Blog Post 8 - Dr. J & Mr. H
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| The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde may be the same person, but they have very different personalities. Mr. Hyde is the evil that has boiled up inside of Dr. Jekyll himself, giving him the same knowledge that Dr. Jekyll has but with darker, more evil motivations.
Step 1: Characterization Comparison
In chapter 2, "Search for Mr. Hyde," we are able to see that this evil personality is put into human form the first time we meet Mr. Hyde. In his first encounter with Mr. Utterson, Hyde was rude and bothered by their conversation. From making rude statements such as "what do you want?" (Stevenson 60) to keeping the conversation as short as possible, we can see that Hyde was in a rush to get away from having this conversation. When Utterson requested to see Hyde's face, Hyde was hesitant to show it, which allows us to infer that Hyde was afraid that Utterson would recognize him as Jekyll. It is also shown that Hyde is aware of what happens in Jekyll's life because when Utterson states that Jekyll told him what Hyde looked like, Hyde called him a liar since he knows that Jekyll did no such thing. Not only can we see what Hyde's appearance was, we can also see how people react to him. Utterson was suspicious that Hyde was interested in Jekyll's will so much that he was planning to rid of Jekyll, as well as Utterson felt insulted by Hyde when he called him a liar and ran inside without saying goodbye.
Dr. Jekyll contains Hyde within him, but he does not allow for it to show in social settings. In chapter 3 "Dr. Jekyll Was Quite at Ease," Utterson and Jekyll are able to have a sophisticated and respectable conversation even though there is a disagreement about Hyde. As the author points out, Jekyll is very fond of Utterson and holds a lot of respect for him. Due to their mutual respect of one another, these two men are able to have a conversation about Jekyll's will. Although Jekyll got upset when Utterson brought up Hyde, he did not yell or get overly angry, he was able to ask as kindly as he could if they could drop the issue and not talk of Hyde or his part in the will. When Jekyll does get upset, he said "I do not care to hear more" (Stevenson 66). This shows that even when he is upset, Jekyll is able to contain his anger and ask Utterson to not bring up the topic of Mr. Hyde in his will.
Through the excerpts in the two back-to-back chapters we are able to see the contrast between Jekyll and Hyde and how the two men are the same but different. It is shown that Hyde is more relaxed and respectful of those around him even when he has a disagreement. However, Hyde is very different in the sense that he is angry and aggressive when confronted. In both of these chapters both men were caught in a disagreement with Utterson but handled them very different. Hyde got mad and stormed into his house, whereas Jekyll remained calm and asked politely to not bring up the subject.
Step 2: Poem
J&H: I wish he were gone.
J: Mr. Hyde: The evil inside of me.
H: Dr. Jekyll: Just a body to live in.
J: He possesses me day after day, but he is greedy for more.
H: He releases me only to taunt me with a life I can't live.
J&H: Just let me be me!
J: I can't let anyone know that I am Mr. Hyde.
H: He won't let me expose that I am him and he is me.
J: He murdered that poor man and I can't do anything about it, can't turn myself in.
H: I killed that man so he would give into the guilt and let me live as me.
J&H: This would be a lot easier without Utterson asking so many questions.
J: He has good intentions. He's just looking after an old friend.
H: He should stay out of this. That will is mine.
J: I must find the right potion to make Mr. Hyde leave me forever.
H: I can't allow Dr. Jekyll to make the right potion to suppress me forever.
J&H: I would be a better me if I didn't have him around bringing me down.
The intended purpose for this poem is to hear the point of views of both men and how they feel about the other, especially discussing how the wish the other would leave them alone. Although I do not know the actual though process behind these two men, I have inferred that each man wishes to be without the other. Dr. Jekyll would be happier and more at peace if he did not have to worry about Hyde and his actions, and Mr. Hyde would be more free and wild if he did not have Jekyll containing his true self. The intended audience of this poem is people who understand that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person but Hyde is the evil that is within Jekyll. This also includes those who agree that Jekyll and Hyde would believe that they would be better off without the other man to hold them back from being who they truly are.
It was interesting how you emphasized the comparisons between Jekyll and Hyde. Before reading this, I always thought of Hyde as the exact opposite person as Jekyll. I did not think they had anything in common. I guess it's really impossible to be the exact opposite and have nothing in common with someone if you share the same life with them.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you talked about Mr. Utterson being a commonality between Jekyll and Hyde. By both having disagreements with Utterson, the author may be trying to show the readers that Jekyll and Hyde are more similar than other characters can see.
ReplyDeleteYour poem is so good! I don't know if you did this on purpose, but half the lines Hyde says alone end with the word "me" or "mine". This emphasizes that Hyde cares more about himself versus Jekyll caring more about the community. Jekyll doesn't even mention himself after the first few lines except when saying a joint line with Hyde. Could this be Hyde taking over? This is a really neat element you have included, even if it was accidental!
Wow, Christina, good job on this blog. I really like the fact that you highlight how Hyde didn't want Utterson to see his face due to the fact that he was scared of being recognized. I feel like many people miss this when initially reading the book. I also like how you really focused on some of the main similarities between Utterson and Hyde. I thought your poem was also really creative, and I liked how you were able to fit many of the elements you talked about before into your poem.
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ReplyDeleteI love the poem!! I think it was such a great theme to portray and inspect. I found it extremely accurate that they both feel that the other is holding them back and taking away what they truly desire, in this case Jekyll as Hyde is taking away his aspirations and wants and life, and Hyde as in wanting to live but Jekyll is holding him back. I found it also amazing that you found the similarity of both wanting the other gone because both of them are holding them back, well done.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love your poem! I like that you chose to show their irritation with each other and desire to be rid of them. It's an interesting concept since they're really just opposing sides of the same person. There was one line that really hit me- "He releases me only to taunt me with a life I can't live". While it is understood that this is Hyde speaking of his controlled release from Jekyll, but I feel like it can be related to much bigger things. For example, this gave me a bit of an existential crisis because I feel like there are so many things that we do to ourselves that cause the same feeling. For example, applying to colleges we know we can't get into (or getting rejected and still thinking about what it would be like had we been accepted), or looking at pictures of places we want to travel or things that we want to do that are way out of our reach. We are only taunting ourselves with lives (often other people's) that we will likely never get to live ourselves. Anyway, I'm gonna go scour Pinterest for more things to add to my "places I want to go" board now. :))
ReplyDeleteAmazing job Tina! I loved the repetition you used of words in your poem, when you gave them different meanings based on which character was speaking... super smart. The analysis you gave in step one was really in depth. It was really smart to not only look at how other characters saw Jekyll/Hyde, but also how they intereacted with him/them. I loved how you used this same approach with your poem, looking at the interactions between the characters rather than just the character's themselves.
ReplyDeleteSomething that I've noticed is that students often don't remember what Hyde looked like- and that's something Stevenson does in the novella as well; characters who have seen him can't describe him. I love that you thought about how the characters of Hyde and Jekyll are not necessarily opposites but also that their physical description is not what is really important to consider when thinking about Stevenson's purpose.
ReplyDeleteYour postings presents a specific viewpoint that is substantiated by supporting examples and your poem was well-written to stimulate dialogue and commentary.