The Significance of Edward Hydes Character in The Strange...

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novel written by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and published in 1886. It concerns a lawyer, Gabriel Utterson, who investigates the strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the reclusive Mr. Edward Hyde. This novel represents an ideology in Western culture; the perpetual conflict between humanity’s virtuosity and immorality. It is interpreted as an accurate guidebook to the Victorian era’s belief of the duality of human nature. This essay will explore Mr. Edward Hyde and whether Stevenson intended for him to be a mere character in the novel or something of wider significance. Enfield is the first to come across the mysterious Hyde when he witnesses Hyde’s†¦show more content†¦This suggests that Hyde is a strange man. Stevenson uses this powerful description to convey and portray a man who comes across as mysterious and dangerous. Stevenson makes him more mystifying when Enfield continues, â€Å"I can’t describe him. And it’s not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment.† (Page 15) This immediately brings a sense of a man with deformities that can’t be described. Stevenson uses this to confuse the reader and amplify the sense of foreboding. Surely when one can see somebody in their mind, they can describe how they look and describe their deformities especially? Not being able to describe Hyde shows that he isn’t a normal human; he’s something far more inhumane. Utterson meets Hyde when Hyde is trying to go through the door where the novel started. After talking very briefly with Hyde, Mr. Utterson gets the impression that Hyde prefers the solitude as he quickly unlocks the door to enter. This time the reader gets an accurate account of how Hyde looks like. â€Å"Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish† (Page 23) is the initial line to the description. This could create the sense that Hyde is malnourished and still not fully formed yet. â€Å"He gave an impression of deformity without any namable malformation† (Page 23) reinforces the idea that Hyde had a deformity that couldn’t be described. Even though Utterson just met Hyde, he is indescribable which creates the notion that Hyde looks different fromShow MoreRelatedThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde1200 Words   |  5 PagesThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde Author Biography: Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson was born on November 13th, 1850 to (father) Thomas Stevenson and (mother) Margaret Isabella Balfour. Stevenson grew up in Edinburgh. At the age of 17, he enrolled at Edinburgh University where he planned on studying engineering. He instead took courses to study law, and passed all of them in 1875, but he later abandoned this because he wanted to be a writer. 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