The Nature of Good and Evil in Stevensons The Strange case of Dr Jekyl

The Nature of Good and Evil in Stevenson's The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Introduction: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the story of a gifted doctor who discovers a drug which can release the evil side of one's nature. This drug changes Dr Jekyll into Mr Hyde. Stevenson does not reveal the details of Jekyll's story until the end of the novel, but presents the tale as mystery, in which the main characters try to figure out the identity of Mr Hyde and understand his strange relationship with Dr Jekyll. This story follows the gothic genre and below I will explain some gothic features that are used in this story This story follows 'The Faust Motif'. This is The use of a monster (Mr Hyde) Due to the fact that he looks abnormal, disabled and is ugly people feel uncomfortable around him and scared to stand anywhere near him. Another feature would be that Dr Jekyll has a second self or in other words an alternate identity being Mr Hyde. This book uses multiple narratives. This is when the story is told through many different perspectives so that the reader can make up his own mind about what the story is actually about. This story we first hear through the perspective of Mr Utterson and Mr Enfield as they try to discover the relationship between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Then as the story progresses we hear Mr Hyde's story and towards the end we hear Dr Jekyll' story. I think that Stevenson was trying to show that good and evil cannot be changed or intervened with using the aid of science. He gets his point across when we find out how Dr Jekyll ends up suffering and leading to his own downfall by trying to get rid of hi... ...t they have seen, experienced and had evidence of rather than talking about what they have heard Conclusion In this essay I have gone through the main points of the story. From the beginning where Mr Hyde tramples the young girl and Mr Utterson and Mr Enfield decide to track Mr Hyde. Then I carried on by going onto how the doors of houses and other places can symbolise what is behind them and what type of person uses them. After that I analysed Mr Hyde in depth and discussed his actions. Including when he trampled the young girl and paid her family money to avoid any sort of trouble. Then he brutally murdered Sir Danvers Carew, even though from the maids perspective it seemed as if they were friends. Then I commented on the use of multiple narratives and the relationship between the narrators.