Dr. Weird Name and Mr. Hide

Well, after reading the first half of this book, I was intrigued; however, that Arthur video really ... showed me another side to the story. Could Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde really be the same person? Thanks for that spoiler Mrs. Genesky.

Anywaysssss, in chapter 1, where the text starts: He is not easy to describe..., and ends with ...and yet I can name nothing out of the way, we see Mr. Hyde described in detail. Through Mr. Utterson's use of descriptors like detestable and wrong, our mental image of Mr. Hyde's appearance quickly begins to become tainted with quite a negative connotation. And while Mr. Utterson cannot place a name on any specific deformities that Mr. Hyde possesses, he makes clear that there is still an evident air of deformity that clouds his face. It seems that all throughout his analysis of Mr. Hyde's appearance, Mr. Utterson is not actually able to pin down anything about it specifically that is off. This is very strange indeed. The most exact Mr. Utterson can get in description is that Mr. Hyde is easily disliked and somewhat extraordinary looking. These are very emotionally driven responses, does this mean that Mr. Utterson perhaps has something within his subconscious that is causing this aversion. Or are the bad vibes that Mr. Utterson is receiving actually a result of something evil within Mr. Hyde himself?

Mr. Utterson's description of Dr. Jekyll in chapter 3, where the text starts: To this rule..., and ends with ...This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop, contrasts quite glaringly with Mr. Hyde's description. Dr. Jekyll is noted to be "well-made" and "smooth-faced." Mr. Utterson continues to describe his appearance as extremely kind. Simply by looking at him Mr. Utterson is able to feel the "sincere and warm affection" that Dr. Jekyll has for him. This description of Dr. Jekyll begins to be as opposite the description of Mr. Hyde as the definition of the word allows. Mr. Utterson even points out that Dr. Jekyll speaks gaily. It seems that Mr. Utterson has nothing but praise for this guy.

Looking at these two excerpts together it becomes clear that these two characters were pretty much born to be equal and opposite. For every single warm and light-hearted characteristic that Dr. Jekyll has, Mr. Hyde has exactly one dark and convoluted one. It is very clear that Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, worked intentionally to create these two auras for these characters. Mr. Hyde is meant to represent innate darkness and evil while Dr. Jekyll is meant to embody pure goodness.

Below is a poem where I attempt to show the dualistic nature of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I collaborated with Enzo; he wrote for Mr. Hyde and I wrote for Dr. Jekyll (quite representative of our personalities may I add). In this poem I hope to make clear how polar these two "different" people are. Their personalities and values are quite contrasting, so Enzo and I tried to make that clear in our writing.

I have secrets

I am handsome and well mannered

I have guests and a kind butler

My neighbors' houses are much darker

Not to a soul would I cause stir

I am angry and quite evil

I live in a deep dark cellar

I love none, not even beagles

Hard to view, manners no better

We are the same

My will is addressed all to him

Quite ironic and confusing

The gap between us is quite slim

But if you bring him up, I'll swing

I love deep down in his shadows

I spend most my time in his lab

I rarely visit the Chateau

If they know they would think we're mad