In the class of L/L writing we worked with Literary essay. After reading
the theory and examples, we wrote our Literary essay on "The strange Case
of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde". I worked with Jimena Timpanaro.
An essay on “The Strange Case of Dr
Jeckyll and Mr Hyde”
The novel “The Strange Case of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde” written by Robert
Louis Stevenson, is about an honorable doctor called Henry Jekyll, who is
interested in the double personality of human being. Finally, he creates a
potion to reach his aim, but the results he gets are not the expected ones. In
this essay the topics to be analyzed will be the main themes, which they are
The Duality of Human Nature, The Importance of Reputation and The Innocent and
The Guilty.
Throughout the novel the theme Duality of Human Nature is developed.
This theme emphasizes the two personalities a human being has, the good and the
bad one. As Jekyll creates a potion to separate them, his goal is to
create two personalities. But he transforms the good in bad and that is how,
the bad part becomes dominant. Hyde is an amoral creature. Yet, if he was an
animal he would not live in an urban place or act as a human. “…It was on the
moral side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognize the thorough and
primitive duality of man”.
The second main theme that is analyzed is The Importance of Reputation.
During Victorian era, reputation was very important. But, to have reputation
you must avoid gossiping, with others. To gossip was not for people from the
upper classes; the ones who did it were not well seen. Utterson and Enfield
have a reputation so, they avoid gossiping when they talk about the story of
the door. “I am ashamed of my long tongue. Let us make a bargain never to refer
to this again”.
The last theme to analyze is The Innocent and The guilty. This novel has
many violent scenes. In most of them the culprit is Hyde and the victim, an
innocent person. Sir Carew and the little girl are both victims of Hyde. But in
the end of the story, Hyde’s victims are both Jekyll and Hyde when he finally
commits suicide. Neither of the victims are innocent, both of them do wrong
things. “And next moment, with ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under
foot, and hailing down a storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly
shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway”.
In “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, the author focuses on
these three themes. As a conclusion, we may say that the themes analyzed in
this essay are developed all along the novel, and they are very important to
it. Without them, the novel would not create a strange and mysterious feeling
in the reader. These themes are not common in novels, they are original and
that is what makes this novel very special, sophisticated and traditional.
The novel
Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde
Enfield and Utterson gossiping
Mr Hyde killing Sr Carew
Mr Hyde mistreating the little girl
