Suspense in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Suspense in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

“I Can’t Believe It!” – Suspense in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Suspense is one of the greatest literary elements that can be used. Some people say that it is a waste and that the author should just go ahead and tell the reader what’s going on instead of waiting. However, suspense is what makes most readers keep reading, it keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to find out what happens next. Robert Louis Stevenson creates suspense in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by not telling the reader about this strange connection to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde until the very end. Throughout the book, he gives little clues, and little bits of information that can be put together to make sense once the reader understands the full story. When the reader doesn’t understand things, they keep on reading in hopes that they will find out. This is what makes suspense so great. Why does Stevenson wait until the very end though? He could share the information with the reader towards the middle of the book and then let keep reading. He wanted to create suspense, which he did by intriguing the reader, keeping the reader on the edge of his or her own seat, and leaving the reader wanting to read more.
Suspense is all about intriguing the reader. It is about making the reader want to keep on reading. Stevenson intrigues the reader by creating this character with dual personalities in a society that does not accept this. The setting for this book is in Victorian England. In a Victorian society, a man is supposed to be on his best behavior at all times. He is supposed to be gentlemanly and a scholarly. Having someone walking around with that of Hyde's image and attitude would definitely separated from the norm the people in England were use to. This is definitely one of the ways in which Stevenson showed suspense.
Suspense is also keeping the reader on his or her own seat. Stevenson does a great job doing this through his setting and action. He...

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