Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein and Confessions...

The Gothic Novels of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein and Confessions of a Justified Sinner The word Gothic, taken from a Germanic tribe, the Goths, stood firstly for Germanic and then mediaeval. It was introduced to fiction by Horace Walpole in Castle of Otranto, a Gothic Story, and was used to depict its mediaeval setting. As more novelists adopted this Gothic setting; dark and gloomy castles on high, treacherous mountains, with supernatural howling in the distance; other characteristics of the Gothic Novel could be identified. The most dominant characteristic seems to be the constant battle between the good and the dark side of the human soul and how that, given a chance, the dark side of human nature will†¦show more content†¦By drinking a magical potion, the second, evil personality of Dr Jekyll is actually given a physical form of its own, rather than just a mental hold over Dr Jekyll and is named Mr Hyde. Mr Hyde is even provided with a dwelling place of his own in Soho, the outcast area of London. When this creature of darkness is first brought into being, he is small and fragile, and appears to be warped, although nobody who meets this Hyde can put his finger on this abnormality. As Mr Enfield says, he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldnt specify the point. During the novel, however, the Hyde personality strengthens and develops, flourishing as a result of the fulfilment of his evil pleasures, which had previously been denied him without a body of his own, eventually overpowering the good side of Doctor Jekyll. This doppel-ganger figure is typical of many other Gothic novels, including Confessions of a Justified Sinner, and is used when expressing the continual conflict in the human psyche. The setting of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde does not at first appear to be in keeping with the conventions of the Gothic novel, as there are no looming mountains and crags with deep forests and ruined castles. In fact, it is set in London, but when I examined the setting more closely, I saw that the components of the Gothic setting had been adapted to the modern buildings and surroundings. The laboratory in which Dr Jekyll spends most of his time is described as aShow MoreRelatedBackground of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay2077 Words   |  9 PagesBackground of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was published in 1886 and is one of the best known of Stevensons novels. It concerns the way in which an individual is made up of contrary emotions and desires: some good and some evil. Through the curiosity of Utterson, a lawyer, we learn of the ugly and violent Mr Hyde and his odd connection