SH+P5+2014+Victoria+London

Zachary Brooks

Mr. Shingler

Sophomore English Honors Period 5

24 July 2014

Victorian London Aim (Zachary): Victorian London was London during the reign of Queen Victoria, also known as the Victorian Era which is considered to be between the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the beginning World War 1. This era was known for it’s peaceful prosperity since Britain did not get into any major wars. The book The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Stevenson is one of the greatest books that shows Victorian London along with Charles Dickinson’s Oliver Twist. This book is considered to be one of the greatest books describing Victorian London is because he talks about the attitude. As noted by Wikipedia, “ The novella has also been noted as ‘one of the best guidebooks of the [|Victorian era] ’ because of its piercing description of the fundamental dichotomy of the 19th century ‘outward respectability and inward lust,’ as this period had a tendency for social hypocrisy.” (Wikipedia) The quote clearly shows the attitude of Victorian London. There is a stereotype of English gentlemen always being respectable and respecting other people while on the inside their thoughts can be much worse. This book is supposed to help show that.

Audience (Zachary): The audience in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is everyone. As noted by Wikipedia, they mention what Stevenson was trying to say when he had dual personalities in Dr. Jekyll, “This story represents a concept in Victorian culture, that of the inner conflict of humanity's sense of good and evil. [|[11]] In particular the novella has been interpreted as an examination of the duality of human nature (that good and evil exists in all), and that the failure to accept this tension (to accept the evil or shadow side) results in the evil being projected onto others. [|[12]] Paradoxically in this argument, evil is actually committed in an effort to extinguish the perceived evil that has been projected onto the innocent victims.” (Wikipedia) This clearly shows what the Victorian London is about attitude wise. Before the Victorian Era, people did not have to respect each other and could beat people as they pleased as long as they were a regular person. Then, everyone started to respect each other on the outside, on the inside they might bear deep resentment to another person. If a person refuses to accept their evil side, then they will make others evil. He tries to show that in his book with Dr. Jekyll.

Historical (Zachary): History has been made from the text with the personality type. Singh calls this book an “ remarkable study into human psychology that presaged the structural personality theories as detailed by Freud.” (Singh) This help proves that although history like Napoleon is not being made it is in psychology with the idea of a dual personality. Noted psychologist Sigmund Freud created these theories of a dual personality such as the one Stevenson described after the story was written so it is possible that the story had some sort of impact on his thinking. Whether or not the book had an impact on Freud’s thinking, the book’s ideas certainly left their mark in the field of psychology.

Cultural (Zachary): The cultural events influence the relationship between the author and the audience by showing a character comparable to Victorian London which most people are familiar with since it was the biggest city in the world in the Victorian Era and the capital of the British Empire; the world’s greatest power at the time. This helps show the dual personalities. As Wikipedia already mentioned, “The novella has also been noted as ‘one of the best guidebooks of the [|Victorian era] ’ because of its piercing description of the fundamental dichotomy of the 19th century ‘outward respectability and inward lust,’ as this period had a tendency for social hypocrisy.” (Wikipedia) People have this sort of dual personality with respect on the outside and evil intent on the inside during the time period. Dr. Jekyll also had this dual personality. People can compare themselves to Dr. Jekyll to help with the argument of how to avoid becoming evil and making others become evil.



Works Cited

Rose, Tudor. "Victorian London." On AboutBritain.com. Excelsior Information Systems Ltd., n.d. Web. 25 July 2014 - Zachary

Ross, David. "Victorian London." History of London -. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 July 2014. - Zachary

Sanford, John. "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 7 July 2014. Web. 25 July 2014. - Zachary

Singh, Shubh M., and Subho Chakrabarti. "Abstract." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 27 Dec. 0005. Web. 25 July 2014. - Zachary

Kandel, Eric R. "Sigmund Freud." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 July 2014. Web. 22 July 2014. - Zachary

Brands, H.W. Andrew Jackson. New York: Anchor, 2006. Print. - Zachary