Extra Credit Blog

In the novel Jekyll and Hyde women were portrayed as second class citizens, and were considered less important in society then men. Women were barely used in this story, and when they were used, they either played the role of a servant, or they got ran over. In the movie, however, Jekyll and Hyde are both interested in women. Jekyll wishes to marry a woman very much, and Hyde is attracted to another woman's appearance. The scene where the girl is ran over is not used in the movie, as it degrades women. I believe that in the movie Mamoulian didn't wish to include scenes that degraded women, because in this time period woman were becoming more popular in society. The scene where the girl gets run over is unbelievable as well. Girls don't usually go walking around in 3 AM by themselves. His point however is that women are important in society, and serve better roles than Stevenson makes them play. The audience will also enjoy a seen where love plays a role, as romance is a key factor in movies. It adds an extra factor which some viewers enjoy. The following reasons are the differences between the movie and the novel. There aren't much similarities between the women in the book and the movie. They both influence the plot. The girl that was run over and the woman that witnessed the murder were key individuals. Similarly, the woman who was interested in Jekyll then influenced Hyde. the woman Jekyll was to marry portrayed his impatience, but did not affect the theme or plot much. Therefore, the similarities and the differences of women were knowledgeable ones. Stevenson and Mamoulian portrayed women differently, and they each had their personal reasons for it.

Persuasive Argument

If Hyde was caught up in a situation where he was entitled to trial, I would be on the prosecution side, since he has committed a murder, which obviously by law is illegal. I would tell the judge that it is simple enough to acknowledge that an intentional murder is unacceptable, and the murderer should be punished. A statement may arise from the defence side that Hyde is facing bodily and mental problems. I would use Utterson as a witness to oppose this statement. Utterson would describe what was on the letter that was given to him by Lanyon; Jekyll willingly drinking a potion to become Hyde. Jekyll and Hyde are the same, only with different appearances.
Later on in the case, stories may be explained about why he committed that case, such as childhood conflicts and abuse. Multiple Personality Disorder may also be brought up as a possible disease state for Jekyll. I would oppose this, as Multiple Personality Disorder is when an individual unknowingly changes personalities. Jekyll however knows how to get access to Hyde, so he cannot be diagnosed with this disorder. Jekyll also intended to drink the potion himself, to investigate the good and evil between humans. It was his fault that his curiosity led to this. Why would he drink the potion? Wouldn't evil be inflicted upon him? I would conclude that he wanted an evil side of himself, and that all of his actions were intentional. This theory would be very controversial, and scientists and doctors may have to be brought into this case to approve my statements, but if my theory was wrong, he would probably be put in a rehabilitation center. If I can prove that he is guilty, which is my goal, then Hyde will receive severe punishment for his crimes.

Dr. Jekyll

The character that I am most drawn to is by far Mr. Jekyll. Throughout the book, Jekyll has been acting peculiarly. He was associated with Mr. Hyde several times as well. For example, in the will, it was stated that if Jekyll disappeared for three months, then Hyde should step into his shoes. This is abnormal, as no one can predict if they were going to be absent from the world for a set amount of days. Another situation when these tow men were associated was when the cane which Hyde beat Carew with, was in Jekyll's house! A question arose in me if Jekyll could have committed the murder. Later on in the story, another unusual moment occurred. Guest received the written samples of Hyde and Jekyll, and he concluded that their handwriting's were similar. I previously concluded that these two were always with each other, and the probably knew each other well, but similar handwriting's showed that these two men had similar traits! Even when Jekyll received the letter, he told Utterson that he burned the envelope. During this moment I thought, "was there a need for that? If so, why would he do that?" Jekyll often has mood swings in the story as well. At one time in the story he will be happy and sociable, and in another part of the story he will become upset and morose. This is quite a large mood swing. Going back to the beginning of the book, Jekyll wrote a cheque for Hyde. These two individuals have been having a weird connection. Lanyon has been telling Utterson that Jekyll has been up to nonsense as he was performing his scientific experiments. He took it to an extent too far of those of average scientists. Basically, throughout the story, Jekyll has been a static and unpredictable character. He has an abnormal connection to Hyde, and combining all these facts along with my knowledge of the multiple personality disorder, it is possible that Jekyll could actually be Hyde! If this is true, a possible theme that Stevenson could have reinforced is that when a matter is taken too seriously, and is abused to a certain extent, then results could turn out to be negative, and in my theory, inhumane.

Important moment in "Story of a Door"

Many moments in the chapter "Story of a Door," made me as a reader curious, and affected the story in an indirect manner. For example, when Mr. Enfield tells a story of a horrific man who tramples a little girl. The quote to support this is "...the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground. It sounds like nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see. It wasn't like a man; it was like some damned juggernaut." The man explained in this quote is later referred to as Mr. Hyde. Hyde could have been a symbol used by Stevenson to represent evil in the 19th century.



During this event, the murderer, Mr. Enfield and even the parents of the child didn't wish to take actions. The incident was settled with money, and never mentioned again. The Evil and Good passage on the Fleming blog discusses how society influences what is good and evil. It seems that in the story, unintentional murder is not considered serious. The loss of an individual who is extremely close to another person, doesn't seem to harshly affect them.



In our current society, if a similar situation was to occur, the perpetrator would immediately react and would feel sorry for the individual who he or she has murdered. The reason behind that is that we maintain a society where evil is prohibited, and we try our best to avoid it. In Jekyll and Hyde, evil seems to be widely accepted, and this situation supports it. I believe that an important theme that could be conveyed through this instance is; people can make an enormous factor in what is considered right and wrong in a society. If everyone commits a wrong doing and accepts it, then their community will turn out to be as such and then evil will always be present.