Duality In Jekyll And Hyde

How does Stevenson portray the duality of man in the opening chapters of ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’?

In ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, Robert Louis Stevenson presents duality as one of the key themes throughout the novel. This is reflected predominantly through the main characters of Dr Jekyll and his evil side, Mr Hyde. Stevenson also mirrors the theme of a dual nature in the settings he creates, by choosing London as the surroundings and in the descriptions of Dr Jekyll's house and the difference between his and Hyde’s rooms. The use of duality is also shown in Stevenson’s use of the themes of light and dark and religious opposites such as good and evil.

Duality is having two parts or sides. An example of this would be in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; the book portrays that there are two sides to the human nature, good and evil. Jekyll is portrayed as the good, and Hyde is the evil. Jekyll wants to keep that side of him as a respected man, but when he wants to do things that might not be respected he can turn into Hyde. Romeo and Juliet also have dualities including the duality of light and dark. Romeo and Juliet both start out in the dark, as Romeo endures failed love and Juliet has to deal with forced marriage and rules enforced by her parents. When they see one another they compare each other to light. Robert Louis Stevenson’s book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson discusses the duality of human nature. Human nature is difficult to explore because it is ambiguous and difficult to describe by one attribute. We could not make conclusions by what we see because all humans conceal their false identities from others. people do this in order to impress people by making fake smiles, fake mannerisms, and pretend to care about others. The following is a discussion of characters, which Stevenson uses to support duality of human nature. This parts will includes Mr. Utterson's, Dr. Lanyon's, and Mr. Enfield's evil side of human nature, and psychogeography on Jekyll's house. Moreover, Dr. Jekyll was not capable to control his evil side because

From the beginning of time, humans have questioned the validity of intrinsic duality of man. Are humans born with both pure goodness and pure evilness or is the latter cultivated? In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, one man, a scientist named Henry Jekyll, concludes that all men are both good and evil, so he decided to separate the two natures within one body. The outcome of his experiment resulted in the formation of a somewhat different product than he had imagined a creature by the name of Edward Hyde. Although Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the souls of one body, there are differences and similarities in their appearance and personality that illustrate the natural duality of good and evil within a man.

Duality is displayed throughout the play of Romeo and Juliet. The things characters in the play say, the characters, and actions of the characters are ways duality is explored in the play. For example, when Friar Laurence is picking herbs he explains how the certain herb he picked could be both poison and medicine. Duality in the play is also explored by love and hate. In the play Shakespeare uses the love, hate duality to show how powerful love is. During the play, Juliet says ”My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me. That I must love a loathèd enemy.”

In the novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson provides insight into the inner workings of the duality that exists within humans. Dr. Jekyll is a well-respected doctor in his community while his differing personality Mr. Hyde is hideous and considered by the public as evil based on appearance. As the novel progresses Dr. Lanyon begins to investigate Mr. Hyde, he begins to realize similarities between both Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll such as their handwriting which results in the discovery that they are the same person. Dr. Jekyll is able to transform himself into Mr. Hyde by drinking a serum he has created which was intended to purify his good. Stevenson stresses the duality of good and evil that exists

In the Victorian Era, one of the most important parts of one’s everyday life was the need to protect his or her reputation. While some abided by the Victorian moral code of conduct, others kept their evil hidden in an attempt to secure their reputation. Because of this, creating excuses for one’s actions were commonplace. As seen in the last chapter of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, titled, “Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case”. In this final chapter, Dr. Henry Jekyll writes a letter to his only good friend left, Mr. John Utterson. Throughout the novella, Mr. Utterson tries to uncover the mystery of Mr. Edward Hyde. Dr. Jekyll, in an attempt to save his reputation, makes excuses for Hyde’s behavior ultimately hoping to stop Utterson’s inquiry. This does not quite work out for Jekyll in the end, leading him to write Utterson a letter explaining the “strange case”. Throughout the letter, Jekyll uses a variety of techniques that ultimately aim to push the blame off of himself and save his reputation. Jekyll presents himself as a victim of Hyde, describes Hyde as an outlet for his emotions, and claims his brief feelings of remorse. Dr. Jekyll, who is coincidentally a Doctor of Laws in English, is able to present to Utterson an extremely strong argument justifying his and Hyde’s actions.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a literary classic set in Victorian England. Robert Louis Stevenson uses this time period to explore duality and how people must face their evil counterparts.

In the book The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde there is a very strong element of duality and of two sides battling for control. There is a Native American tale called Tale of Two Wolves. It goes like this. “One evening, an elderly cherokee brave told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside

the desire to do what he wanted, to go against the rigid rules of the

Duality is also shown in Jekyll and Hyde through double consciousness. Stevenson splits the differing personalities of Jekyll and Hyde into two: one suppressing the desires that were considered wrong in society at that time and one accepting these animalistic desires. Dr Jekyll observes that even though he could rightly said to be either he was still ‘radically both’. He implies that there are two sides to all of us and the inner battles determine which personality would be shown and relieved from that ache to be free. The word ‘radically’ suggests the intensity of ache as it explores connotations of high speed and pressure, for example explosive strength.

Sexuality and Duality Intertwined in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, is about two men who are actually one. Dr. Jekyll is an established citizen in London society. However, through a chemical mixture, he is able to transform into another man, Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde is not only not a established member in society, but he is a criminal. Many scholars have claimed Jekyll and Hyde being an allegory of duality.

The places of the characters Jekyll and Hyde represent the good and evil expressed in the story. Jekyll’s home is a place of luxury in which he has an assortment of servants of his choosing and how his house is located in a wealthy part of town. Hyde place, when compared to Jekyll’s, produces a feeling of poverty and blandness and “nothing but a door on the lower story and a blind forehead of discolored wall on the upper.” (5). These two examples show that Jekyll is on the positive side of duality while Hyde represents the negative.

Human often put masks on to let others think they are good person. Jekyll's theory of duality of human nature applies to Mr. Utterson, Dr. Lanyon, Mr. Enfield, and also Stevenson uses psychogeography to support Jekyll's theory. However, the theory only not fits to Jekyll, because he does not really has a dual nature of human. He only has a bad side, and creates a alternate persona, which he is still able to do the evil things, which he always done, and do even more. Because there is no good side of him, there is nothing to makes him be tormented by a guilty conscience or feels repentance.