Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Critical Lens Essay

“This Master Hyde, if he were studied, ‘ though he,’ must have secrets of his own; black secrets…” (Stevenson 21). This quote is not only talking about Mr.Hyde from The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, but also every human being. Everyone has secrets, whether they are good or bad. Society teaches that one must hide imperfections and secrets to be ‘socially acceptable.’ Robert Louis Stevenson in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll And Mr.Hyde, demonstrates society's blind eye to secrets or evil through the motif of darkness.

Stevenson uses darkness to represent the evilness in one's true self. “...and there was a man in the middle in, with a kind of black, sneering coolness-frightened too” (Stevenson 2). The author depicts the image of an evil figure with “black, sneering coolness” to demonstrate how people act when society's eyes are no longer on them. They will no longer act perfect and begin to make a true decision, which is not always morally right. By creating this figure of evilness the author shows all the secrets and trouble …show more content…
“That was the amount of information that the lawyer carried back with him to the great, dark bed on which he tossed to and fro, until the small hours of the morning began to grow large.” (Stevenson 8). Darkness was used to show that Mr.Utterson knows information about people in his town but refuses to talk to the police or his friends. He is worried that if he tells someone it will ruin his perfect lifestyle. Mr.Utterson not saying anything covered up for multiple murders and assaults. “There were besides a few dark closets and a spacious cellar” (Stevenson 37). This not only describes Mr.Hyde’s but also is a metaphor for the people in the society keeping secrets. Mr. Hyde, along with everyone else in the high society, keeps “dark“ secrets from each other to make themselves look socially acceptable. They hide the darkness away in their “closets” where no one will

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