What Everybody Gets Wrong About Jekyll And Hyde

Steven Padnick’s article, “What Everybody Gets Wrong About Jekyll and Hyde” provides a strong and straight forward opinion to the work of Stevenson’s’ novel. I have to agree with Mr. Padnick’s point of view when the idea of the potion that was ingested by Jekyll was discussed. “Jekyll did not create a potion to remove the evil parts of his nature. He made a potion that allowed him express his urges without feeling guilty and without any consequences besmirching his good name. That’s also why he names his alter ego “Hyde,” because Hyde is a disguise, to be worn and discarded like a thick cloak. He might as well have called Edward “Mr. Second Skin,” or “Mr. Mask.”
It is true that mankind has dark intentions within, however; not all of mankind are able to hide it for long. Sooner or later, mankind is consumed by their dark intentions and manifests their inner “Hyde”. Very few people can control that dark side of them and others choose to be Hyde for life. Everything has a price, whether it’ll be good or bad just like the story; it is up to man to decide which part of them should be known.

In one scene that stood out was the introduction to the dual life between the characters of Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The scene provided the audience with a subtle foreshadowing that both characters are to have separate lives but at the same time a clear indication of Hyde will consume Dr. Jekyll. Hyde was the persona that Dr. Jekyll created in order to unleash the id side of him and silencing the superego and ego side. However, it led to the destruction of Dr. Jekyll’s life where he had no choice but to destroy