Mr Hyde in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

evil
murderous
Jekyll's alter ego

Mr Hyde is described as devilish, evil and a criminal mastermind. Stevenson makes Hyde more mysterious by only hinting at his physical appearance - he is smaller than Jekyll and whenever people see him, they are deeply affected by his looks and spirit.

He is violent and commits terrible crimes - the trampling of an innocent young girl and the murder of Carew. He is unforgiving and doesn't repent for his crimes and sins. He is selfish and wishes for complete dominance over Jekyll.

	How is Mr Hyde like this?	Evidence	Analysis
Ugly	He is described as ugly and Stevenson suggests he has the face of Satan. Everybody Hyde meets in the novel is afflicted with his 'nightmarish' appearance.	"There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man so disliked."	This quote from Enfield shows that he is greatly appalled and disgusted by Hyde's appearance, suggesting that he is other-worldly and doesn't belong in the reputable society of Victorian London. The repetition of 'something' exaggerates how deformed Hyde is, as Enfield can't quite put his finger on it.
Murderous	Hyde murders Carew and tramples on a little girl causing her legs to break.	...with ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot, and hailing down a storm of blows.	The use of the simile 'ape-like fury' describes Hyde as an animal capable of rages, not a human. This shows that Hyde doesn't care about his actions and has no control over his fiery, animalistic behaviour.
Powerful	Towards the end of the book, Hyde becomes the dominant side to Dr Jekyll's personality. Each time Dr Jekyll turns into Mr Hyde, Mr Hyde gets stronger and makes it more difficult for Dr Jekyll to turn to his 'original' self.	"It took on this occasion a double dose to recall me to myself; and alas!"	This shows that Mr Hyde is getting stronger, as Dr Jekyll needs to use more drugs to return to his former self. The use of the exclamation mark suggests that this surprises and also scares Jekyll as he is unsure and wary of Hyde's power.

Ugly
How is Mr Hyde like this?	He is described as ugly and Stevenson suggests he has the face of Satan. Everybody Hyde meets in the novel is afflicted with his 'nightmarish' appearance.
Evidence	"There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man so disliked."
Analysis	This quote from Enfield shows that he is greatly appalled and disgusted by Hyde's appearance, suggesting that he is other-worldly and doesn't belong in the reputable society of Victorian London. The repetition of 'something' exaggerates how deformed Hyde is, as Enfield can't quite put his finger on it.

Murderous
How is Mr Hyde like this?	Hyde murders Carew and tramples on a little girl causing her legs to break.
Evidence	...with ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot, and hailing down a storm of blows.
Analysis	The use of the simile 'ape-like fury' describes Hyde as an animal capable of rages, not a human. This shows that Hyde doesn't care about his actions and has no control over his fiery, animalistic behaviour.

Powerful
How is Mr Hyde like this?	Towards the end of the book, Hyde becomes the dominant side to Dr Jekyll's personality. Each time Dr Jekyll turns into Mr Hyde, Mr Hyde gets stronger and makes it more difficult for Dr Jekyll to turn to his 'original' self.
Evidence	"It took on this occasion a double dose to recall me to myself; and alas!"
Analysis	This shows that Mr Hyde is getting stronger, as Dr Jekyll needs to use more drugs to return to his former self. The use of the exclamation mark suggests that this surprises and also scares Jekyll as he is unsure and wary of Hyde's power.

Social and historical context

In the Victorian era, many people were religious and believed in the devil. Many believed that people harnessed the Devil's power when they committed evil acts and crimes.

Victorian literature shows this through the opposition of good and evil, reflecting the good and evil in people. Many texts from the Victorian period have this clear .

Analysing the evidence

I could hear his teeth grate with the convulsive action of his jaws; and his face was so ghastly to see that I grew alarmed for both his life and reason.

— Description of Mr Hyde

Question

In this extract, how does Stevenson present the character of Mr Hyde?

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Characters - EduqasMr Hyde in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde