Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Duality of Human Nature
Throughout the novel Dr. Jekyll talks about the inherent duality of man. He believes that man is divided by two opposite forces inside of them; Dr.
Jekyll believes that man is comprised of a completely pure side and a devilish pure evil side. This inner conflict can be seen as Dr. Jekyll attempts
to conduct experiments to separate the good and evil. Unfortunately it is later expressed in the book that only the most pure evil side of Dr. Jekyll
was extracted from his body, which resulted in Mr.
Hyde but what does that mean for Dr. Jekyll. Is it a guarantee that removing the evil from you leaves only the
good? Therefore, the two parts might not be a complete saint (Dr. Jekyll) and the devil (Mr. Hyde), Dr. Jekyll
simply takes the pure evil out of him, which still makes the other part man and thus flawed. The duality aspect of
the book is open for interpretation because it leads to questions such as are they actually different people.
Are they the same person?
In the book the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll is a prominent doctor in Victorian England and
Mr. Hyde is his pure evil alter ego. Much like Dexter Morgan, Dr. Jekyll lives a double life in that he lives in society
as Dr. Jekyll and is able to be his monstrous self as Mr. Hyde without any ramifications because Mr. Hyde doesn't
actually exist in society; Mr. Hyde is just the evil inside Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Hyde is simply a vessel for Dr. Jekyll to live
out his most evil intentions.
Dr. Jekyll defines the more modern dynamic definition of a monster in that he has the capability of blending in
with society as a renowned doctor. However, Dr. Jekyll realizes he has a dark side inside of him and he knows
that he has evil urges that he realizes he cannot act on as himself because he lives in a time where your name
and image means everything. If he were to act on one of his evil urges he would ruin his image in society. Dr. Jekyll, acknowledging his “dark
passenger” (to use a term common in the show Dexter), creates a potion that will free his evil self so he can fulfill his horrendous intentions
without any consequences and guilt. We do not get the point of view of Mr. Hyde throughout the novel because Mr. Hyde does not actually exist;
Mr. Hyde does not have its own separate conscious, its conscious is that of Dr. Jekyll’s. Throughout the book Dr. Jekyll continuously falters when
referring to Mr. Hyde; sometimes he says "He" and other times he says "I." This shows that Dr. Jekyll cannot separate his conscious; his
conscious is shared between both bodies. In the book, Dr. Jekyll remembers all the actions committed by Mr. Hyde, how would he remember
those events if they were not sharing the same conscious. Mr. Hyde is not a sentient being; he is just an avenue for Dr. Jekyll to treat his inner evil
self.
Is he a monster?
What makes Dr. Jekyll monstrous is that these urges that he has belong to him and that he is cognizant when he acts as Mr.
Hyde. He remembers the horrors Mr. Hyde commits because he is actually doing them and cannot
help himself. The frightening aspect of this situation is that Dr. Jekyll has no control over Mr. Hyde,
his darker self, and is extremely unpredictable. His darkest desires are too hard
for Dr. Jekyll to control as Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll can become his
evil persona at any point in time and throughout the novel it
becomes more apparent that Dr. Jekyll is simply a facade as in
the end of the novel Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde permanently.
Mr. Hyde allows Dr. Jekyll an avenue to be his most evil self
and live free from society’s grasp and domestication of the
human being. Mr. Hyde is a primitive being that does whatever
Dr. Jekyll wants to do; it is an extension of Dr. Jekyll. Dr.
Jekyll's conscious is too weak to resist the possibilities of living
life through Mr. Hyde.
Maybe he is just flawed like everyone else...
What makes Dr. Jekyll good or possibly not a monster is that he like everyone else is flawed; Dr. Jekyll
understands that he has violent and evil urges inside of him and knows that morally acting on these urges
would be wrong. He realizes that his stature in society and the straitjacket that society can be has repressed
these urges of Dr. Jekyll and he wants to separate these urges from himself. He cannot continue to fight his
inner self and unfortunately gives in. His “dark passenger” is actually personified into an abnormal creature but it is really Dr. Jekyll’s conscious
inside. What Dr. Jekyll might not have known was that Mr. Hyde would still be an extension of himself; by separating the pure evil he put his
conscious in a losing situation because he would constantly be tempted to act on his evil desires. Maybe the more he acted on these evil desires
was why Mr. Hyde ended up taking over Dr. Jekyll. Why we might sympathize with Dr. Jekyll is because everyone has battles and struggles with
their inner self, maybe not to these extremes, but to some extent and we all deal with them differently. Dr. Jekyll is a man that lost this battle. Dr.
Jekyll is not purely good or evil; he is a troubled man that allowed his darkest self to roam with reckless abandon.