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Essay / The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - 734
The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in the late Victorian era. Although "this horror story owes its allegiance to the Gothic rather than to realism, many critics suggest that Robert Louis Stevenson's story about a man torn between his respectable public identity and an amoral secret self captures the central anxieties of the end of the century” (Norton 1669). ). The late Victorian era was “the prevailing state of mind during the closing decades of the 19th century” (Norton 1668). In the story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, there are some reflections of the breakdown of Victorian values that resulted in their civic responsibility as a whole. In the story, there could be a certain distance. This was one of the values that the Victorians had to follow in order not to disassemble in the cities. In the story The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Hyde committed a crime by killing and mistreating two people in the story. The first person to die was Sir Danvers Carew. As described, the “old gentleman took a step back, with the air of a very surprised and slightly injured person; and at that moment Mr. Hyde came out of all bounds and knocked him to the ground. And the next moment, with ape-like fury, he trampled his victim and unleashed a storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly broken and the body leaped to the roadway” (Stevenson 1688). Dr. Jekyll had been transformed into the evil Hyde and committed numerous injuries and crimes. As another example: “He would be aware of the great field of lamps of a night city; then the figure of a man walking quickly; then of a child running away from the doctor; then these met, and this human Juggernaut trampled the child and died despite his cries” (Stevenson 1682-1683). He also ends up killing himself, Dr. Hyde, by keeping his own evil soul. Overall, the story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written as a reflection of the values of the Victorian era. Hyde could and probably would have been punished or executed for his crimes. That being said, it would be difficult for the average person to survive during this time..