The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: An Analytical Essay

This essay provides an analysis of Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," focusing on the character of Edward Hyde. It examines Hyde's physical and mental attributes, delving into whether his disability and evil nature are innate or a product of Victorian society. The essay explores how Hyde's actions and appearance reflect societal expectations and prejudices, supported by direct quotes from the text. It also examines the duality presented in the novel, particularly the separation between Dr. Jekyll's house and laboratory, and how this division allows for morally questionable scientific endeavors. The analysis considers the dehumanization of Hyde, emphasizing how the Victorian society's views on disability shaped the character and his actions.

Running head: ENGLISH
English
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a narrative that has been written by Robert
Louis Stevenson about the complexities of science as well as the duplicity o the human nature.
Being a well respected, kind and intelligent scientist, Dr Jekyll transformed himself to Mr. Hyde
in order to bring out his “second nature” (Stevenson). Being his evil alter ego, The personality of
Mr Hide was completely different form that of Dr Jekyll. Unlike Jekyll, Hyde did not repent r
accept any responsibility for his criminal and evil act. In the following paragraph, the analysis of
physical and mental attribute of Hyde has been performed. The disability and activities of Hyde
was enforced on him by the Victorian society.
Discussion
In his book, Stevenson described Edward Hyde as a devilish, evil and a criminal
mastermind. The author made Hyde more mysterious by hinting o his physical appearance. Hyde
was smaller than Jekyll and whenever people notice him, they get affected by his loos and spirit.
He is described to be ugly and according to Stevenson he had the face of a Satan. Th author
described Hyde as "There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing,
something downright detestable. I never saw a man so disliked." (Ferini-Strambi et al.) Apart
from being ugly, the two other attributes of Hyde that has made his evil nature more prominent
was his murderous activities and his powerful nature. Hyde had murdered Carew and broke the
leg of a little girl. This incident was described by Stevenson as “with ape-like fury, he was
trampling his victim under foot, and hailing down a storm of blows.” The term “ape-like fury”(
Ferini-Strambi et al). has been used by the author to describe him as an animal not a human
being. This description demonstrate that Hyde did not care about his actions along with this he

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had no control order his animalistic and fiery behaviour. According to researchers, the evil nature
of Hyde demonstrates the stereotyping nature of the Victorian society. In the 1840s, disability is
considered to be evil. Disabled people were rejected. The demonstration of Hyde as a disable
person was used for demonstrating his evil nature ore prominently. The character of Mr.Hyde wa
so trryfying to the readers due to hi visbly disfigured as wel as physical impairment. The
dehumanization of Hyde was done by Stevenson as "hardly human" and a "disgustful curiosity"
— He is not just an individual to be feared and hated by the lens of his disfigurement (Ligasová
et al).
It can be said that that the horror of Hyde in the mind of readers comes not only fro the
unnamed deformity of the person but from the fact that it is uncontrolled. The character was fond
to be roaming across stress and alleys in an aggressive manner stead of being cramped in a
Victorian freak show or benevolent institution, out of sight as well as out of mind.
In his narrative, Stevenson has described the house of Jekyll as a house with an ‘air of
wealth and comfort” and his laboratory as “sinister” (Vara-Ciruelos, Fiona, and Grahame). In
spite of the fact that the two mentioned areas are physically connected in one building, the dual
nature is highly evident. In order to ensure that the physical association linking the house as well
as the lab cannot be seen from either side since they appeared highly diffrent. The lab is not
connected to the house (Garcia-Vallejo and Yvette van Kooyk). In addition, the two sides of the
building faced two different alleys. Hence it is easier for their involvement to be overlooked.
While Dr. Jekyll was found to be more associated with the house, Mr. Hyde was found to be
associated with the lab. This separation allowed morally questionable science for continuing
since Jekyll disassociates himself from it. The laboratory and science can therefore be considered
as the domain of Hyde. Hyde hardly ever entered the house. Instead he preferred the dark and

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frightening lab. Just like the laboratory is largely ignored by the passerby, the Victorian society
tried to ignore the action of Hyde along with his character traits since they went against their
social belief.
Conclusion
The novel “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” demonstrated one of the most
well-known as well as crucial dualities due to the apparent line separating the two sides of one
man. Considering the fact that he cannot tolerate the containment, Jekyll was forced into
mysterious behaviours which go up beyond the control of Dr. Jekyll. Appearing highly regarded
in Victorian era society was considered to be the only method of having the effective reputation
in society which he desired; hence he selected to convey his personalities that were deemed
acceptable.

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Reference
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Garcia-Vallejo, Juan J., and Yvette van Kooyk. "DC-SIGN: the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde." Immunity 42.6 (2015): 983-985.
Ligasová, Anna, et al. "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: A strange case of 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine and
5-ethynyl-2′-deoxycytidine." Open biology 6.1 (2016): 150172.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and other tales. OUP Oxford,
2006.
Vara-Ciruelos, Diana, Fiona M. Russell, and D. Grahame Hardie. "The strange case of AMPK
and cancer: Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde?." Open biology 9.7 (2019): 190099.