...Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, is a defining work of pirate literature, providing the classic and immortal image of pirates that today’s culture still identifies with the historical privateers and buccaneers. Stevenson’s image of a pirate depends deeply on the cultural and historical image of the ocean as an unknown world between worlds, which creates a unique image for the men (and women) who were able to successfully, both economically and physically, conquer the sea. Alain Corbin, in his book The Lure of the Sea, makes the point that the classic image of the pirate is both reflective of, and influenced by, the literary image of the ocean itself. Corbin writes, “As this well-known model was reiterated, it reinforced the image...
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...Mohannad Zawi Mr. Mackay ENG-4U0 October 31st, 2011. The Fight for Survival Can Truly Lead People to Do Things They Wouldn’t Do When it comes to The Road by Cormac McCarthy & Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, it takes a lot to compare the two. Can these classic literary novels truly be compared? Luckily, you will find just how much they can be compared as you read this essay. In order to consider just how similar these 2 books are, consider the following: The main characters of their respective books ultimately aim to survive their landscapes, both of the main characters are on a journey for the betterment of their lives, and both of these novels portray similar themes. While one book has a seemingly miniscule cast and the other a large ensemble of roving buccaneers, they still manage to be comparable, and through their similarities a better experience is enjoyed for fans of the books. Both main characters of their respective books ultimately aim to survive by dealing with harsh environments. We understand that The Man from The Road has to deal with a barren, apocalyptic wasteland, and with this situation he uses his knowledge & wits to survive this harsh environment, for example, he carves makeshift bullets out of wood in order to scare off attackers: “While the boy slept he sat on the bunk and by the light of the lantern he whittled fake bullets from a tree branch with his knife, fitting them carefully into the empty bores of the cylinder and then whittling...
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...Evolution of a Jekyll and Hyde Personality 1886, was the birth of Jekyll and Hyde, published by Robert Louis Stevenson. Known to be one of Stevenson’s best novels, the novel is about a doctor named Henry Jekyll who struggles with the inner conflict of dual personalities with his hidden evil persona, Edward Hyde. Dr. Jekyll was a prominent doctor who is widely respected in his era. In addition, his friendly demeanor made him well connected and well liked. But despite being so well made, Dr Jekyll was seen spending a great deal of his time battling strong evil urges which he found repugnant for his stature. Believing that two entities were living inside his body, he tries to develop a serum in an attempt to repress such urges, but in doing so, Dr Jekyll unleashed an even more dreadful representation of the pure evil that resided within him, who is known as Mr Hyde. With no moral vindication, Hyde committed heinous acts of brutality and murder with often no remorse. As time went by, Hyde became a larger entity in his body as Jekyll was slowly succumbing to the thrills and immoral freedom that Hyde gave in his rampage. The aforementioned novel was written as a fiction in the Victorian age of the 1800s, but dual personalities are still apparent and very real in today’s context. This behavior is scientifically known as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), or better known for its previous appellant, Multiple personality Disorder (MPD). Much like Jekyll and Hyde’s dual personality...
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...How has your study of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and an appropriation of your own choosing enhanced your understanding of how and why cultural values are maintained and changed? “The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson, follows the duplicitous notion of a single body containing both the erudite Dr. Jekyll and the depraved Mr. Hyde. Stevenson’s novella imagines an inextricable link between civilization and savagery, and the palpable influence of cultural value and standard. Set within the height of the Victorian era circa 1886, this duality of human nature is examined by a specific Eurocentric interpretation, narrated by the mild-mannered lawyer Mr Utterson. Steven Moore’s filmic appropriation of the original novella is the BBC television series “Jekyll”, which encapsulates the similar split personality of Dr Tom Jackman and his alter ego ‘Mr Hyde’, within today’s current context. Through analysis of both the novella and the first episode of the film adaptation, a clear similarity between both protagonist’s circumstances is observed. However, the effects societal interpretation has on this controversy is varied in such a way, which distorts the very nature of duplicity, and thus the definition of the classic trope of Jekyll and Hyde. Social respectability and the desire to pursue pleasure both offer the fantasy solution of having a second self to carry the burden of one’s vices. Dr Jekyll explores the circumstance of an educated, Victorian...
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...The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is one of the greatest examples in literature showing the faults of humankind. Many of Dr. Jekyll’s colleagues and other scientists warned against him pursuing the path of unknown science, however, he was careless and ignored all of them. Both Jekyll and Hyde suffered addiction and were too weak-willed to overcome their temptations. The two sides of one person, Jekyll and Hyde, representing the battle between good and evil. The body below shall prove the three faults of humankind that can be found in the novel. The first point shows that there were much carelessness and ignorance in the novel. In the novel, Jekyll explains how the science community advised against going through...
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...The novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by author Robert Stevenson, is a story about Dr. Jekyll, a well respected wealthy doctor, who believes that man is truly two separate people. One evil, and one good. As he goes down the path of finding the best of both worlds he creates a potion that allows him to become the darker half of himself, named Mr. Hyde. As murders and strange encounters start happening, those close to Dr. Jekyll notice that he is acting strange. Not knowing about his other side, they realize that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have some sort of relationship. As Jekyll’s transformations become out of control, his friends soon find out the truth, that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person. In this novel, Stevenson illustrates that every person has a good and evil side, it is just a matter of making sure one doesn’t overpower the other....
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...In the novel Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses imagery, diction, and details to create a mysterious mood.The book Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is a very old classic written in the Victorian London time period. The book was written after he had a nightmare and that gave him the inspiration to write the book. The book turned out to be a big success and is now a inspiration to many people to do many different things. In his book there is a lot of imagery, diction, and details that make the book better and more enjoyable book to read. Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde uses a lot of imagery in the book in different ways to make the book better. As stated from the book “the door… was blistered and destained.” This was on page 49. This quote from the book conveys imagery by using details about how the door looks and the two words also sound like mysterious or dark words to help with the mood of the story. As said from the book “ As he spoke into a large, low roofed, comfortable hall… “ this was on page 62, This shows imagery by using key adjectives in order to give a picture in your head on how the place looks. “... by a bright, open...
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...Robert Louis Stevenson was a 19th century Scottish writer. He is most notable for his novels Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Cases of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Born November 13 1850 in Edinburgh Scotland. Robert Louis Stevenson started to have breathing problems at a young age and later it developed into tuberculosis. His father Thomas Stevenson was in the business of lighthouse design, so Robert enrolled at the age of 17 to the University of Edinburgh. The lighthouse design business wasn’t what Robert wanted to do but he wanted to help his family. After a short time in the lighthouse design program he decided to go into law school as a compromise with his father. He entered what was called the Scottish bar, which was an organization for lawyers. Around this time in his life he traveled a lot to places like France, Europe, and England all so he could be around young artists while he was still finishing law school. Robert graduated from law school in 1875, he never really put his law degree to use. Stevenson had a good eye for fashion. He adopted a wide brimmed hat, a cravat, and a boy’s coat, which got him the nickname of Velvet...
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...One Addiction, One Body, Two Minds. The novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson is a gothic mystery story based around addiction. By the title one would assume Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are two people, strangely this is not the case. Dr. Jekyll was a well-known doctor in London, England; Mr. Hyde was his evil alter ego. An anonymous narrator in a third person point of view tells the tale. Jekyll while in his laboratory creates a potion that is able to change him inside and out. This potion destroys his physical appearance and erases all sense of mental stability. As Jekyll, the man was a smart successful and popular doctor, as Hyde he was a murderer, criminal, and intolerable ugly man. Jekyll drinks the potion and is miraculously changed, but over time the transformations become uncontrollable. Stevenson shows the man’s life becoming more degrading as the addiction becomes more prominent and depended. This is a very problematic topic in the story. Robert Lewis Stevenson demonstrated in his novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that any form of addiction can have catastrophic results such as becoming addicted to power, running away from reality, and temptation. The novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a story that deals with a prominent and well-respected person that acts in two completely different ways. The main character, Dr. Jekyll, from the story was a gifted doctor and a brilliant scientist. Whereas the alter ego, Mr. Hyde was a dark person...
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...this chapter we discover Mr. Hyde’s (Jekyll’s evil, ugly side) transformation back to Dr. Jekyll with the help from an elixir he brews at his college’s (Dr. Lanyon) house. Another theme this chapter consists is silence. Throughout the text we don’t get to know much. As the reader we are mostly left in the dark. It does not tell how the situation came about or what it actually is. The story fits well in its period (The Victorian age). The story is dark and is filled with horror. Mr. Hyde symbolizes the break of the norms and the individualism there was during this period. As Mr. Hyde, Jekyll feels free, he doesn’t have to go with the society as the doctor he is. As Jekyll he is destined to follow the rules. This also fits well with Robert Louis Stevenson’s background. He also broke the norms from his strict and authoritarian family. He chose to become and author instead of becoming a scientist or a lawyer though it wasn’t as acknowledged back then. As said “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is very critical about the society. As Jekyll through Hyde breaks through the norms he becomes more and more evil, and Hyde starts to take over there personality and in the end kills himself (we assume). This could mean that society’s norms in the end will get the good of you and in the end kill you. It could also mean that if you try to break society’s norms, society itself will kill you. So if you go against the norms it is destined to go wrong in the...
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...same period, at the peak of the revolution was the Victorian Era, which brought forth much change; politically, socially, and artistically. One of the novels during this period was Robert Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. To better understand the protagonist and his alter antagonist, we can use the ethical critical approach along with the behavioral function: mental instability. The protagonist, Dr. Jekyll, has his own manifestation of an evil alter ego, which is a by-product of the gaping schism between the working class and the bourgeoisie, and an absolutely testament to his mental instability; which later begins to heavily affect his ethical decisions. The ethical critical approach supplements us as we study the behaviors and decisions of Jekyll and Hyde. A reason for Dr. Jekyll turning into the bête noire, or Hyde, could be explained as the adverse of everything he has ever had. It is that mental instability that affects his unethical decision to not tell anybody about his situation. Though to Jekyll, it may have seemed like a well-guarded secret, his close friend Utterson noticed his rather abnormal behavior. When confronted; in the novel, Jekyll was described as “The large handsome face of Dr. Jekyll grew pale to the very lips, and there came blackness about his eyes” (Stevenson 20). Jekyll is attempting to keep control, so that he does not transform into the hideously disfigured Hyde. When asked if Jekyll knows anything about Hyde, he becomes flush, and...
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...Works that have stood the tests of time, such as canonical texts like Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, have proven themselves influential over and over again in every field of the arts. They have impacted and altered the course of history and set the bar for other great works of fiction and have even inspired other worlds entirely; moreover, Stevenson’s and Wilde’s work have had a conscious and subconscious effect upon such successful work as Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho, and even Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s Batman which has a story that spans over decades. The dualities that appear in Stevenson’s and Wilde’s work pay tribute to mans’ opposing, and even conflicting, nature that rage inside them. On one hand you have the desire to be an outstanding moral citizen, while on the other you have the desire to give in to your more primal inclinations. In Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian, who heard his friend’s hedonistic world view, decides that beauty is the only aspect of life pursuing and wishes that his self-portrait would age instead of himself. After breaking the heart of his first love, he discovers that his wish has been granted. His portrait begins to age instead of him and also changes and alters itself based on the moral choices Dorian makes. When he leaves his first love, Dorian notices that there appears a sneer of cruelty on his portrait that wasn’t...
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...Duality is the idea of everything having an opposing truth. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s book, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, duality is the main theme. Stevenson explores the concept of duality with the setting, events that take place throughout the story and this character’s dialogue. William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, also demonstrates the inherent duality of the world. The dualities in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde consist of the duality of human nature and the duality of society; Romeo and Juliet ties in with some of these dualities. Dr. Jekyll, a character in Stevenson’s novel, is used a common example of the duality in human nature. Dr. Jekyll was thought to be an entirely good person, by the Victorian...
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...At this point all the thrillers of the novel unfold, as another view of the same events that have been unfolding in the story. Not from the point of view of Utterson, but from the point of view of Jekyll. This change in point of view makes a great modification certainly. All the events that seemed confusing or baffling before are explained. Jekyll reports that, after plentiful research, he finally found a chemical solution that might aid his purposes. Buying a vast number of salts as his last ingredient, he took the potion with the awareness that he was endangering his life, but he remained hopeful of making a great discovery. At first, he experienced absurd pain and nausea. He had become the contracted, deformed Mr. Hyde. He theorizes that Hyde’s small stature owed to the fact that this identity represented his evil side alone. Jekyll’s thoughts on the twin nature of man encourage his assaults into the experiments that bring out Hyde. As the incarnation of the dark side of man, Hyde is determined by passion and careless of moral limits. Jekyll frequently claims that his goal was to free his light half from his darker urges; however the opposite appears to happen. His dark side is given skin, while his better half is not. Also, his dark side grows even stronger as the novel continues, until the old, Jekyll doesn’t exist. Eventually Jekyll grew weary of endless benefit and spoiled some of his darker desires. This dip into darkness proved necessary to cause another unstructured...
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...so stereotypically needy that the origin of the first word that is selected in the archetype of the damsel in distress is another word for woman. Yet, as represented in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a man can be the character in anguish. This unique book was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886. The iconic plot, inspired by the fears of the Victorian era, has served as a template for modern books and films. The novel is about a man, Dr. Jekyll, who becomes addicted to transforming into a new persona, Mr. Hyde, and...
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