Human Behavior and Psychology: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Cosculluela Tris, Alicia
García Landa, José Ángel (dir.)

Universidad de Zaragoza, FFYL, 2016
Filología Inglesa y Alemana department, Filología Inglesa area

Graduado en Estudios Ingleses

Abstract: Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is considered a Gothic novella. Robert Stevenson belonged to the Victorian era, which also took part in the development of this literary genre. The aim of this paper is to analyze the characters of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde from a psychological perspective, defending that both figures are a fair representation of the real human world. Firstly, I will introduce Stevenson’s novella in its cultural and thematic context, providing an explanation of the relationship that exists between both. Then, I will continue by analyzing the character of Dr Jekyll as the personalization of ‘social dramaturgy’. Next, an analysis of the character of Mr Hyde will follow, arguing that he is Dr Jekyll’s aftermath of his repressions and hidden feelings along with his original self rather than his mere ‘evil side’, as it is usually stated. After this, I will carrying on with a comparison between the characters Stanley Ipkiss (The Mask), Bruce Banner (the Hulk), and Henry Jekyll (Edward Hyde), as all of them are very similar figures and synthetize all of the theories that I will be discussing throughout this paper. Eventually, on the last part of this dissertation I will be drawing conclusions about the ultimate and real meaning of Dr Jekyll’s drug, as well as the true meaning of the transformation of himself, taking into account all previously said.

Tipo de Trabajo Académico: Trabajo Fin de Grado