Description
THE ESSAY
Remember again that it is not your goal to retell the stories, but rather make points of analysis that form the single argument of your thesis statement. Have some idea of a climactic point for the final body paragraph in your outlining stage. We are seeking patterns of similarities and differences in the way your theme is used in these two works, so your final body paragraph (or two) should focus on a definitive, climactic point which proves your thesis statement.
The double introductory paragraph structure we discussed can be used: one that focuses on summarizing the novellas, then one that narrows to the thesis statement.
TOPIC
You have the freedom to create your own topic, as long as you include both the Kafka novella and the Stevenson novella and have a concrete theme. Compare and contrast points between the two works.
Some ideas for concrete themes include:
The relationship between individual and society. These transformations deeply disturb the main characters’ relationships with their family members (Metamorphosis) or polite society of friends (Jekyll). Both Gregor and Jekyll’s actions can be seen as antisocial – are they rebelling? Social conformism and shame are strong issues in early modern Czechoslovakia and Victorian London as depicted in these novellas.
STRUCTURE
You will probably need seven to nine body paragraphs.
If you find that developing a topic is difficult, simply begin your research. Choose articles on aspects of the novellas that interest you, and ideas will spark off of that reading. Feel free to e-mail me any time for guidance, being sure to give me some idea of your progress when you do.
As I mentioned in the Prewriting instructions: to compare two works of literature, it often makes sense to alternate body paragraphs: one about The Metamorphosis and then one about Jekyll and Hyde. Certainly, you can have body paragraphs that analyze the comparison of the two works as well. But if you were to do all your Kafka paragraphs first then move on to all your Stevenson paragraphs, the reader may forget the points about Kafka.
EVIDENCE
Since we are comparing two literary works, be sure to use citations like (Kafka 13) or (Stevenson 27).
Cite secondary sources by author last name and page number as well. Note that most of the articles you find will be in PDF format; they do have page numbers even though you are not handling a physical book.
Use the Library databases to find sources to incorporate. You need at least two scholarly sources written by professional academics in peer-reviewed journals, one on each novella in question. You may add more sources and/or add non-literary criticism sources that give information about psychology or the settings of the novellas.
Generally, you may consider your secondary source authors to be authoritative on their topic. Students who feel comfortable making advanced arguments can disagree with these writers and seek to prove them wrong, although this is not required.
As always, completely avoid study aid sites like SparkNotes and Shmoop. Do not quote from modern translations or translations into your native language. Use tutoring services rather than a friend’s skills for revisions. Avoid plagiarism.
REMINDERS AND ADVICE
Make your thesis statement bold, clear, and arguable.
Refer to the writers by last name after your first reference to them. As you do your comparing and contrasting, give the reader some variety in how you refer to the works. “Stevenson seems to…” “In Jekyll and Hyde there is a tendency…”
Be sure not to speculate. Accept the strange reality of these stories. Your job is not to think of how they could be different, but to explore how and why their authors wrote this way.
Make your topic sentences specific to the characters and the point you want to make. Check them against the evidence you choose.
Only retell the stories on your way to the analysis points of your body paragraphs. Phrases to bring out meaning include: “this suggests,” “this means,” “a deeper reading of this is….”
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Alienation and Rebellion in The Metamorphosis and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde
Franz Kafka‘s The Metamorphosis (1912), as well as Robert Louis Steven‘s The Strang
Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1896), use the fantasy transformations of their characters in an
attempt to examine where the contrasted origin of these novellas arose amidst opposite historical
and cultural settings. Kafka had written the early nineteenth-century Prague stories within the
framework of the autocratic Austro-Hungarian regime, whereas Stevenson produced the modern
Victorian-age novella in London by the height of the two epochs which were a little apart in their
settings but had severe manners and social grades which worked together in forcing people to be
like others. Kafka lived on this reality as Prague’s German Jewish minority, and Stevenson
rebelled against Victorians’ morality. The rebellious changes featured in their novellas reflect
their frustrations of trying to fit into a society they do not belong to.
Gregor Samsa’s unexplainable transformation into a grotesque bug in “The
Metamorphosis” as well as that of the respectable Dr. Henry Jekyll into Mr. Edward Hyde, a
criminal in Jekyll and Hyde shows disobedience. Given this family problem, Gregor has no
option but to be an insurance salesman with tedious and repetitive work to do on demand of a
tough boss like that (Wuntu et al). As a highly ranked London doctor, Jekyll is expected to
portray decorum, as well as maintain a dignified appearance representative of a professionally
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respectable individual. Such metamorphoses emancipate themselves on their inner urges which
the alienation has been suppressing since childhood. Nevertheless, the novella Rebel shows up
differently. Unlike Gregor whose retreating inwards leads to isolation from the outside world
after his change, Jekyll openly goes into action with his dark craving for being Hyde. A
comparison between the works in the article shows in essence, that although the two authors
condemn social conformity, they express contradictory views on the strength, or otherwise of an
individual in a society.
Initially, both Gregor and Jekyll are trapped by societal expectations. Gregor’s tedious
job as a traveling salesman and Jekyll’s respectable fame as a London doctor require conformity
to strict codes of conduct. Their transformations free them from these strictures but also isolate
them. As critic Frank Wynne argues, “With the change in his physical form, Gregor is liberated
from the responsibilities and expectations imposed upon him by social conventions…at the
terrible price of profound alienation”. After his metamorphosis, Gregor loses his job but turns
inward, finding simple pleasures in crawling on the walls and ceiling of his room. He becomes
incapable of speech and grows indifferent to social relationships (Oni et al.). Jekyll too finds
freedom through Hyde, using the transformation to act outside the bounds of his public persona.
According to critic Vladimir Nabokov, “By taking the potion…Jekyll procures…sensual,
physical, and moral license”. This liberty excites him but forces him into secrecy. Both
protagonists’ transformations grant them rebellion against societal codes but at the cost of
profound isolation.
While Gregor’s story suggests a sympathetic reading of his rebellion, Jekyll’s
increasingly corrupt character and actions make his defiance more sinister. The Metamorphosis
traces a family’s cruelty toward the once-beloved but now unrecognizable Gregor. As critic
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Thomas Mann notes, “Kafka expressed the tragedy of…estrangement from family” as Gregor’s
alienated state exposes their “lack of pity” and “insensibility” toward him (Cools and Van de
Mosselaer). They first trap him in his room and then attempt to get rid of him. He frightens them
but poses no real threat; his insect self causes revulsion but no direct harm. Meanwhile, Jekyll
slowly loses control over Hyde, who grows ever more violent and depraved. Critic Pasquale
Accardo argues that while Jekyll and Hyde represent polar aspects of a psyche, it is the “evil,
amoral Edward Hyde [who] gradually, inexorably takes over” (Aya). Hyde’s defiance of
morality turns harmful as seen when he tramples a young girl or beats an old man to death with
Jekyll’s cane. Hyde’s violence exceeds a mere search for freedom; it signifies the dangerous
shadow capable of overtaking an individual who abandons ethics.
The endings of the novellas further differentiate their implications about the power of the
individual against society. Gregor’s revolt remains sad but limited in scope; he hurts no one aside
from offending his family with his appearance before he finally dies. His experience suggests
both nobility and futility of rebellion against societal judgment. In contrast, Jekyll’s late attempts
to reform himself fail; Hyde’s violent nature takes over completely leading to more proposed
crimes in the climactic final chapter. These events prompt Jekyll to commit suicide as he admits,
“I had now an unknown but already detested tenant of my heart” (Abram). Society’s norms
corrupt Jekyll while Gregor retains dignity, yet Gregor dies as a lonely outcast. Perhaps both
authors criticize how social constraints stifle individual fulfillment, but Jekyll and Hyde provide
a more cautionary perspective. Stevenson implies that the primitive, amoral individual unleashed
carries destructive consequences. Kafka’s Gregor suggests more tragedy than threat.
The strange transformations of Gregor Samsa into an insect and Henry Jekyll into
Edward Hyde provide profound insight into societal rebellion and morality. Comparing The
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Metamorphosis to Jekyll and Hyde reveals significant differences. Kafka is more gentle and
concentrates on his alienation of Gregor while Stevenson alarms by an increasing violence and
unrestraint of his Hyde about ethical threats derived from egoistic individualism. These two
authors use dramatic metamorphoses to expose what society’s norms can conceal as the essence
of personality and well-being.
These novellas reflect on a controversy that still exists in our time, the conflict between
following the crowd and personal expression of oneself. For instance, Kafka portrays how these
social pressures and family expectations limit Gregor, presenting people like Gregor, as isolated
for going astray too much from societal norms. Additionally, Stevenson provides a warning that
an unrestrained realization of oneself will invite the worst instincts into a person. It attacks
conformity and emphasizes self-fulfillment balanced by public responsibility. From the evidence
the authors seem to imply that there is a compromise of individual desire against social
requirements to enable optimal human flourishing.
Conclusion
The historical context may change but the social pressure as depicted in that film remains
true up to date. Just as these eras writers portrayed, social norms are equally codified based on
class, gender, culture, and profession. Such intense self-centeredness is usually considered
inappropriate and undermining neighborhood unity on one hand, and non-conformist behaviors
are often perceived to be too tepid or devoid of significance on the other. Kafka’s and
Stevenson’s novellas continue to be powerfully relevant when it comes to capturing the tug–of–
war between basic drives/needs and social constraints or expectations, respectively. The
relationship between man and society is not a static one, but constantly develops new forms.
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Works Cited
Abram, Olivia. “Seeing and Surveilling Disability: Ethics and Modes of Looking in R.L.
Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Victorian Review, vol. 48, no. 2,
2022, pp. 309–26, muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/900629/summary.
Aya, Alheli. “The Depiction of the Double in Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Riplry and
Daphne Du Maurier’s The Scapegoat.” Karabuk.edu.tr, 2022,
http://acikerisim.karabuk.edu.tr:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/2128.
Cools, Arthur, and Nele Van de Mosselaer. “Narration and the Experience of Estrangement in
the Fiction of Franz Kafka and Maurice Blanchot.” The German Quarterly, vol. 92, no. 1,
Jan. 2019, pp. 19–34, https://doi.org/10.1111/gequ.12092.
Ilyas, Juliana., Wuntu, Ceisy, and Rorintulus, Olga. “The Deceitfulness of Dr. Jekyll in
Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde: (Character Analysis).”
SoCul: International Journal of Research in Social Cultural Issues, vol. 2, no. 2, 2022,
pp. 537–43, https://doi.org/10.53682/soculijrccsscli.v2i2.2690.
Oni, Shazia Azim. Reflection of Bakhtin’s Theory into Dostoevsky’s Notes From The
Underground, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis: A Critical Analysis Through
Dialogism, Dialogic Self-Consciousness, Polyphony and Heteroglossia. Diss. Brac
University, 2020.
Wuntu, Ceisy, and Olga Rorintulus. “THE DECEITFULNESS OF DR. JEKYLL IN
STEVENSON’S THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE 🙁
CHARACTER ANALYSIS).” SoCul: International Journal of Research in Social
Cultural Issues 2.2 (2022): 537-543.
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