Examples Of Dualism In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

Dr Henry Jekyll, the protagonist, is a reputable middle class gentleman born into wealth, with many male friends and a respectable profession. He is described as “a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with…every mark of capacity and kindness.” Whereas, Mr Hyde, the antagonist, is first described, he is represented by Enfield as “a little man who was stumping along”. This is when the idea that

If Hyde has been described as Hyde "savage, uncivilized, and given to passion…poorly evolved" (Shubh), then perhaps he represents the true, original nature of man, repressed by society, norms, and conscience. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde suggests that this restrained, amoral side of human nature, once given a chance to escape, cannot be controlled. Even in this 'height of western civilization', Victorian England, this tempting evil can overcome even the most virtuous of men. Jekyll is neither good nor bad, but a man whose deeply repressed urges motivated him to separate, but not remove, the evil parts of his nature. There is a misinterpretation that Hyde is an unwanted byproduct of trying to create pure good, that Jekyll is not in control as Hyde, and that Jekyll doesn't enjoy being Hyde. In fact, Jekyll loves being Hyde, he revels in the freedom that he brings him (Stevenson 54), but the problems with his dual personality starts when he has to face the consequences of his actions. Jekyll has a difficult time balancing Hyde's debaucheries and Jekyll's rational, refined side. However, Jekyll realizes too late that he has indulged in Hyde too much and has let him grow out of control. At the beginning of the novel, Hyde was the “smaller, slighter, and younger than Henry Jekyll” (Stevenson 57). His more youthful appearance represents how young and free Jekyll feels as Hyde, but also symbolizes how little his personality was seen before Jekyll drank his potion. Early in the novel, Hyde is easily controlled, Jekyll can use his potion to limit how often he transforms into Hyde (Stevenson 56). However, as he starts to morph back and forth, it starts to take more and more potion to control the switches until

Henry Jekyll, the original man, is tall, handsome, and of age fifty. In society, he is a respectable doctor and a popular London scientist with a large estate. In addition to his wealth and fame, he is a man of morals, purely good and courteous. While devoting

Jekyll talks about the years before the creation of the potion that transforms him into Hyde. He summarises his finding of the dual nature, human beings are half good and half evil. Jekyll’s goal in his experiments is to separate two opposite elements, creating a person with only good characteristics and a being of only evil. He does this because he wants to free his good side from dark urges. He fails this experiment, in fact he only manages to create a whole evil person ‘Mr Hyde’. In the letter, Jekyll says ‘I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man . . . if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both.’ The events of the novel inform the reader that the dark side (Hyde) is much stronger than the rest of Jekyll, this is why Hyde is able to take over Jekyll. This letter is really important for the reader so that the whole novel is understood. A lot of horror is created and it is all quiet in the reader's mind. The reader feels horrified by the way in which Jekyll seems to love and care for Hyde. Jekyll’s words make the reader angry that a man who was so good could enjoy becoming so

This shows both good and evil in Henry Jekyll, he is good in the sense that he wouldn’t put his profession to shame yet evil as although it is Edward Hyde who indulges in his pleasures, it is still Dr. Jekyll’s soul who is directing these actions. In the novel, although Dr. Jekyll does represent good he is not to represent only good but also evil.

He states “from these agonies of death and birth, I had come forth an angel instead of a fiend,” we can infer that Stevenson depicts human souls as a war between an ‘angel’ and a ‘fiend’, both trying to overthrow one another. He then goes on to say “The drug had no discriminating action; it was neither diabolical nor divine.” The phrase “diabolical nor divine” exhibits Dr Jekyll's desire to disconnect and refine the ‘angel’ and the ‘fiend’ which emanates within humans. Sadly, Dr Jekyll had only assisted the evil out to a greater extent. At the end of the narrative we cognise the dark imagery, change in tone, and links to Hyde’s malignant behaviour was all building up the concept of which a soul is just a battlefield between good and evil, in Jekyll’s case the good is not victorious, or the idea that Jekyll’s notion “that man is not truly one, but truly two" was incorrect and that the potion did not bring out the evil within a soul but the primal nature skinned of the control of civilisation and rewinding

Dr. Jekyll creates Mr. Hyde in order to separate his good self from his evil self. He uses Mr. Hyde to get away with his dark tendencies without the consequences. Singh states in “A Study of Dualism” that “Dr. Henry Jekyll…possesses a brilliant

In pursuing his scientific experiments and validating his work, Jekyll claims, "man is not truly one, but truly two." So, in Jekyll's view, every soul contains elements of both good and evil, but one is always dominant. In Jekyll's case, his good side is dominant, but he knows there is evil inside of him, but at the end of the book his evil side becomes stronger and unstoppable. However, as a respectable member of society and an honorable Victorian gentleman, Jekyll cannot fulfill his evil desires. Thus, he works to develop a way to separate the two parts of his soul and free his evil characteristics. Unfortunately, rather than separating these forces of good and evil, Jekyll's potion only allows his purely evil side to gain strength. Jekyll is in fact a combination of good and evil, but Hyde is only pure evil, so there is never a way to strengthen or separate Jekyll's pure goodness. Without counterbalancing his evil identity, Jekyll allows Hyde to grow increasingly strong, and eventually take over entirely, perhaps entirely destroying all the pure goodness Jekyll ever had.

One of the most vital concepts incorporated into The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the representation and depiction of the duality of mankind. Jekyll works to find a solution which will separate him into his reckless, immoral persona and his respectable, Victorian self. After consumption, this potion causes him to completely transform into a man who is known as Hyde. As Hyde, he can express himself in immoral, evil ways. This not only includes moral and immoral wants but rational and irrational wants. Not only does this transformation enable him to keep his good reputation even while he does horrid, unacceptable things, but it allows him to do things which he most likely would not even

The book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde talks about how man has two natures, a good nature and an evil nature. The statement, “I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life” (Stevenson, 123) expresses this. Henry Jekyll was a good man; he helped people. H had great friends, was very intelligent and a respected doctor in London. Henry also had another side to himself, and he named that side Hyde. Hyde was an evil looking man. People said he had a hint of deformity but no one could say what was deformed about him. He was not a respected man; he was hated by people that he met. He engaged in all manner of evil acts. He did terrible things that Victorian society frowned upon. “Yes, I preferred

In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a major theme in the story is the duality of good versus evil. In the novel, a character by the name of Dr. Jekyll believes in the dual nature of human beings, for he states, “ With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, 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.”. Dr. Jekyll was a well respected and well mannered man and eventually gets the urge to set free his “wild side” from his more friendly state that people knew. This is proven when he states, “I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my

The duality of man is something that is apparent in all forms. Everyone has a part of them that they hide from others. That part doesn’t necessarily have to be bad but it is your choice to hide it from other and the reason is only known by you. However you are not just one or the other because you are human which means as a person you are made up of both Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde.

He is tall, handsome, and of age fifty. In society, he is a respectable doctor and a well-known London scientist with a large estate. In addition to his wealth and fame, he is a man of morals, seemingly pure good and courteous. While devoting himself to charitable acts, he also enjoys dinner parties with his bachelor friends (Stevenson). Although he has an excellent outward appearance and demeanor, he is constantly embroiled in a fight between human nature within himself. Being a scientist, he furthers his understanding of the duality of man, the good and evil, as he tells himself if they “could be housed in separate identities” (Stevenson 43). This leads to an experiment that houses his evilness in the soul of another man. On the surface, Dr. Jekyll is the embodiment of pure good, but his experimentation with human nature allows him to deviate from the

The strict morals of the Victorian Era ruled what a person could or couldn’t do. Dr. Jekyll wanted to be evil but didn’t want to ruin his perfect reputation. With that Jekyll “learned to recognize the primitive duality of man,” and created Hyde (Stevenson 57). If it wasn’t for the Victorian Era’s austere morals Jekyll never would have felt the pressure to be good, and transform into Hyde. Jekyll went to great lengths to keep his facade. Everyone had to follow unspoken rules to protect their reputation.

Dr. Jekyll always thought “that man is not truly one, but truly two” Pg. 91 as he tried to make a formula that would separate his good and evil side that were constantly fighting on the inside. Jekyll is seen as a representation of good, as