'Jekyll becomes dependant on Hyde because he can express his concealed pleasures.' How far do you agree with this view?

I agree with the statement to a significant degree, Stephenson presents the duality of man throughout his novel showing that no person is completely good. Dr Jekyll's obsession with scientific discovery leads him to the creation of Mr Hyde, who serves as an evil counterpart. Jekyll lives vicariously through Hyde because as a Victorian gentlemen Dr Jekyll has had to uphold standards of etiquette and not allowed the pleasures and freedom that the character of Hyde is allowed. Jekyll is under the false impression that in 'the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr Hyde', however as the novella goes on the reader realises this is not true. It is Jekyll's worry that he 'concealed his pleasures' which leads him on the scientific experiments to rid himself of the 'evil' side of himself permanently. However he can never just remove this side and uses Hyde even though he promises Utterson that he is 'done with him in this world'.The idea of someone’s evil side taking control played on the fears of society at the time, because of new scientific discoveries like that of Darwin. Darwin’s theory of evolution was often mocked but also caused fears that there may be an animalistic side to everyone. Hyde’s description during the murder of Carew is presented as animalistic, Stepehens uses phrases to describe Hyde ‘like a madman’ who ‘clubbed him to the earth’. The description of ‘ape-like fury’ plays on Darwin's theory that humans were evolved from apes and the phrase ‘bones were audibly shattered’ both shows the Victorian fascination with biology and the body and the gruesome murder that Hyde commits. In this way Stephenson used the fear at the time of writing to show how dangerous it is to have a good and bad side, because Jekyll's use of Hyde as an outlet gets out of control. Hyde releases his pent-up anger with more ferocity than seen before, and later events Jekyll completely loses control of the Hyde side of himself and can no longer control his transformations, which leads to his death. Jekyll realises that he cannot remove the evil side of himself and that it has always existed within him even when it was not in the form of Hyde.Focus on meeting the assessment objectives of this kind of GCSE question, AO1 - perceptive understanding & textual references and quotations, AO2 - analysis of writer’s use of language, form and structure to create meanings and effects + subject terminology, AO3 - context and how it informs evaluation of the text, AO4 - Spelling, punctuation and grammarPoint Evidence Explain Link (PEEL). provide evidence for the points you are making and always explain how the evidence supports your point then link back to how this answers the question

Related English Literature GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How does George Orwell create a culture of fear in '1984'?


How should I structure my English Essay?


How does Priestley present the character of Sheila in 'An Inspector Calls'?


How should I structure my introduction for an English literature essay?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2024

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences