Jekyll And Mr Hyde Deconstruction - 1359 Words

In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson tells the story of a doctor who uses his medical and scientific knowledge to enable himself to do entirely as he pleases. Through Jekyll’s creation of his alter ego Hyde, Jekyll can do whatever he wants with no consequences. Ultimately, however, Hyde seems to overtake Jekyll, resulting in the death of both identities. For many readers, the final part of the story supplies satisfactory answers to enough of the questions to provide closure. In â€Å"Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case† (â€Å"Jekyll’s Statement† hereafter), readers learn about Hyde’s creation and Jekyll’s ultimately failed experiment. While the final part appears to answer many pressing questions in†¦show more content†¦Hyde is natural and human, livelier, and more express and single, unlike Jekyll’s imperfect and divided countenance. Unlike humans who are both good and evil , Hyde is pure evil. Even this cohesive description falters a little upon closer inspection for multiple meanings. Jekyll claims Hyde is both human and yet pure evil unlike other humans. Minor disruptions of meaning are present here, but the basic idea may yet remain. Jekyll also says his own countenance is imperfect; Jekyll’s wording seems to suggest in Hyde’s being Jekyll’s pure self’s opposite that Hyde is perfect, something with which Jekyll probably would disagree. Despite these minor issues, Jekyll presents readers with a sufficient introduction to Hyde; unfortunately, Jekyll’s perception of Hyde does not continuously mesh well with Hyde himself. Jekyll says at first that Hyde is himself, yet not long after this claim, his assertion begins to fall apart. When considering Hyde’s actions, Jekyll says that he â€Å"stood at times aghast before the acts of Edward Hyde† (1712). It seems one thing to experience surprise at oneà ¢â‚¬â„¢s own boldness or to behave in a way one thought difficult or impossible, yet to be â€Å"aghast† before the behaviors of one’s own self, as Jekyll claims Hyde is, seems somewhat ludicrous. Further, Jekyll then says that the sins belonged to â€Å"Hyde, after all, and Hyde alone, that was guilty. Jekyll was no worse† (1712-1713). Even if Jekyll is attempting to use a rhetoricalShow MoreRelatedHomosexuality in Victorian and Elizabethan Literature.6608 Words   |  27 Pageshomosexuality due to his Victorian male upbringing; a man named Frankenstein. Robert Stevenson described what happens when a homosexual male attempts to live double lives to cover up his true feelings, and entitled it The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Elizabethan era, like the Victorian era, had its own view of homosexuality. Iago, a man with the tongue of a serpent, is believed to be homosexual, and because of his homosexuality, he brings to fruition the tragic deaths of the the main