In the book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll creates a potion that separates good from evil. The potion evidently creates a whole counterpart of Jekyll, who is Mr. Hyde. Hyde overpowers Jekyll in a way, basically winning control over their body. Mr. Hyde was nothing but pure evil. Hyde only turns back into Jekyll, for fear of being captured after he kills someone. The quote “It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to his evil ways.” comes to mind when thinking about this book. Especially at the end of the book when Hyde decides to take his own life, instead of facing the music. Jekyll knew what he was doing when he created Hyde, instead of focusing on what the outcome would be of bringing a being of pure evil into the world. …show more content…
Jekyll knew that if he continued taking the potion that he could permanently lose control over his body. He persisted into turning into Hyde. He even said himself that sometimes in the past he would have to double his dose, and one time he even risked his own life “to tremble the amount”. He knew that they were consequences to taking the potion and turning into Hyde. He disregarded those consequences, although the type of sciences which were required to make said potion was not experimented with and Jekyll thought of this as some sort of special power that he had. “It was on this side that my new power tempted me until slavery. I had but to drink the cup, to doof at once the body of the noted professor, and to assume, like a thick cloak, that of Edward Hyde.” (Stevenson 70). If somehow anyone else was to create this type of concoction they would keep it to themselves, but you would think that a scientist of all people would go to someone about it. The one person he showed was …show more content…
If he did not continue turning into Hyde, the entire thing could have been stopped. It was Jekyll who persisted turning into Hyde. There are multiple places in the book, where it said that Jekyll had some sort of pleasure making and using the potions. “I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream; on the thought of the separation of these elements.” (Stevenson 65), “There was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably new and, from its very novelty, incredibly sweet.” (Stevenson 67), and “The pleasure which I made haste to seek in my disguised were, as I have said, undignified;” (Stevenson 71). If someone was turning into someone they do not like or something evil, I do not think there would a pleasure that comes along with it. Hyde is Jekyll and Jekyll is Hyde. Although Jekyll was described as a much bigger than Hyde. I think the Stevenson, the author of the book, did this to add to one of the points in the book. That is how looks can be
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).
However, as the same happens much too often in real life, Jekyll is unable to keep this promise. He has already sunken too far into his addiction and it completely controls him, which Stevenson brilliantly illustrates as Hyde gains strength and begins to take over. As Hyde becomes stronger, he usurps Jekyll's body, mind, and life - just as drugs and alcohol often do to addicts, who sometimes lose their jobs, their possessions, and their friends. Jekyll finds himself turning into Hyde spontaneously, so he has to seclude himself from society, and give up his existence as Jekyll. His addiction has gotten so out of hand that his life has been completely destroyed; he is beyond resolution, since the only way to combat his problem is to kill Hyde, thereby killing himself.
Jekyll. Hyde commits acts of murder and assault yet can be seen as Dr. Jekyll’s id or deep desires. By trying to separate good and bad . Dr. Jekyll passed scientific and social borders to isolate his personality. In doing so, he lost control of who he wanted to be. As a last resort he created a poisonous potion that Hyde drank and died through act of suicide. Dr. Jekyll although not working with anyone took matters in his own hands which makes him seem like an outlaw hero. He did not turn himself into the police when he had control. However, Dr. Jekyll seems to have qualities of a official hero in his maturity in handling the situation. He knows how evil his alter ego is, so he isolates himself from others as a safety precaution. Jekyll tries to live a normal life, but is unable to. His status as a well distinguished doctor and sociability skills with his
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hyde was an evil being it was slowly starting to take over and Dr. Jekyll knew that was happening. By shutting him out self off more and more he was helping everyone around him. Since he did not have any control over Mr. Hyde he had to stop Mr. Hyde from hurting anyone else and couldn’t tell anyone of these issues. In the book where Hyde and Jekyll are struggling, it says “ I was so far in my reflections” (53). This was Dr. Jekylls note for his struggles when he was finally telling people. He was deep in reflection and hiding them self off because he knew it was too late. It also states in this section of the book: “When Jekyll locks himself in his library” (61). Everyone was worried about him even though sometimes he does do this like in the beginning when he’s in solitude to work on his research. Dr. Jekyll had finally shut himself off from the word completely due to him knowing it was his final moments. He knew that since his potion was out and he could not find more materials it was over so he made a backup plan for when Hyde has taken over. This brutal plan was to kill himself and ultimately this is what he did. He had put all the other parts of the plan into effect and left a note to explain what truly happened, thus signifying the end of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, helping others but only helping him at the
Jekyll was a lower class citizen, like Mr. Hyde. Unlike Jekyll, Hyde has the sole privilege of being dismissed and unnoticed because he is of a lower class. According to Martin Danahay, author of “Dr. Jekyll’s Two Bodies”, Jekyll wears the body of Hyde “as if Mr. Hyde were a pair of pajamas that he would wear while sleeping in one location, but not the other” (23). Essentially, he could take a nap as Jekyll, wake up as Hyde, and spend the evening in opium den after opium den, experiencing different forbidden pleasures other than sodomy. Dr. Jekyll enjoys his new found freedom through Hyde at first, but soon grows weary of it when Mr. Hyde takes over whenever he wants. As Hyde grows into more power, he becomes reckless and starts leaving messes for Jekyll to clean up. More messes means a greater chance of being exposed, and having his gentlemanly reputation ruined. It makes sense as to why Dr. Jekyll kills himself and Hyde in the end. According to Sanna, Jekyll is “no longer able to revert to his good and distinguished aspect and personality” and commits suicide to avoid social condemnation (36). Jekyll kills himself because he can no longer control Hyde’s lust for wickedness, and he is tired of trying to keep up the appearance of someone he is not in a society where men having a need for certain pleasures is frowned upon. And, because Jekyll cannot control his need for these pleasures, he would rather die than be made a fool
Though Hyde is pure evil, Jekyll is not pure goodness; he is still the same old conflicted mix of both good and evil. To cover his tracks, Jekyll rented a room for Hyde, opened a bank account in his name, and explained to his household servants that Hyde was to be allowed to freely come and go through the house. Hyde was even made Jekyll’s sole heir. At first, Jekyll delights in having his alter ego. Through Hyde, he can live out his fantasies of doing whatever he pleases, with no consequences, seeing as how he has but to drink the potion to make Hyde disappear. No accountability for Hyde’s
Between the start of Chapter 10 and page 76, nothing had gone wrong for Jekyll. He was becoming addicted to evil though, each night committing ever more nefarious deeds. For Jekyll this was easy. He could change from one self to the other simply by drinking a potion. Except on page 76, something extremely peculiar occurs. Dr Jekyll, or so he thought he was, woke up and lay content in a dozy state. Then, his eye fell upon his hand. Or rather a “lean, corded, knuckly” hand. The hand of Mr Hyde. Upon this sight “terror woke in [his] breast”. “How was this to be explained?”
Dr. Jekyll always had Mr. Hyde inside of him, but it wasn’t til he took the potion that he actually came out. After much research Jekyll found a chemical solution
When Jekyll first turns into Hyde, he feels delighted at his newfound freedom. He states: "... And yet when I looked upon /that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no repugnance, /rather of a leap of welcome..."(131). Now he could be respected as a scientist and explore his darker passions. Stevenson shows duality of human nature through society.
In conclusion, Dr. Jekyll did not create a potion to remove the evil parts of his nature. He made a potion that allowed him to express his needs without feeling guilty and without any consequences of damaging his good name. That’s also why he names his alter ego “Hyde,” because Hyde is a disguise, worn and discarded like a thick cloak.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “It is much easier to suppress a first desire than it is to satisfy those that follow.” This is certainly true in the situation of Dr. Jekyll, as the temptation of becoming Mr. Hyde becomes stronger as he continually surrenders to the wickedness that is constantly misleading him. Mr. Hyde is never contented, even after murdering numerous innocents, but on the contrary, his depravity is further intensified. The significance of the repression of a desire is a prevalent theme throughout the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, as the inability to repress one’s curiosity can lead to a fatal end, whereas the repression of a desire that can no longer contain itself, or the repression of confronting a guilty conscience, will conclude in a tragic ending and in this case specifically,
As a consequence, he felt a great sense of glee and happiness as Hyde even when he was beating a man to death, but as soon as he returned to his original form as Dr. Jekyll, he was on the floor weeping in remorse, and praying to God for forgiveness. In transforming back to Jekyll, he is regaining his feeling of social and moral constraints and his ability to repress his bad impulses. In response to this event, he stopped taking the transformation drug, and this is when he found himself unwillingly turning into
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.
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
Mr. Hyde and Dorian Gray are characters that nearly match each other in their symbolism and manner. However, it is the key differences that make them remarkably interesting as a pair. They symbolize the battles between good and evil, though they have differing interpretations of morality.