jekyll & hyde

jekyll & hyde

Step 1)  Choose one excerpts from the novella that provides characterization of Mr. Hyde:

"'He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point. He's an extraordinary looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way...'"

AND one excerpt from the novella that provides characterization of Dr. Jekyll:

"Now that that evil influence had been withdrawn, a new life began for Dr. Jekyll. He came out of his seclusion, renewed relations with his friends, became once more their familiar guest and entertainer; and whilst he had always been known for charities, he was now no less distinguished for religion. He was busy, he was much in the open air, he did good; his face seemed to open and brighten, as if with an inward consciousness of service; and for more than two months, the doctor was at peace. On the 8th of January Utterson had dined at the doctor’s with a small party; Lanyon had been there; and the face of the host had looked from one to the other as in the old days when the trio were inseparable friends. On the 12th, and again on the 14th, the door was shut against the lawyer. “The doctor was confined to the house,” Poole said, “and saw no one.” On the 15th, he tried again, and was again refused; and having now been used for the last two months to see his friend almost daily, he found this return of solitude to weigh upon his spirits. The fifth night he had in Guest to dine with him; and the sixth he betook himself to Dr. Lanyon’s. There at least he was not denied admittance; but when he came in, he was shocked at the change which had taken place in the doctor’s appearance. He had his death-warrant written legibly upon his face. The rosy man had grown pale; his flesh had fallen away; he was visibly balder and older; and yet it was not so much these tokens of a swift physical decay that arrested the lawyer’s notice, as a look in the eye and quality of manner that seemed to testify to some deep-seated terror of the mind. It was unlikely that the doctor should fear death; and yet that was what Utterson was tempted to suspect. “Yes,” he thought; “he is a doctor, he must know his own state and that his days are counted; and the knowledge is more than he can bear.”

The two excerpts both focus on the appearances of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In the first excerpt Utterson says, "There is something wrong with his appearance..." and this is referring to Mr. Hyde. In the second excerpt Utterson was, "shocked at the change which had taken place in the doctor's appearance" and this is referring to Dr. Jekyll. The idea development that happened between the first excerpt in the first chapter and the second excerpt in the second chapter is significant because of the great change happening in Dr. Jekyll. Even though Mr. Hyde stayed "displeasing" throughout the book, Dr. Jekyll started out normal, then began to visibly change to more displeasing looking.

The voice used in the quotes is contrasting though. In the first one, the way Mr. Hyde looks is not described really at all. It is just said that he is "displeasing, something downright detestable" and that "he must be deformed somewhere" and there aren't any descriptions of what makes him displeasing, detestable, or deformed. In the second excerpt it is clear what physical changes Dr. Jekyll has undergone because it is described. The text reads, "The rosy man had grown pale; his flesh had fallen away; he was visibly balder and older..." This shows that the voice in the second one was more descriptive of Dr. Jekyll's appearance than the first excerpt was of Mr. Hyde.

Step 2) Compose a poem for two voices for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde using what you uncovered in Step 1.

My purpose for this poem is to show how Jekyll and Hyde are both different and the same. In the beginning I made them contrast, in the language they use and in their writing style. I had Jekyll start without contractions because he is a doctor and I had hyde start out with contractions because he is just a normal man. By the end of it, when they become the "same" I have both of them using contractions for "I am". My intended effect is to show that Jekyll became Hyde, not the other way around.