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Essay / Good and Evil in Victorian Literature - 2207
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde shows two sides of a man. The character in the book shows a man with a good side and a bad side. The good part is Dr. Jekyll who is presented as the person they wanted in Victorian society. Because he is the person who does good and does everything according to the rules, he represents good. Every time he drinks the potion, the good and evil in the person separate. This means that a person's caring side and remorseful side are separated from their evil side, which is everything that society perceives as evil. The ailments manifest themselves when “the man calmly trampled on the body and left it on the ground” (Robert Louis Stevenson 3). This shows that when Hyde was walking, he trampled this girl who was just a child to run around and he didn't care. Hyde's nature is evil because he was made evil. They show him as evil in every action he does. The evil shown in the text is evil as in the trampled part. There was no remorse for stomping on this girl, which shows how his nature is to do evil and how he doesn't know any better than to do evil. The good of the book is the good of Jekyll because it meets the expectations of their society. Dr. Jekyll was considered an honest person with a good reputation. He was considered a good friend and a man in everyone's minds and this was reflected in the way he behaved and the way he had friends. The book states: “Henry Jekyll shoes without further ado and free from any burden or obligation, beyond the payment of a few small sums to the member of the physician's household” (Robert Louis Stevenson 6). This explains how, as a person, he shows values that live up to the ones he had and thought were good. He attended all meetings and was respected. Mr. Hyde did not have this respect. Because he was not respected in the same way, they did not want him to attend the meeting. It shows that if you are good it leads a man to be