Outline for
Formal Literary Essay on Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde
Introduction
n "No
one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will." [John
10:18]
n Robert
Louis Stevenson's novel, Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde
n In
the New Testament, John states, "No one takes my life away from me. I give
it up of my own free will."
n He
is recognizing that everybody has free will and that nobody can make an individual
act the way you do not want to because an individual is the owner of your life.
Dr. Jekyll separates his good side and his evil side following his theory and he
does the experiment on his own, even though nobody forces him to do that. Furthermore,
he continuously turns into Mr. Hyde by taking the potions, sits on his hands
when Mr. Hyde commits the crimes, and as a result, suddenly transforms to Mr.
Hyde without the potions. Like John's statement, Dr. Jekyll's own free will
lead him to end his life.
n In
Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll willingly experiments on his theory of
separating good and evil by consuming potions which eventually leads him to
lose his self-control and to freely give up his life.
Body Paragraph
One
n Dr.
Jekyll's theory of separating good and evil by consuming potions results in him
having a pure evil side, known as Mr. Hyde, which represents the beginning of
him losing his self-control.
n Dr.
Jekyll realizes that he is living a dual life, wishing to divide his good side
and his evil side. As a scientist, he creates a chemical solution - potion -
that allows him to separate good and evil. He tests his theory by drinking the
potion, and Dr. Jekyll transforms into Mr. Hyde who is pure evil. When he looks
at himself reflected in the mirror, he has an ugly appearance, however, instead
of repugnance, he feels welcome.
n "Man
is not truly one, but truly two" (65).
n "I
felt younger, lighter, happier in body" (67).
n "And
yet when I looked upon that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no
repugnance, rather of a leap of welcome" (68).
n "This,
as I take it, was because all human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out
of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil"
(68-69).
n Dr.
Jekyll succeeds in separating his pure evil side, known as Edward Hyde, from
himself, and despite its ugly appearance, he feels welcome instead of
repugnance.
Body Paragraph
Two
n Dr.
Jekyll keeps turning into Mr. Hyde by taking the potions because he enjoys the
feeling of the moral freedom, temporarily, he loses his self-control.
n After
his first transformation, Dr. Jekyll must face the conflict of living a dual
life. When he is Hyde, he does not need to care about honour or manner, so he
decides to live a dual life even though he realizes that it will make him to
become a slave to it. Jekyll enjoys feeling like Hyde due to his lack of guilt,
he drinks the potions over and over.
n "That
night I had come to the fatal cross-road" (69).
n "It
was on this side that my new power tempted me until I fell in slavery"
(70).
n "Jekyll
was no worse; he woke again to his good qualities seemingly unimpaired; he
would even make haste, where it was possible, to undo the evil done by Hyde.
And thus his conscience slumbered" (71).
n After
the first test, Dr. Jekyll comes to the crossroads where he must decide to live
a dual life or not. He decides to drink the potions over and over even though he
knows that it will lead him to lose his self-control, because his conscience is
gone when evil works are done by Mr. Hyde.
Body Paragraph
Three
n Jekyll
not only tries to stop Hyde when he commits the crimes, but he also turns into
Jekyll to avoid arrest, and although Jekyll tries to live only as himself after
the sudden transformation, Hyde regains the ascendancy.
n To
prepare the situation when that somebody would look for Hyde, Jekyll buys a
house in Soho owned by Mr. Hyde, and introduces him to Jekyll's servants as a friend.
After Hyde tramples the young girl to avoid arrest from the police, Jekyll
opens Hyde's bank account. Two months before the murder of Sir Danvers Carew,
he transforms without consciousness in his bedroom. He realizes he has to
choose between his two identities and decides to live only as himself. But he
does not sell the house in Soho or destroy Hyde's clothes. He tries to live as
Jekyll, but two months later, he transforms to Hyde again, murders Sir Danvers
Carew, and the city is out to get him. He stays as Jekyll to hide from people,
and recognizes that he is guilty for the death of him.
n "I
took and furnished that house in Soho, to which Hyde was track by the
police" (70).
n "But
this danger was easily eliminated from the future, by opening an account at
another bank in the name of Edward Hyde himself" (71).
n "Yes,
I had gone to bed Henry Jekyll, I had awakened Edward Hyde" (72).
n "I
neither gave up the house in Soho, nor destroyed the clothes of Edward Hyde,
which still lay ready in my cabinet" (75).
n "My
devil had been long caged, he came out roaring" (75).
n "Jekyll
was now my city of refuge" (77).
n When
Hyde commits crimes, rather than Jekyll trying to stop him, he just tries to
hide him to avoid arrest. He does not get rid of the evidence of Hyde's
existence when Jekyll transforms into Hyde involuntarily, and although he tries
to live as Jekyll, he fails to stop Hyde and he violently kills Sir Danvers Carew.
Body Paragraph
Four
n Because
Dr. Jekyll's evil side is getting stronger, he suddenly transforms to Mr. Hyde
without consciousness every day and despite his hatred to Hyde, he loses to
control himself, freely gives up his life.
n Because
Jekyll allows Hyde to control him, good decreases, and evil increases. Eventually,
in the middle of the park, he begins to think that he is a little bit better
than others, which makes him to transform into Hyde. Then, Dr. Jekyll starts to
hate Hyde but he cannot stop him: sleeping as Jekyll, always awakening as Hyde.
At the end, Dr. Jekyll uses his last potion to write the letter to Utterson but
does not commit suicide. Hatred for Hyde allow him to take over before being
found by Poole and Utterson in the laboratory. This leads him to commit suicide.
n "I
smiled, comparing myself with other men … And at the very moment of that
vainglorious thought, a qualm came over me, a horrid nausea and the most deadly
shudering" (78).
n "If
I slept … it was always as Hyde that I awakened" (81).
n "I
am careless; this is my true hour of death, and what is to follow concerns
another than myself. Here then, as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my
confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end" (84).
n Dr.
Jekyll transforms into Hyde without consciousness and although he tries to live
as Jekyll, he fails to stop Hyde's murderous appetite and lets him control his
life, this leads to Hyde getting stronger, like John's statement, Jekyll gives
up his life of his free will.
Conclusion
n In
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll
tests his theory of separating good and evil on his own by drinking potions,
even though nobody forces him to do that, and he loses control of himself and ultimately
his life.
n When
Dr. Jekyll sees Mr. Hyde for the first time, he feels "leap of welcome"
instead of repugnance, and starts to lose his self-control. He decides to live
a dual life due to no sense of guilt, even though transformation to Hyde will lead
him to become slave of it. Dr. Jekyll just sits on his hands when Hyde commits
crimes. Moreover, he helps him to avoid suspicion. He transforms to Hyde
without consciousness, tries to hate him, but actually does not put much efforts
into it. However, he fails to stop Hyde, give up his life freely by allowing
Hyde to take over him.
n
Everybody has
their own free will, but along with free-will comes the responsibility to
accept the consequences of one's own action, such as Henry Jekyll who freely
gives up his life due to his loss of self-control arising from initiatively testing
his theory of separating his two identities, good and evil.
Work Cited
Stevenson, Robert
Louis. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New
York: Bantam Dell, 1981. Print.
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