English Literature Example essays

6 Themes of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

• Duality of human nature
• Science and the unexplained 
• Reputation 
• Rationality 
• Urban terror 
• Secrecy and silence 

Quotes

• "I never saw a man so distressed as you were by my will; unless it were that hide-bound pedant, Lanyon, at what he called my scientific heresies."
• “If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also.”
• “What!” he thought.  “Henry Jekyll forge for a murderer!”  And his blood ran cold in his veins.
• “It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it. ” 
• "Man is not truly one, but truly two.” 
• “I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man."
• “She had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy; but her manners were excellent.” 
• “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.” 
• “Some day...after I am dead, you may perhaps come to learn the right and wrong of this. I cannot tell you.” 
• “The secret to a happiness is a small ego. And a big wallet. Good wine helps, too. But that's not really a secret, is it?”
• 'Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance, that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable.'
• “He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable."

Example Essay- Hyde 

Poole heard Hyde weeping like a woman or a lost soul, which may reflect the pity he is having on Hyde. The question is, is Stevenson trying to create sympathy for the devil, or is he simply making the reader wonders if there is any…