1、 1 Literature Review An Advocatory Analysis of Self-Actualization of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by R. L. Stevenson R. L. Stevenson was born on November 13, 1850. He “was an artist of great range and insight, a literary theorist, an essayist and social critic, a witness to the colonial history of the Pa
2、cific Islands, and a humanist.” (Arata, 2005, p.99). Published in 1886, as one of R. L. Stevensons famous masterpieces, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a satire on human nature of the dual character of the novel, and it also describes the mental activity of suspense horror story about a similar weird sci
3、ence fiction story. The hero Dr. Jekyll develops a cloned agent in the laboratory which can change himself into another person freely. Sometimes, hes an ugly and outrageous man, Mr. Hyde, while sometimes, hes a cultured and beloved man, Dr. Jekyll. Struggling between good and evil, Dr. Jekyll makes
4、a decision to suicide in the end. By now, this novel has invited a large number of studies and commentaries all over the wo rld. These scholars and critics provide us with different interpretations of the novel from different views, including the concept of original sin, criticism of anthropocentris
5、m, the evolution of human society, etc. This thesis will adopt relevant knowledge of self-actualization to reveal the relationship among real self, ideal self in the novel and advocate self-actualization to develop ethic and perfect personality, which finally leads peoples personality to the highest
6、, most perfect and most harmonious situation. Portraits of Victorian Writers is written by Chen Yinghui (2005). At the beginning of the book, he divides Victorian literature into three periods: the hungry forties, the age of prosperity and the age of decline. In the second parts, he enumerates some
7、genre of thoughts: utilitarianism, idealism, the evangelicals and scientific thought. The third part, he introduces the background and spirit of Victorian period. Generic citizens are optimistic, especially middle class who are earnest and believe that they can have a better life if they make great
8、efforts. While, in fact, so-called staidness is like a mask which hides hypocrisy, giving the society a surface 2 impression of propriety and decorum. Finally, he concretely portrays characters of different works by different writers in Victorian period. In the paper Appreciative Comparison between
9、the Time Machine and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the writer Wan Qi (2010) is from the perspective of social evolution and social ethic to analyze this novel. He firstly mentions that this novel is born in the Victorian period, and Darwins evolutionism develops into a new climax which profoundly affects
10、 the field of sociology. Although human society evolves, the ethical crisis comes synchronously. Human emotions are completely entailed, also human kindness are vanished. Then he points that it seems the reflection of social evolution that the hero Dr. Jekyll invents a drug which he can transforms h
11、imself, achieving embodiments. However, on the other hand, Jekyll creates another ugly and outrageous man who is filled with evil, lacking ethic and causing social tension. Social evolution couldnt insure social harmonious development. Besides, he describes that evil is human natural instinct. It wi
12、ll swell in the social evolution and damage the civilized society. Therefore, he criticizes the disappearance of social ethic coming along with social evolution, appealing to banishing selfish and pursuing ethic in the end. Criticism of Anthropocentrism in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein wr
13、itten by Zhang Yunkai (2010). He holds the view that both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by R. L. Stevenson and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley criticize anthropocentrism. In this two novels, Jekyll and Victor are self-centered, abusing science to satisfy their unlimited expansion of desire and impulse. As co
14、unter the order of nature, they consequently destroy themselves. To begin with, the author introduces the concept of anthropocentrism. Then, he advances that desire and impulse is the first step towards destruction. Although Dr. Jekyll is aware that cannibalism is a bad, abnormal form of expression,
15、 he cant suppress his desire caused by impulse. On the contrary, he constantly indulges his vulgarity. Similarly, in Frankenstein, the hero Victor is a victim of desire and impulse. He expects to become a demiurge like the God who gives life to all kinds of things, so the world will regard him as th
16、e God. Next, the author proposes that science and technology is the executioner of desire and impulse. 3 However, having a good knowledge of science, Jekyll and Victor abuse and taint the purity of it for their selfish purpose, losing their basic professional ethic, but it also lead them to destruct
17、ion. At last, he advises to improve personal mental health, becoming a perfect man who should always keep calm and quiet and mustnt be disrupted by a sudden desire or a temporary impulse. Also, the anthropocentrism is harmful to personal development that people will not only become more personalisti
18、c distorted, but the tragedy of demise is ultimately inevitable. Wang Jingjing (2010) writes An Analysis from personality structure in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and William B. Wilson: A fight in Id, Ego and Superego. She quotes Freuds theory of personality structure, focusing on the relationship among
19、 id, ego and super-ego to thoroughly express the struggle of the heros inner world and the conflict between good and evil. Whats more, she analyzes what causes the heros personality maladjustment. In her paper she writes that Dr. Jekyll demonstrates completely ego, Mr. Hyde represents absolutely id,
20、 and other people, especially Mr. Utterson, the lawyer, are more similar to super-ego. In terms of dual personality, Dr. Jekyll attempts to separate super-ego and id from his mind, supposing that each factor can be stored in two bodies which are of desuetude, then life will no longer be such a ethic
21、al conflict. In the authors opinion that for one thing, Jekyll can maintain his beloved and cultured character in the presence of others, for another, he can set all of his evil thoughts free and be proud of his evil deed. In the final part Wang Jingjing warns that people should alert evil and dark
22、side of the individual and set up a healthy personality. All these mentioned above give this thesis writing great support. This thesis writing cannot be finished without these materials. Although they are great in some aspects as reference, they are imperfect. So lots of effort will be made in order
23、 to explore more useful information to the completion of the thesis. References: 4 1 Arata, S. The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature M. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Inc, 2005. 2 Dostoyevsky, F. The Double M. New York: Dover Publications, Inc, 1997. 3 Goldstein, E. Ego Psychology and Soci
24、al Work Practice M. New York: Free Press, 1995. 4 Zhang, Lei & Wang, Lei. Stylistic Analysis of Robert Louis Stevensons Short Stories J. Journal of Yunyang Teachers College. 2010, 30(3): 80-83. 5 陈英辉 (Chen, Yinghui). 维多利亚文学风貌 M. 台北 : 书林出版社 , 2005. 6 史蒂文森 (Stevenson, R. L.). 化身博士 M. 李长杉译 . 北京 : 中国对外翻译出版公司 , 1994. 7 王晶晶 (Wang, Jingjing). 本我、自我和超我的斗争 : 从人格结构理论解读化身博士及威廉 威尔逊 J. 赤峰学院学报 (哲学社会科学版 ), 2010(9): 86-88. 8 万琦 (Wan, Qi). 时间机器 和化身博士对比赏析 J. 青年文学家 , 2010(5): 87-89. 9 张运恺 (Zhang, Yunkai). 对人类中心主义的批判 : 看化身博士与弗兰肯斯坦的互文性 J. 青年文学家 , 2010(5): 53-54.
