Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Character Analysis

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Robert Louis Stevenson’s book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is said to be about the duality of man. The book is also about many societal perspectives and tackles a less referenced theme of society’s view on image and reputation. It was written during a time when if you were a woman and had red hair you were told you had an excitable and hot-tempered personality, you were then told to pursue men with dark brown or black hair because he would have a more calm demeanor. Everything during that era was based on your appearance both physically and in society. The novel is told through a similar mindset. None of the characters ever suspect that Dr. Jekyll could ever transform into something evil, or that he would have evil inside him. When reading the…show more content…
Hyde. This feeling is best explained on page eight when Mr. Enfield says “There is something wrong with his [Mr. Hyde’s] appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He [Mr. Hyde] must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point.” Mr. Enfield represents the public's’ view on deformity. He describes Hyde as being deformed somewhere which would indicate Hyde’s appearance must match the feeling Enfield is left with. This represents the public because it was an alien concept at the time for someone to not match the way they are on the outside to how they are on the inside, which is why Enfield chooses the particular word, deformity. If you were deformed during the Victorian era then you were seen as someone to beware, and stay away from. Not as they are but as how they appear. Of course, today we see this as totally superficial or at least we should but that was how Victorian Englander’s thought. Everything was based around your appearance, your manners, and if you knew the proper etiquette. Stevenson plays on the fear of someone pleasing all of these ridiculous societal etiquettes and still having a darkness within
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