friend Dr Hastie Lanyon and Jekyll to know more about this mystery . Lanyon, however, discloses that he is not at good terms with Jekyll since their dispute about Jekyll’s unethical research and intentions. Lanyon believes that Jekyll’s research is just unscientific “balderdash”. So Utterson is not fully satisfied and visits the lab’s building, a meeting with Mr Hyde, too. He comes to know that it is a laboratory but mysteriously relates to Dr Jekyll as it is adjacent to his house. Interestingly, Utterson also meets Mr Hyde and comes to know that he is a deformed, ugly man who willingly shares his address with Utterson but that is of Dr Jekyll.

Mr Utterson, confused reaches out to Jekyll to learn about Mr Hyde. He also discusses it with his friend Dr Lanyon. Dr Lanyon informs him about his broken contacts with Jekyll over some “unscientific balderdash” research that he does not approve of. Utterson’s curiosity takes the best of him. He starts observing the laboratory and rest of the building to know about Mr Hyde as he visits. He learns that the building is the laboratory of Dr Jeykyll and is also attached to his house. He visits there and finds Mr Hyde. Utterson is shocked at Hyde’s appearance, which is shockingly ugly combined with ambiguous looks. Mr Hyde give his address to Utterson. When the personality shifts, Jekyll asks him not to worry about Hyde’s issue. A year passes peacefully but then a maid reports Hyde killing Sir Danvers Carew, a Parliamentarian, who happens to be one of Utterson’s client. When the police investigate the murder, Utterson expresses his suspicions about Hyde and guides the police to his apartment in the foggy weather of London. However, to their horror , there is nobody in the apartment. He see Mr Hyde disappearing. When Utterson mentions it to Dr Jekyll, he also asserts having no connection with Mr Hyde. Interestingly, Utterson’s clerk informs him that Jekyll’s handwriting is similar to Hyde after he sees the note given to Utterson by Jekyll.

Meanwhile, Dr Jekyll goes into isolation after some time, while Lanyon dies of the shock of seeing Mr Hyde. Before the tragedy , he gives Utterson a letter about Jekyll, but with the condition. He asks that the letter must not be opened until Dr Jekyll dies. When one day Utterson walks with his friend Enfield, they see Jekyll opening the window of his laboratory. However, he immediately slams the pane after they greet each other. Soon Poole, Jekyll’s butler informs Utterson that Jekyll’s voice has changed after he has isolated himself in his laboratory. When they visit him to verify the problem, they break the door to enter. Surprisingly, they find Mr Hyde dead with a letter from Dr Jekyll for Utterson explaining the whole ordeal with the truth.

When Utterson reads both documents, he finds Lanyon’s letter verifying the claim of Dr Jekyll about the discovery of a potion that transforms him into Mr Hyde, the vicious deformed person. Once the unintended evil act such as murder is commited, Mr Hyde changes into Dr Jekyll. Jekyll also confesses of killing the parliamentarian and trampling upon the girl. Informing his friend to help him, Dr Jekyll discloses his experiment and its becoming automatic, going beyond his powers . When the potion becomes short, Jekyll finds it hard to purchase ingredients, which leads him to become Hyde permanently and thus commit suicide to save himself from the the discovery of his crimes and suffer the punishment.

Major Themes in The The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

• Good and Evil : Good and evil are the major themes in the novel. It relates to one person’s personality Dr Jekyll and shows that evil and good resides in a person. His temporary conversion to Mr Hyde to commit an act of evil shows that he is the same person who set the evil inside him free. Therefore, this duality of nature in a single man shows how good and evil weighs upon an individual’s mind to force him to do either good or bad acts. The death of Mr Hyde, however, sheds light on the fact that after all human nature has not lost its capacity for doing good, or feeling regret at their acts.
• The duality of Nature: Duality of nature is another thematic strand that shows that a person can do good as well as bad if they intend to. Therefore, if any one of these two weighs heavily upon him, he commits that act. Dr Jekyll and Lanyon are both efficient and superb scientists but one acts for the welfare of mankind, while the other spends his time to fulfill his evil designs or show the degenerated side of his nature. He becomes Mr Hyde, fights with himself, and then sacrifices his life after the goodness of his nature overpowers the evil residing in him.
• Repression of the Self : Repression of one’s soul or psyche is another major theme of the novel that falls under the overarching theme of psychoanalysis. It shows that Dr Jekyll sees the repressed side of his nature more than the other one, and tries to uncover it. When he becomes successful in bringing this hideous personality into Mr Hyde, his second self, it proves as destructive as he should have been in that guise.
• Dark Side of Development: Mankind’s progress in every field, especially science, has taken hold of the entire human life into its fold. However, this also demonstrates the progress of the dark side , for Dr Jekyll, instead of serving humanity like his fellow Lanyon, demonstrates this dark side in the shape of his metamorphosis into Mr Hyde, who commits murders and cruelties whenever he finds a vulnerable target. It happens because of Dr Jekyll’s experiment of inventing the potion.
• Loyalty: The theme of loyalty emerges when Lanyon advises Dr Jekyll to restrain himself from doing the vicious type of experiments. He asks him to rather pay attention to the ethical side of his research. However, his loyalty toward his friend proves short-lived, and it takes his own life when he comes to know about Dr Jekyll’s invention of the potion and his conversion into Mr Hyde. He fails to bear Jekyll’s decisions and suffers a shock. Another point of this loyalty is shown through Mr Utterson who stays loyal to his friend. He honors the request of not opening the letter until Dr Jekyll is dead. Utterson doesn’t read his letter before his death as promised.
• Violence: The novel also shows the thematic strand of violence at several places and its impacts. Mr Hyde first tramples a young girl in the street and goes unpunished. When he finds another chance, he mercilessly kills Sir Danvers Carew, a renowned personality. The most horrible thing is that Mr Hyde, or else, Dr Jekyll, proves a ruthless person who does not feel shame at this violence in which a precious life perishes.
• Scientific Progress: The novel also shows scientific progress that could be unbelievable even in the future and yet foreshadows today’s scientific developments. Dr Jekyll is engaged in this science for his metamorphosis despite warnings from others. Even Lanyon, his close friend, advises him not to cross the ethical boundaries, yet he does not stop. This also causes the death of his very friend, who advises him to stay away from it.
• Appearance and Reality: The character of Dr Jekyll also shows the theme of appearance and reality in that he wants to keep his reputation intact, and yet he is engaged in heinous crimes against humanity by killing innocent people. Despite his well-respected name and home, he still works in his dirty laboratory. His split personality, evil Mr Hyde engages in vicious acts of killing others.
• Curiosity: It is just curiosity of Dr Jekyll how he would look after transformation that he invents that potion. However, he finds out that his other self is not only deformed and hideous but also vicious and harmful to humanity. Therefore, he kills himself by the end when he fails to transform himself back to Dr Jekyll from his second personality of Mr Hyde.
• Gender Bias : The novel shows gender bias through its female characters who are not only vulnerable but also weak. The first female character is the maid girl that Mr Hyde falls upon at night and almost kills her, had there been no other person on the scene. The second female character is the witness to the murder of Mr Carew, the Parliamentarian, but she proves equally weak as she faints. Therefore, the novel shows bias in the depiction of the female characters.

Major Characters in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

1.     Dr Henry Jekyll: Dr Henry Jekyll is the main character and also the anti-hero of the novel. As a middle-aged scientist, he holds a doctorate in science. Even in terms of wealth, he is not short of riches including a good reputation in society. Yet he falls from this pedestal of honor to the point of viciousness on account of his obsession with discovering something extraordinary. When he discovers the formula of that potion, he can split his personality to see how his other self behaves. In his transformation, he kills a renowned parliamentarian and causes the death of his friend afterward. He speaks only in the last chapter, while Utterson, Enfield, and Lanyon describe his character in the rest of the book. In the end, he kills himself out of self-hatred when he finds that he is no longer able to merge or change back into Dr Jekyll.

2.     Edward Hyde : Edward Hyde appears a separate character from Dr Jekyll. However, he is Dr Jekyll’s second personality, who comes out only in the darkness of the night and proves himself highly dangerous and vicious. Physically, his stature and deformity correspond with his petty behavior and vicious nature displayed in the street when trampling upon a young girl and killing a parliamentarian without any mistake. Surprisingly, however, he is quite civilized when he communicates with Lanyon and Utterson. Dr Jekyll himself states that he is an evil person. Hence, to kill Mr Hyde, Jekyll’s personality commits suicide by the end.

3.     Mr Utterson: Utterson is a lawyer who discovers everything about Dr Jekyll through other characters. He is his close friend as well. Utterson starts investigating Dr Jekyll’s routine life, behavior, and his links with Mr Hyde. A respectable and conscientious man, he, though, reveals the vicious conversion of his friend, Dr Jekyll, his views seem quite sympathetic when he shows Dr Jekyll’s narrative at the end of the story.

4.     Richard Enfield: Richard Enfield is Mr Utterson’s cousin, the narrator of the novel. He is somewhat incompatible with the reputation his family has earned. His initial witnessing of Mr Hyde, however, does not provide him a strong role in the rest of the novel.

5.      Dr Lanyon: Dr Lanyon is also a narrator and an ex-colleague of Dr Jekyll. He does not participate in any experiment of Dr Jekyll, especially the strange invention of the potion. He abandons his friend when he does not stop. Sadly, he dies of shock when comes to know about his success in his devious scheme.

6.     Richard Poole: Poole is Dr Jekyll’s trusted butler and is genuinely concerned about his health. He seeks assistance from Utterson when both go to see Hyde dead and finds the letter of confession in Dr Jekyll’s voice.

7.     Sir Danvers Carew: Sir Danvers is a respected Parliamentarian and the second victim of Mr Hyde’s killing spree.

8.     Mr Guest: He is the clerk of Utterson who is an expert in identifying writings. He tells Utterson that the writing style of Mr Hyde matches that of Dr Jekyll. Hence, hinting that they are the same person.

Writing Style of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

The novel is written from multiple points of view along with the third person narrative in most places. However, Dr Jekyll also narrates his side of the story in the form of a letter. First, Mr Utterson enters the story and narrates his concerns about Dr Jekyll for leaving his belongings to Mr Hyde. Later, Lanyon narrates his interaction and obsession with Dr Jekyll. Finally, Dr Jekyll’s letter narrates his discovery, his passion for that discovery, and his full account of his transformation including his confessions. This methodical approach of chiseling the main information from the accounts of different characters shows as if it is a judicial decision presented through the accounts of eye-witnesses. The sentences have the accuracy, curtness, and conciseness of a legal mind. The diction shows that sometimes the reader thinks twice about hating Dr Jekyll and sometimes sympathizes with him.

Analysis of Literary Devices in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

• Action: The main action of the novel comprises Dr Jekyll’s transformation into Mr Edward Hyde and his killing spree. The rising action occurs when Utterson tries to investigate the real issue between Jekyll and Hyde duo. The falling action occurs when Mr Hyde commits suicide and leaves a letter from Dr Jekyll’s point of view .
• Allegory : The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde shows the use of allegory in the shape of the man’s original sin and his fall. Mr Hyde could be a symbol of that original sin, while some other things such as the door of his laboratory could be a symbol of the exit and entry to the eternal world.
• Antagonist : Although it seems that fate is the main antagonist of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the opening chapters. It becomes clear that Mr Edward Hyde, the split personality of Dr Jekyll, is the primary antagonist who seems to have been restored to this position after he kills Sir Danvers Carew.
• Allusion : There are various examples of allusions given in the novel. The first example here alludes to Cain, the second to Jagannath of India, the third to Babylonia and the fourth to Philippi as given in Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare . i. “I incline to, Cain’s heresy,” he used to say. “I let my brother go to the devil in his quaintly: “own way.” In this character, it was frequently his fortune to be the last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of downgoing men. (Story of The Door) ii. It sounds nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see. It wasn’t like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut. (Story of the Door). iii. This inexplicable incident, this reversal of my previous experience, seemed, like the Babylonian finger on the wall, to be spelling out the letters of my judgment; and I began to reflect more seriously than ever before on the issues and possibilities of my double existence. (Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case) iv. The drug had no discriminating action; it was neither diabolical nor divine; it but shook the doors of the prison-house of my disposition; and like the captives of Philippi. (Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case)
• Conflict : The are two types of conflicts in the novel . The first one is the external conflict that starts between Dr Jekyll and Utterson about his real identity and the second between Jekyll and Mr Hyde about their roles. The inner conflict goes on in the mind of several characters but mainly it tortures Dr Jekyll about his other self, Edward Hyde.
• Characters: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde presents both static as well as dynamic characters . The scientist, Dr Jekyll, his second personality, Edward Hyde, and even Utterson are complicated and dynamic characters, while Lanyon, Enfield, Sir Danvers Carew, and others are static and flat characters as they do not see any change in themselves during the course of the story.
• Climax : The climax takes place when Poole and Utterson break into the laboratory of Jekyll and find the dead body of Mr Edward Hyde with a letter from Jekyll.
• Doppelganger : Although Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are not similar in physical features, they are similar in that they are both the same person. Mr Hyde is another or second self of Dr Jekyll. Therefore, it could be termed a doppelganger case.
• Foreshadowing : The novel shows the following examples of foreshadowing . i. It was worse when it began to be clothed upon with detestable attributes; and out of the shifting, insubstantial mists that had so long baffled his eye, there leaped up the sudden, definite presentment of a fiend. (Search for Mr Hyde) ii. Next, in the course of their review of the chamber, the searchers came to the cheval glass, into whose depths they looked with an involuntary horror. (The Last Night) iii. A voice answered from within: “Tell him I cannot see any one,” it said complainingly. (The Last Night) These foreshadows show that something sinister is going to happen. For example, the last one shows that the change in voice means that Dr Jekyll is no more Dr Jekyll.
• Hyperbole : Hyperbole or exaggeration occurs in the novel at various places. For example, i. Well, it was this way,” returned Mr Enfield: “I was coming home from some place at the end of the world, about three o’ clock of a black winter morning , and my way lay through a part of town where there was literally nothing to be seen but lamps. (Story of the Door) ii. here was never a day when, if you had said to me, ‘Jekyll, my life, my honour, my reason, depend upon you,’ I would not have sacrificed my left hand to help you. Lanyon, my life, my honour my reason, are all at your mercy; if you fail me to-night I am lost. (Dr Lanyon’s Narrative) These sentences hyperboles and show how things are overblown to make readers believe in them.
• Imagery : Imagery means to use images such as given in the novel. i. The dismal quarter of Soho seen under these changing glimpses, with its muddy ways, and slatternly passengers, and its lamps, which had never been extinguished or had been kindled afresh to combat this mournful re-invasion of darkness, seemed, in the lawyer’s eyes, like a district of some city in a nightmare. (The Carew Murder Case) ii. The fog still slept on the wing above the drowned city, where the lamps glimmered like carbuncles; and through the muffle and smother of these fallen clouds, the procession of the town’s life was still rolling in through the great arteries with a sound as of a mighty wind. (Incident of the Letter) Both of these examples show the use of different images as the first one shows Gothic images and the second one nature and city life.
• Metaphor : The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde shows good use of various metaphors such as: i. And the lawyer, scared by the thought, brooded a while on his own past, groping in all the corners of memory, lest by chance some Jack-in-the-Box of an old iniquity should leap to light there. (Search for Mr Hyde) ii. That was the amount of information that the lawyer carried back with him to the great, dark bed on which he tossed to and fro, until the small hours of the morning began to grow large. (Search for Mr Hyde) iii. Even now , he sat with the glass of wine untasted on his knee, and his eyes directed to a corner of the floor. “I can bear it no more,” he repeated. (The Last Night)
• Mood : The novel shows suspense in its tone and mood , at times it becomes somber and ironic but then turns to a tragic and sympathetic mood by the end.
• Motif : Innocence, violence and urban terror are the main motifs of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
• Narrator : The novel is a multidimensional narrative as several narrators narrate the main events of the story, throwing light on the reality from different perspectives . However, almost all of them are third-person narrators except Lanyon and Dr Jekyll.
• Protagonist : Gabriel John Utterson is the protagonist of the novel. The novel starts with him and ends with Dr Jekyll’s letter that, too, is addressed to him.
• Rhetorical Questions : The novel shows good use of rhetorical questions at several places. For example, i. Bless me, Poole, what brings you here?” he cried; and then taking a second look at him, “What ails you?” he added; “is the doctor ill?” (The Last Night) ii. How could the presence of these articles in my house affect either the honour, the sanity, or the life of my flighty colleague? If his messenger could go to one place, why could he not go to another? And even granting some impediment, why was this gentleman to be received by me in secret? (Dr Lanyon’s Narrative) This example shows the use of rhetorical questions posed by different characters such as first by Utterson and then Dr Lanyon.
• Theme : A theme is a central idea that the novelist or the writer wants to stress upon. The novel shows the titular thematic strands of the doppelganger case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and also the duality of nature, violence, innocence and urban terror, etc.
• Setting : The setting of the novel is the historic city of London.
• Simile : The novel shows good use of various similes. For example, i. His friends were those of his own blood or those whom he had known the longest; his affections, like ivy, were the growth of time, they implied no aptness in the object . (Story of the Door) ii. Even on Sunday, when it veiled its more florid charms and lay comparatively empty of passage, the street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood, like a fire in a forest (Story of the Door) iii. Two base passions raged within him like a tempest. (Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case) The first simile compares his affections to ivy, the second the street to fire, and the third passions to a tempest.

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Literary Analysis “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’

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Every person has his or her bad and good side, and they can live as what they want to live. Some people do not care about what others think about them and act bad to other people, in contrast, some people really care about the people around them and try to be good to everyone. “The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson demonstrates how a well-respected doctor like Dr. Jekyll has a horrible impulse. In order to avoid the remorse, he would feel like he split his good and bad side. However, in the end, he lost control to Mr. Hyde which leads to his tragic ending. The story is marked as a ‘shilling shocker’, which shows the talent of Stevenson by the way he describes the setting, the character, and the plot.

The setting of the story is around Dr. Jekyll’s normal life like where he lived and the people around him. Stevenson sets the story in the areas of London, but in two different sides. One is the bright side which is known with tea parties and flower garden visiting – a symbol of Western noble’s life in the past – or also known as Dr. Jekyll normal life. The other side is Mr. Hyde life – dark and dingy corner of London for people who ooze evil – which can be seen through himself.

Stevenson’s setting gives his reader a sense of the two personalities of Dr. Jekyll, one is Dr. Jekyll – the guy who always follows the rule, join in sociable parties and be friendly to the others, and the other is Mr. Hyde who is on behalf of evil and mystery secret. In addition, the time in the story moves fast, but the remarkable of the story is on a foggy day. ‘Although a fog rolled over the city in the small hours, the early part of the night was cloudless, and the lane, which the maid’s window overlooked, was brilliantly lit by the full moon.” (26) The fog can be seen as obscurity and the unclear in the identity of Mr. Hyde, which makes readers confused and curious from the beginning of the story.

The existence of Mr. Hyde is just like a nasty secret and the way Dr. Jekyll uses to escape from his high-view life. In his laboratory, Dr. Jekyll – a doctor as well as a scientist – does variety experiment with a number of portions trying to separate his identities, which he calls “the curse of mankind.” (75) As a result, he turns into Mr. Hyde and gets what he wants – “I felt younger, lighter, happier in body…” It can be seen that Stevenson creates Dr. Jekyll as a gentle respectful man with good personality and habit, and he has everything that people wish they had – reputation from people around him, intelligent and good friends, and wealthy prosperity.

Even when he has everything, it could not satisfy him because he still misses a thing – the freedom to do the bad things as what he always wants. At this point, Stevenson has done an excellent job to demonstrate the real face of humankind. Through the existence of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it seems like Stevenson wants to tell his readers a truth that people never satisfied with their current lives, and they always wish to do what they want to while keeping what they already have.

On the other hand, the plot is an essential factor that marked the success of the whole story. From the beginning, Stevenson makes his readers curious about the appearance and the existence of Mr. Hyde. Collecting the story from each character from the story, there is a question which keeps appearing in every character or even the reader “Who is Mr. Hyde? And what is the real relationship between Dr. Jekyll and him?”

The point here is the way Stevenson makes the twist at the end of the story, Mr. Hyde is actually the evil personality of Dr. Jekyll, the respectable gentleman in the others’ eyes. The way Stevenson explains what happened from the different views of each character highlights the tragedy of Dr. Jekyll, and the story can be clear after the explanation of Dr. Jekyll through what he has experienced. In addition, there is one special point in the plot that makes the story, that is the end of the story when Mr. Hyde is found dead in the clothes of Dr. Jekyll. It is considered as a suicide, but actually it is not.

The truth can be seen as Dr. Jekyll killed Mr. Hyde as a way to bury his nasty secret from the public so that he can be still a good man in people’s eyes. He enjoys himself as Mr. Hyde, but his conscience does not allow him to keep doing as what Mr. Hyde do, and it must be a reason why he has to stop Mr. Hyde and put an end to what he does. Through the change in Dr. Jekyll’s mind in the complicated situation that he has experienced, Stevenson gets his readers’ attention until the end of the story – the good and evil personality of the main character – Dr. Jekyll.

In conclusion, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is the remarkable story which shows the talent of Stevenson by the way he creates the setting, the characters and the plot in his story. He tells his readers the complicated situation of Dr. Jekyll in the story of different characters, he makes the setting with the time and place to make his readers understand more about the main character – Dr. Jekyll’s life, and he makes an impression to his readers by the way the story comes to the end. That is the reason why “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is so popular years by years.

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Literary Analysis “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. (2021, Apr 30). Retrieved from https://samploon.com/literary-analysis-the-strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/

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