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Engl 202 essay 1
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How are ethics or morality constructed in a passage of your choosing?
In the Victorian Ages, men had the right to say and do whatever they pleased. Even
though men could do what they wanted, the key goal was to keep their reputations intact. People
had to see them for the respectable gentleman that they pretended to be. As a man, being able to
do as you pleased implied that men had more power. In the story The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, morality and ethics are determined by people of class
and are seen as normal by everyone else in the society. Keeping the truth behind closed doors
isn’t as strange as it may seem.
Mr. Utterson was the first person to be introduced in the story. He was a lawyer, meaning
he was quite successful. As a lawyer, you are meant to argue and prove that someone is either
guilty or not guilty. This is quite ironic considering the morality and ethics that follow this story.
“It is the mark of a modest man to accept his friendly circle ready-made from the hands of
opportunity” (Stevenson, 4).
It’s as if he’d much rather associate himself with the people that just so happen to already
be friends with him, whether that be in the same line of work, or had gone to school with him,
than to make new ones not by association. He didn’t want to branch out and make friends with
other people, which makes him seem like he only has friends that are in the same business. He
could be keeping those kinds of friends around to help make himself appear a certain way in the
public eye. This was seen as normal for most people in the Victorian ages, and considering his
job was to prove whether a person was doing right or wrong, he would be looked upon as a set
example as to how things worked. Mr. Utterson was a prime example of how just anyone
determined the proper ethics and morality in society, and how that was seen as normal.
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Engl 202 essay 1
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When you choose to deprive yourself of something you love, it shows control. Mr.
Utterson liked to hold back on what he loved. “He was austere with himself; drank gin when he
was alone, to mortify a taste for vintages; and though he enjoyed the theater, had not crossed the
doors of one for twenty years” (Stevenson, 1).
The fact that he didn’t do what he loved meant he cared a lot more about how people
perceived him rather than how he lived his own life. Reputation was the only importance in one’s
life in this society. If your reputation wasn’t up to par then neither were you. Utterson no longer
cared about his happiness, but his social class instead. When not doing what he loved, he seemed
to put up a front that everyone knew him by. “MR. UTTERSON the lawyer was a man of rugged
countenance, that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty, and embarrassed in discourse;
backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable.
At friendly meetings, and when the wine was to his taste, something indeed eminently
human beaconed from his eye” (Stevenson, 1). Everyone considers him to be a serious person
who doesn’t tend to show emotion and that was his intention. He would sometimes drink wine
which would blow his cover just enough which allowed people to like him. Hiding what he truly
liked kept his emotions in check and opinions of others the way he wanted them to be, and it was
completely normal. Morality and ethics once again played a normal role in the life of Mr.
Utterson.
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Engl 202 essay 1
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Mr. Hyde was a man who cared a lot about his reputation. Unlike Mr. Utterson, Mr. Hyde
doesn’t care about hiding his true feelings and ill intentions towards other people. “Well, sir, the
two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the
thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground”
(Stevenson, 6). When running into the little girl, not only does it show how unimportant the little
girl was to him, but also how unimportant the opinions of others were in the situation. He was
able to make it “go away” by manipulating the morality of everyone around him. The little girl
was seen as unimportant because she was a girl, and men had more power over women. Since
the hour in which this scene occurred was a strange time for a little girl to be out on the street,
Hyde most likely assumed that no one witnessed the altercation.
Having this assumption in his mind made him think he didn’t have to cover up the
situation until someone claimed they had seen the entire thing and that they would expose him. A
regular person who had cared about their reputation would have also cared about what they had
done, although Hyde was not a regular person and he didn’t care for the feelings of the little girl
or her family. Every person of high class altered the proper ethics and morality that everyone else
was meant to follow.
Mr. Hyde was described to be like Satan. “... really like Satan. ``If you choose to make
capital out of this accident,” said he, ‘I am naturally helpless. No gentleman but wishes to avoid
a scene,’ says he. ‘Name your figure” (Stevenson, 7). He didn’t feel bad for his actions, but he
didn’t want to be exposed or told for who he truly was. Therefore he was willing to pay whatever
was asked of him, just to save his reputation. “I gave in the check myself, and said I had every
reason to believe it was a forgery. Not a bit of it. The cheque was genuine” (Stevenson, 8). Since
there was a different name on the check it was subjectable that it could be forged, but wasn’t.
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It was because of this that Mr. Enfield, who was given the check, assumed that Mr. Hyde
was blackmailing someone else into giving him money. Money was taken from the man that Mr.
Hyde blackmailed to save his reputation from being tarnished. Respectable men blackmailing
one another to set a good example for themselves in the society, was how they justified morality
and ethics. It wasn’t out of character for them to do such a thing because it was a normal
characteristic that was developed in this society by those of such class.
Mr. Enfield told Mr. Utterson the entire story of what he witnessed. “I am ashamed of my
long tongue. ‘Let us make a bargain never to refer to this again.’ ‘With all my heart,’ said the
lawyer. ‘I shake hands on that, Richard.’” (Stevenson, 11). He doesn’t want Mr. Utterson to share
anything about what he was just old, and he promises not to share that information on. Although,
when reading the actual text it seems as if Utterson isn’t being genuine and is going to share all
the information just now given to him with someone else. That is why he was asking all those
questions about it and making sure that Enfield was giving him the legitimate information. He
was told not to share the information that was just given to him, but as a lawyer who has a
perception on arguing between right and wrong, he was justified in determining whether or not it
was okay to share what he was just told. This could come off as betrayal, but it was hidden
underneath the undenying fact that this was normal and should have been expected from
someone that was a part of this society.
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The men in this part of the story seem to already hold enough power to corrupt the
thoughts of others in the society. Holding this much power should help inspire them into making
the right decisions. Considering these men would blackmail another person for not making the
right decisions, proves that they know what is wrong and right. The high importance of
reputation is used against each other which helps them gain something in return. Morality and
ethics are determined by people of class and are seen as normal by everyone else in the society.
