Duality In Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

These mental faculties are stirred because Hyde’s appearance generates an image of the savage and is symbolic of the hidden personalities of the people who surround him. The potion Dr Jekyll creates is to bring out the uninhibited self; the self that does not abide by society’s rules. In his final statement, he says ‘I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two.’ This exemplifies that duality is natural for human life which leads to a better understand of society’s reaction to Mr Hyde, in that his presence emulates their darker selves. However, this complicates degeneracy because it explores the idea that duality is an essential

When a group of people such as a society work toward a common goal, for example, defeating an enemy, they are able to mask the realisation that they are witnessing their true selves. They are busy working to defeat the enemy that they miss the realization that they are acting like the enemy.

Jekyll deludes himself about his ability to control Hyde, ‘I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self and becoming slowly incorporated with my second and worse.’ The transformations quickly begin to stop as Mr Hyde seeks more power and control over Jekyll’s life. He realises he must kill himself in order to kill Hyde. As Dr Jekyll decides to sacrifice himself, he ends his final statement with the passage, Will Hyde die upon the scaffold? or will he find the courage to release himself at the last moment? God knows; I am careless; this is my true hour of death, and what is to follow concerns another than myself. Here the, as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of the unhappy Henry Jekyll to an

It reveals the unsettling truth that humans are capable of actions outside the constraints of their society. Stevenson’s method of organising the narratives, in that Dr Jekyll’s full statement is the last account, reveals to the reader that to appreciate the whole story, they must look within themselves. Stevenson chose to leave his novella with an unclear explanation of who defeated who, leaving it open for interpretation. However, this chapter will conclude by arguing that this debate is irrelevant. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are two personalities residing in one entity; moreover, they will always be linked. This conveys the message that to destroy the corrupt self ultimately destroys the whole self. Dr Jekyll is aware of this, which is why he decides to end his life. He has told no one how to create the potion. Therefore, his secret of splitting the self in two dies with him. To be human is to possess at least two personalities, one good and one evil. To split those in two would skew the balance that is needed for life; and, ultimately, leading to one’s demise. A novella cannot expel evil, and that is not what it is teaching the reader. Multiplex personalities becomes a way of thinking, and through what the novella suggests, it is the essential condition of human nature. Multiplex personalities