The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde took place in Victorian era, when
middle-class people were expected to follow the strict codes of society in order to
keep good public images. Jekyll and Hyde are good examples for showing how the
Victorian society determines a person’s quality based on its own codes. Through
Jekyll and Hyde, we are able to see the differences between a so-called properly
behaved Victorian gentleman and a man who is considered to be beast because
his misbehaviors is against the Victorian social values.
The most obvious difference between Jekyll and Hyde is their appearances,
Jekyll is described to be tall and good- looking, with his face being shaved and clean”
a large, well-made, smooth faced man of fifty, something of a slyish cast perhaps, but
every mark of a capacity and kindness” (Stevenson, 1886, p. 1686). On contrary,
Hyde’s appearance is described to be more like a beast than a human being” God
bless me, the man seems hardly human.” (Stevenson, 1886, p.1685) Hyde is also
short, deformed, horrifying and hairy,” there is something wrong with his
appearance, something displeasing, something downright detestable.” (Stevenson,
1886, p.1680)
The key differences between Jekyll and Hyde is the attitude toward facing the
hypocrisy of Victorian society. Jekyll is a typical Victorian gentleman, he represents
the public self, who always repress his inner desire and follows the strict rules of
Victorian society so as to keep his honorable images. On the other hand, Hyde is
completely the opposite, he represents the private self of Dr. Jekyll, who is careless
about the codes and his own public images, Hyde is anti- social, who always
behaves against the social values.” Through Hyde, the respectable Dr Jekyll is freed
from the restraints imposed by society” (Buzwell, 2014)
The other important difference between Jekyll and Hyde is their personality, Dr.
Jekyll possesses two selves, the good self and the lurking evil self. The good self of
him, Jekyll, is good-tempered man with a charitable heart, a doctor who devotes
himself in healing and helping others, while Hyde is bad- tempered, he easily
lose control of himself and finds pleasure in committing violence on others. For
example, Hyde tramples an innocent girl and beat an old man to death without
showing any sympathy on them. As Mr. Utterson describe Hyde to be” O my poor old
Henry Jekyll, if I ever read Satan’s signature on one’s face, it is on that of your new
friend.” (Stevenson, 1886, p.1685)
The other difference between Jekyll and Hyde is their social status, the author
implies it by providing them the different settings in the places they live and the
doors they leave from. Jekyll’s dwelling contains luxurious hall with warm fires and
expensive furniture, which “wore a great air of wealth and comfort” (Stevenson,
1886, p.1685), and the door which Jekyll leaves from lead to a street that is
surrounded by ancient buildings. While the place where Hyde lives is described to be
filthy, shabby, with clothes and ashes all over the floor, and the door that Hyde leaves
from lead to a street that is…..
In conclusion, Jekyll is a typical Victorian gentleman, an upper-class man who is
handsome, properly- behaved with good manners and kindness, a man who follows
the rules and represses himself to maintain good public images. Unlike Jekyll, Hyde is
a lower-class people, who is horrifying, brutal, beast- like, a man who shows no
interest in following any rules of society and beholds nothing but evilness.
By contrasting the differences between Jekyll and Hyde, we not only can see the
duality of human, but also the importance of being a properly- behaved people in the
Victorian society. Moreover, we are able to see how the great stress of living in a
hypocritic Victorian society forces people to find an escape through creating another
identity, which finally lead to self- destruction that turns a decent gentleman into a
beast, “my devil had been long caged, he came out roaring”.(p1715)