What's Dr. Jekyll's favorite game? Hyde and Seek!!
For my analysis on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, I will be analyzing the quotes below and creating my own poems.
- The first quote is from chapter 1, where the text starts: He is not easy to describe..., ending with ...and yet I really can name nothing out of the way. This quote is describing Mr. Hyde.
- The second quote is from chapter 3, where the text starts: To this rule..., ending with This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop. This quote describes Dr. Jekyll.
The two quotes are alike in the use of adjectives to describe Mr. Utterson's feelings towards Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Stevenson also uses alliteration when describing Mr. Hyde, "...something displeasing, something downright detestable" (Stevenson 5). He describes Mr. Hyde here as disgraceful and unpleasant. In the second quote, Dr. Jekyll is described as, "...a large, well-made, smooth faced man of fifty, with something of a stylish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness" (Stevenson 12). This quote makes Dr. Jekyll seem more of a jolly fellow who is well liked by Mr. Utterson.
Though the figurative use of adjectives is comparative, there is an abundance of differentiated adjectives in the second quote, whereas the first quote takes one description and finds new words that all mean more or less the same thing. The appearance of Dr. Jekyll is also more comprehendible to understand and can be pictured using imagery. Mr. Hyde's description states, "...he gives a strong feeling of deformity" (Stevenson 5), but this doesn't give a clear image of the man. The second quote is also more helpful for characterizing Dr. Jekyll because dialogue is included to prove the manner of his behavior, but Dr. Jekyll's tone changes throughout the quote. He begins more or less relaxed about the will situation, but towards the end when Mr. Utterson begins to talk badly about Mr. Hyde, he becomes defensive and does not want to discuss the matter. Since Mr. Utterson did not make any conversation with Mr. Hyde in the quote I chose, I cannot analyze if the descriptions he assumed were accurate or not. These two quotes also differentiate because the first one cannot pinpoint an exact characteristic that would sway the reader to feel a certain way about Mr. Hyde, and the second quote can list certain features about Dr. Jekyll that appear to make him likable. I think the fact that Mr. Utterson was earning creepy deformed vibes from Mr. Hyde does not justify that he is indeed a bad person, but Mr. Utterson is ultimately right to perceive him that way, in the acts he then makes in the novel. I feel as though I could describe Dr. Jekyll after reading the two quotes, but not Mr. Hyde.
POEM TIMEEEEEEE
DR. JEKYLL
My name is Jekyll,
but I have an other.
I am out by day, constantly social,
but by night I have my secrets.
I am not a mistake,
and I wish to diminish my enemies.
I will soon make my move
I'm trying to end him.
I feel him gaining power
I've lost control
MR. HYDE
My name is Hyde,
but I have an other.
I am out by night, consistently unsocial,
but by day I have my secrets.
I am a mistake,
but I wish to become more.
I will soon make my move
I will end him.
I feel my power gaining
He's lost control
The purpose of my poems was to enforce and explain the light and dark characteristics of the two men. My poems also show how they are the same person because they had the same objective of destroying the other side of them. This is shown in my poem by giving them a lot of the same lines. My poems also show how at the end of the story, Mr. Hyde ultimately wins. The intended effect was the make the reader feel a darker, creepy vibe from Hyde and a innocent more hero vibe from Jekyll. Throughout the book the two character have an inner fight with the other, and the poem shows the characteristics they had and how that led to the conclusion at the end of the book.
Sincerely,
K-dog
Katee!!! I wanna start off that your poem is actual poetry, a great read! I appreciate that you started your blog out clear with the quotes to be analyzed. I choose the same ones for the same reason as you noting that in Hyde's appearance description is it unclear, where he has the inability to accurately describe the darker voice of Dr. Jekyll. I think that builds on the novella's theme of mystery and darkness that forms from Mr. Hyde. Then other characters are more capable to clearly describe Dr. Jekyll. It's most likely for the reason the bridge the concept of duality of nature present throughout the story. Sidenote before I started reading the book and did background research I thought it was really neat that people used to think there is an evil side to man and having fear of that prompted the idea of this story. I did a post on this about how I theorize that storytellers, while very creative, use fears, which are basically stories if we think about it, to expand on and write the actual story based off of a slight fear. In this case that man is not necessarily born with only a good nature.
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a really good job of explaining the stylistic devices the author used in both quotes, and I also really liked how you compared and contrasted the two quotes and explained the conclusions you could come to about each character because of them. The end of your poem was really strong too, in how it alluded to the outcome at the end of the book. Good work!
ReplyDeleteI really like how in your poem, they both say very similar lines but they still express their deeper inner thoughts. I also like how for Jekyll you said "day" and for Hyde you said "night". It reminds me of the pathetic fallacy we were talking about in class, how the setting complements the characteristics of both Jekyll and Hyde. Great analysis and poem!!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great response. Specifically, I liked that within the poem you were able to include similarities between the format of lines, while expressing opposite meanings between Jekyll and Hyde. Also, you used very strong stylistic devices and well explained duality.
ReplyDeleteI loved your poem!!! I like how you only really altered a couple words between the two, because it shows how similar and different they are as characters at the same time. I agree with the comment you made that you could describe Jekyll but not Hyde, but I think that is the effect that Stevenson was trying to have.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your poem! And your analysis was very strong, looking at the way Mr. Utterson viewed the two characters to test the validity of their characteristics was a really good idea! I totally agree that Mr. Utterson's feelings towards are not perfectly credible but that it does give a good idea of what Hyde may be like and there is reason to believe that Utterson's detestable view of Hyde is true. Then the way you were able to incorporate that analysis into the poem was really good. The way the lines were extremely similar but had just a slight adjustment in wording showed how Hyde and Jekyll were one but had varying intentions and goals. Overall, I thought the poem and analysis were great. The lines were well thought out and the shift in power was vital to representing the characters change throughout the novella. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteYour postings presents a specific viewpoint that is substantiated by supporting examples and your poem was well-written to stimulate dialogue and commentary. Great job incorporating textual evidence, but also providing significant analysis. As always, I enjoyed reading this!
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