The story “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson conveys the theme of duality in nature in which man is fighting himself, or in this case, another version of himself. Being a psychology major, it is interesting to see a case this serious over how an alter ego can control the main psyche up to the point where it no longer conveys influence, but instead manipulation. In order to understand the control an alter ego can eventually have on the individual, it is important to comprehend exactly what an alter ego is and how an individual can lose dominance over it. A common misconception with this story is the readers’ belief that Dr. Jekyll suffers from schizophrenia. Schizophrenia (also called dementia praecox) is a psychotic disorder characterized by progressive deterioration of the personality, withdrawal from reality, hallucinations, delusions, social apathy, and emotional instability. In layman’s terms, someone who suffers from schizophrenia is born with this disease and believes they hear voices, or see images, in their minds commanding them to complete certain tasks. They have no idea who the voices are or when they came to exist, but eventually they give into the demands in order to silence the voices. Subsequently, they withdraw themselves from society in the process. These symptoms do not accurately match up with the symptoms of Dr. Jekyll. Dr. Jekyll did extract himself towards the end of the story only because he could no longer manipulate his transformations. Nothing in the story reveals him being born with such a disease. Due to this, he cannot be classified as a schizophrenic. Another universal misconception is that Mr. Hyde is Dr. Jekyll’s split personality. This seems comprehensible ... ... middle of paper ... ... song represents the emotions tied in with someone who has an alter ego. The movie “Mr. Brooks” is a reflection of the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and how he battled with himself to contain control over his mind and his nature. This is how each source reflects the story of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. Works Cited Stevenson, R. Louis. "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." The Norton Anthology. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2008. Print. Mr. Brooks. Dir. Bruce A. Evans. Perf. Kevin Costner. Blockbuster: 2007, Film. Celesty. “Demon Inside.” Song and lyrics retrieved 3 May 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kXgeIzVLuU Hamilton, John. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." www.imdb.com. Web. 3 April 2012. Florentino, Sonya. “Alter Ego”. Poems by Sonya Florentino. New York, New York. Penguin Publishing. 2009. 48. Print.
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).
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York: Dover Publishing, Inc., 1991.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. First Vintage Classics Edition. New York: Vintage Books, 1991.
“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson was a familiar title to me and prior to reading it I believed I was well versed about the story. I knew that Dr. Jekyll was an intelligent man who experimented with the idea of creating a more powerful version of him that would release
“The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde” is a novella written in the Victorian era, more specifically in 1886 by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. When the novella was first published it had caused a lot of public outrage as it clashed with many of the views regarding the duality of the soul and science itself. The audience can relate many of the themes of the story with Stevenson’s personal life. Due to the fact that Stevenson started out as a sick child, moving from hospital to hospital, and continued on that track as an adult, a lot of the medical influence of the story and the fact that Jekyll’s situation was described as an “fateful illness” is most likely due to Stevenson’s unfortunate and diseased-riddled life. Furthermore the author had been known to dabble in various drugs, this again can be linked to Jekyll’s desperate need and desire to give in to his darker side by changing into Mr Hyde.
Stevenson uses the malaise of Schizophrenia to characterize Dr.Jekyll and his dual personality Mr. Hyde. In the above quote Dr.Jekyll realizes that he has done in justice the whole time without realizing it. Mr. Hyde’s actions have been proven to be inhumane and he has been characterized a “human juggernaut”; Dr. Jekyll is not solely responsible for his actions because of his dual mindset that precludes an individual from a rational thought process. In the quote above Dr. Jekyll had everyone’s respect and love, and now society labels him as a murderer: “clubbed him to the earth…with ape-like fury…shattered…the body.”(Stevenson 9) Mr. Hyde is malevolent in nature, “alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil”(Stevenson 45) whereas, Dr.Jekyll is a calm character. He uses “ape-like fury”, from that he shows embodiment of a murderer. In Psycho, Norman Bates is a maniac with a dual personality. Although...
Robert, Stevenson L. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York: Dover Publications, 2013. Print.
In this essay on the story of Jekyll and Hyde written by Robert Louis Stevenson I will try to unravel the true meaning of the book and get inside the characters in the story created by Stevenson. A story of a man battling with his double personality.
Stevenson focuses on two different characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but in reality these are not separate men, they are two different aspects of one man’s reality. In the story, Dr. Je...
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson primarily to portray the ‘dual’ nature of man and presented in numerous perspectives and point of views. These various methods of presenting a story all have particular uses and benefits which Stevenson exploits to the full in presenting a story that seeks to establish the fact of the duality of man and argues how if not properly harnessed and controlled, one of the ‘parts’ would ultimately subdue the other and collect more authority on the life and actions of the person whom they interplay. However there are 3 major types of narrations that are clearly indicated in the story of Dr.jekyll and Mr. Hyde. These are the third person narrative, framed narrative, and the personal narrative.
struggles with social conviction and finds a less than perfect way to solve it. Dr. Jekyll cultivates a
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:
Jekyll has captured life for a while he is not just one, but two, Hyde
Myers Frederic W. H., ‘Multiplex Personality’, in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Norton Critical Edition (New York: Norton press, 2003)
Stevenson is not only revealing human nature’s deeply intertwined double nature; he is also castigating Victorian hypocrisy. The doctor could not unite his role as a respectable and famous doctor with his passions and secret instincts, so he did not accept the multiple sides of his personality and tried to separate them, without success. The clash becomes the image of the contrast between oppression and pure pleasure, between firm control and too much freedom. Robert Louis Stevenson strives to portray and explore man’s inner dual between the need for evil satisfaction and the rigid moral contract of society. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are one fictional cause of the detrimental effects of subduing one’s innate desires and conforming to the social norm.