The first time I read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde I was horrified. My mom had handed me an old dog-eared novel that smelled faintly of dust to entertain myself with while she did some work. Looking curiously at the fairly read book, I wondered what could possibly be so strange about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, so I settled down on my bed and began to read the pages earnestly. The story gripped me until the last page and I could not stop thinking about what I had just learned: friendly Dr. Jekyll had actually drunk a potion to transform into sinister Mr. Hyde. Remembering how evil Mr. Hyde had been sent waves of fear through me. At that moment, my nine-year-old self forgot it was fiction. Flinging the book under my bed, I dashed …show more content…
Jekyll’s situation and those of most people around me, I realized that many people struggle to find that balance between their emotions. This mustn’t necessarily be good and evil like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde respectively represent. It can be choosing to be jealous of or happy for a friend who got the internship position that you both had been competing for or trying to fit in with a crowd by changing your whole look and forgetting your true self in the process. I realized that many people share the same thoughts about struggling with opposing emotions as Dr. Jekyll had. They fear what others around them would think if they act a certain way. I finally understood why he had made that potion to cover his vices. He felt constrained by the society he lived in and needed an outlet for his evil urges. Dr. Jekyll wasn’t an ungrateful man, he was just human. Dr. Jekyll’s story has shown me that first impressions aren’t always accurate. I have learned to think more deeply about the actions of people around me. Instead of drawing conclusions based on my first encounter with a person, I try to see the situation from his or her point of view first. This will help me understand others better and form long-lasting relationships with my peers. Contrary to my initial belief, Mr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde wasn’t the villain in my life story; he was just another character playing his part in my
Unfortunately, Dr. Jekyll had a strong desire to "perfect" himself by splitting his good qualities from his bad by separating himself into two separate identities:
In this essay I am going to look at Mr Hyde and Dr Jekyll, the first
As Jekyll reached adult hood, he found himself living a dual life. He had become more curious in discovering his other side. Jekyll insists, “Man is not truly one, but truly two” (125). This eventually led Jekyll into the scientific interests of separating his good and evil side, and he finds a chemical concoction that transforms him into a more wicked man, Edward Hyde. At first, Hyde was of pure impulse, but in the end, he became dominate and took control over Jekyll. Jekyll had never intended to hurt anyone, but he was aware that something could potentially go wrong. Jekyll presumes, “I knew well that I risked death, for any drug that so potently shook the very fortress of identity… utterly blot that immaterial tabernacle which I looked to it to change” (127-129). One could say this makes Jekyll equally as menacing as Hyde. Jekyll couldn’t control the imbalance between the two natures. Jekyll foolishly allowed his evil side to flourish and become stronger. This is shown when Jekyll has awoken to find that he has turned into Hyde without taking the solution. Jekyll says, “But the hand in which I now saw, clearly enough in the yellow light of a mid- London morning…It was the hand of Edward Hyde” (139).
Good and evil exist in everyone and any attempts to repress your darker nature can cause it to erupt. Dr. Jekyll was more evil than he wanted to admit to himself or any one before he even separated his soul. Born into a world of privilege and wanting to keep the impression of goodness and morality, Dr. Jekyll really just wanted to indulge in his darkest desires, choosing to hide behind his serum like a coward. However this became his fatal flaw and at the end of the day he could longer hide his true self.
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Hyde becomes Jekyll's demonic, monstrous alter ego. Certainly Stevenson presents him immediately as this from the outset. Hissing as he speaks, Hyde has "a kind of black sneering coolness . . . like Satan". He also strikes those who witness him as being "pale and dwarfish" and simian like. The Strange Case unfolds with the search by the men to uncover the secret of Hyde. As the narrator, Utterson, says, "If he be Mr. Hyde . . . I shall be Mr. Seek". Utterson begins his quest with a cursory search for his own demons. Fearing for Jekyll because the good doctor has so strangely altered his will in favor of Hyde, Utterson examines his own conscience, "and the lawyer, scared by the thought, brooded a while in his own past, groping in all the corners of memory, lest by chance some Jack-in-the-Box of an old iniquity should leap to light there" (SC, 42). Like so many eminent Victorians, Utterson lives a mildly double life and feels mildly apprehensive about it. An ugly dwarf like Hyde may jump out from his own boxed self, but for him such art unlikely creature is still envisioned as a toy. Although, from the beginning Hyde fills him with a distaste for life (SC, 40, not until the final, fatal night, after he storms the cabinet, can Utterson conceive of the enormity of Jekyll's second self. Only then does he realize that "he was looking on the body of a self-dcstroyer" (SC, 70); Jekyll and Hyde are one in death as they must have been in life.
Jekyll originally taking the potion can be conveyed as a selfish act because he mainly took the potion to benefit himself. Jekyll said he took the potion so he could become recognized for his good deeds, even though he was well respected by his peers he wanted more recognition from the public, he wanted to be famous for his deeds and become well known among the public. Jekyll says, “…fond of the respect of the wise and good among my fellowmen...And indeed the worst of my faults was a certain impatient gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happiness of many, but such as I found to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more commonly grave countenance before the public.” (Page 103). Jekyll ...
Jekyll unveils his story, it becomes evident that Dr. Jekyll’s efforts to keep Mr. Hyde, his immoral outlet, reticent are in vain. Dr. Jekyll succumbs to Mr. Hyde once and eventually the pull of his worse self overpowers Dr. Jekyll completely. His futile attempts to contain Mr. Hyde were more damaging than auspicious, as Mr. Hyde would only gain a stronger grip on Dr. Jekyll. Dr. Jekyll writes, “I began to be tortured with throes and longings, as of Hyde struggling after freedom; and at last, in an hour of moral weakness, I once again compounded and swallowed the transforming draught… My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring” (115). Dr. Jekyll’s inevitable passion for debauchery is only further invigorated by his repression of Mr. Hyde. By restraining a desire that is so deeply rooted within Dr. Jekyll, he destroys himself, even after his desires are appeased. Like a drug, when Dr. Jekyll first allowed himself to concede to Mr. Hyde, he is no longer able to abstain, as his initial submission to depravity resulted in the loss of Dr. Jekyll and the reign of Mr.
For this reason I’ll be explaining Jekyll’s mental health. Jekyll has as what we now call Multiple Personality Disorder; “I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could be rightly said to be either, it was only because I was radically both,” Stevenson 57.) The disease was first discovered by Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot. He would ask patients symptoms that he found common in MPD. Many patients know about their alternate personality but refuse to acknowledge it’s existence. In some cases they may even refer to it as a separate person entirely. In this case Jekyll is very much aware of his alternate personality, going as to so far as to willingly change into him. However despite this he also categorizes Hyde into a separate being. For example when Hyde does something unappealing or distasteful he blames it on a separate person. Consciously though he is aware that he is Hyde and Hyde is him. (MD, Arnold Lieber. "Multiple Personality Disorder / Dissociative Identity Disorder." PsyCom.net - Mental Health Treatment Resource Since 1986. Vertical Health LLC, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2016).
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde both suffer; however, one from illness and the other from insanity. Mr. Hyde is a sociopath, and lives in it to the full extent as well as Jekyll being a psychopath. However, Hyde was created the way he was to portray a sinful side of Jekyll, while Jekyll was himself throughout, good and bad, to manipulate and gain in the harm of
Dr Jekyll reassess his beliefs about the malicious life he is living through Mr Hyde, a realisation/transformation catalysed through the short supply of his potion; “the insurgent horror… caged in his flesh… felt it struggle to be born”. Through the metaphor “caged in his flesh”, the audience is able to perceive Hyde’s sinful nature, but the dramatic tone in “struggle to be born” highlights Jekyll’s confusion in which life to lead. Thus he emotionally discovers the difficulty in him resolving his moral compass, with his evil indulgences, drawing Jekyll to reassess his existing ideals of morality; “Then these agonies began swiftly to subside, and I came to myself as if out of a great sickness”. Furthermore I have come to the understanding that discoveries can be intensely meaningful, as they can induce an emotional transformation, consequently impacting an individuals’ sense of self, as they are positioned to re-evaluate there existing
The story takes place during the Victorian age, a time when there were only two categories of people: good people and bad people. There was no way that one man could be considered acceptable without suppressing his evil side almost entirely. The reason that Jekyll restrained his evil side for so long was because of this dichotomous Victorian society. Most people, including Jekyll’s friends, Lanyon and Utterson, are content to stay molded in this ideal. However, Dr. Jekyll soon became tired of this hypocritical mindset and states that he “it was rather the exacting nature of my aspirations…. that made me who I was and…. severed in me those provinces of good and ill which divide and compound man’s dual nature” (123). He had determined that he would find a way to indulge his more human nature while still yet living in acceptance among his colleagues. Dr. Jekyll soon did discover a method, but it inevitably came with a curse. Stevenson uses this to display that people generally tend to go with the societal flow and conform to other people’s ideas so that they will fit in.
Jekyll is given as a respected man raised in a wealthy family. During the era, people are meant to be well-mannered and polite without any sign or thinking of violence and crime; however, Dr. Jekyll secretly has a desire to perform evil. Conflicted with the ideal of society, he has repressed his emotion through many years and eventually he decided to conceal his pressure as he said, “And indeed the worst of my faults was a certain impatient gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happiness of many, but such as I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the public. Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection, and began to look round me and take stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life.” (48) From this quote, Dr. Jekyll discloses that he’s not desired to be cheerful, as many do, and decides to fake his pressure in front of the public eyes. After many years, he then realizes he was only hiding his true emotion. Eventually, to resolve his situation, he is inspired to create a potion that could transform himself to Mr. Hyde that could free him from the struggle between protecting his reputation and following his emotion and
Jekyll himself. Dr. Jekyll is a symbol of both the good and the bad in mankind, while Mr. Hyde represents pure evil. For instance, when Dr. Jekyll is himself, he is seen as a respectable man who is adored by his colleagues: “he became once more their familiar quest and entertainer; and whilst he had always been known for his charities, he was now no less distinguished for religion” (Stevenson 29). However, when Dr. Jekyll transforms to Mr. Hyde his morals are quickly disregarded. An example of this occurs when Mr. Hyde murders Sir Danvers, shortly after Dr. Jekyll submits to the temptation of changing to Mr. Hyde: “instantly the spirit of hell awoke in me…with a transport of glee, I mauled the unresisting body, tasting delight from every blow” (Stevenson 56). Even though the carnal side of Dr. Jekyll enjoys the incident, this event also illustrates the conscience side of Dr. Jekyll because in the mist of this brutal murder, he begins to feel guilty for committing the crime. This guilt drives him to have “clasped hands to God…tears and prayers to smother down the crowd of hideous images and sounds that his memory swarmed against him” (Stevenson 57). As a whole, the text demonstrates that Dr. Jekyll’s alter ego, Mr. Hyde, is the mastermind of pure malevolence who participates in activities that Dr. Jekyll cannot
In the book Dr.Jekyll tries to find out if he can make a person good with a potion. But the potion he makes and uses does the complete opposite and he ends up turning into Edward Hyde. This shows that if we get to much power we can end up messing with our lives. But after Dr.Jekyll drinks it he starts to get ill and becomes addicted to the potion much like drugs
It was merely his character and decisions that upstarted his addiction. There were many choices in the novella that he made which caused things to fall apart. By the final chapter, it was revealed his research wasn’t just for scientific purposes, it was for his personal wants as well. That is said here: “I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the thought of the separation of these elements. If each, I told myself, could be house in a separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was unbearable.” (Stevenson 50) This quote is essentially saying that if Jekyll could discover the answer to his research, then he would be able to house the good and evil sides of people in separate identities. With that, an individual could do anything as their alter-ego that they couldn’t do normally. This was the first piece of evidence of it being Jekyll’s fault he experienced his own downfall. Jekyll was showing an extreme want for that kind of a discovery, signifying that it was his decision to go through with the research. Jekyll also said that he we go as far as die for a finding like that. He said that here: “I hesitated long before I put this theory to the test of practice. I knew well that I risked death.” (51) Not only was he aware of death being a