Evil or Evolution a Study of Stevenson’s the Strange Case...

Evil or Evolution: A Study of Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde First published in 1885, Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a story about a distinguished Victorian doctor, Henry Jekyll, who discovers a way to transform himself into another persona, Edward Hyde, who unlocks or amplifies thoughts, feelings, and desires not normally expressed by Dr. Jekyll but are the norm for Mr. Hyde. A scene of the text will be analyzed. A comparison will be made as to the motives of Hyde’s actions between Darwin’s theory of evolution and an evil nature as described in the Holy Bible. Both of these were hot topics of culture in the Victorian era as Darwin’s views were starting to challenge the Bible as the†¦show more content†¦However simply due to Hyde’s evil demeanor, this doctor is so enflamed with hate, as if the girl were his own daughter, that he has the urge to kill Hyde there on the spot. Only demon-like entities could inspire such fury into the hearts of men. It’s as if Hyde either had such a concentration of pure evil inside him that he did not care what happened to the girl or he was of such brutish stocky stature that he didn’t know it had even happened. He’s such a boor, like a primate, that he is oblivious to the fact that he just crushed this poor girl. He exhibits sub-human behavior by leaving this girl lying on the ground that one could speculate that Hyde was lower on the evolutionary ladder than the other characters that are more concerned about the girl’s well being. Stevenson was influenced by both Darwin’s theory of evolution and the Holy Bible. According to the barbarian, simian characteristics displayed by Hyde in the scene with the little girl, it appears that he has transformed into a lower evolutionary life form, the result of connections to Darwin’s theory. Also, the atrocious behavior Hyde showed in the same scene leads one to believe that he is composed of pure evil, a product of one being taught the values of good and evil from the Holy Bible. These two cultures had just as much a clash as when the conflict first arose in the Victorian era as they doShow MoreRelated Comparing League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Mary Reilly, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde2163 Words   |  9 PagesExtraordinary Gentlemen, Mary Reilly, and Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde      Ã‚   Robert Louis Stevensons short novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has spawned many retellings of Dr. Jekylls tale, as well as variations on the theme. The Jekyll and Hyde conceit is one that lends itself to many different forms of literature, such as motion pictures and sequential art. Sometimes liberties are taken in reinterpretations of Mr. Hyde from the original text. This can be