essay on duality in jekyll and hyde

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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Robert louis stevenson.

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Dr. Jekyll confesses to Utterson that he has for a long time been fascinated by the duality of his own nature and he believes that this is a condition that affects all men. His obsession with his own darker side gives the novel its plot but also its profound, psychological implications. Even before the climax of the story in which it is revealed that Hyde and Jekyll are the same person, the duality of their personalities creates a tension between the good, social Jekyll and Hyde who seems to revel in causing harm and mayhem, and it looks like it is Jekyll who will be overtaken somehow by Hyde.

One of the most interesting things about Jekyll’s transformation is its psychological aspect. Hyde is portrayed as an evil-looking dwarfed man with a violent temper, while Jekyll is a respected man of science, good-natured and leader of his circle of friends. Not only are these men two halves of the same person, but Jekyll describes them as polar opposites, one good and the other evil. What does it mean, then, that once Hyde exists that he slowly seems to take over, to destroy Jekyll. Is Jekyll’s theory of good and evil too neat and clean? Hyde's takeover of Jekyll seems to suggest a less clear-cut explanation, in which the human condition is not in fact double but rather one of repression and dark urges, and that once the repression of those dark urges eases or breaks it becomes impossible to put back into place, allowing the "true", dark nature of man to emerge.

Jekyll’s disorder also reflects on the other characters, and raises the question of just how upright, moral, and governed by reason they truly are. Utterson for example is introduced as a lawyerly, kind man, and seldom seems to stray from that description. But his character is so rigid and unmoving, and even impersonal, that one could imagine he too is strenuously repressing a world of darker urges.

The Duality of Human Nature ThemeTracker

The Duality of Human Nature Quotes in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

"He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something down-right detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point.”

“He began to go wrong, wrong in mind; and though of course I continue to take an interest in him for old sake's sake, as they say, I see and I have seen devilish little of the man. Such unscientific balderdash," added the doctor, flushing suddenly purple, "would have estranged Damon and Pythias."

"Poor Harry Jekyll," he thought, "my mind misgives me he is in deep waters! He was wild when he was young; a long while ago to be sure; but in the law of God, there is no statute of limitations. Ay, it must be that; the ghost of some old sin, the cancer of some concealed disgrace…”

The large handsome face of Dr. Jekyll grew pale to the very lips, and there came a blackness about his eyes. "I do not care to hear more," said he. "This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop."

And then all of a sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on (as the maid described it) like a madman.

An ivory-faced and silvery-haired old woman opened the door. She had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy: but her manners were excellent.

The fire burned in the grate; a lamp was set lighted on the chimney shelf, for even in the houses the fog began to lie thickly; and there, close up to the warmth, sat Dr. Jekyll, looking deathly sick. He did not rise to meet his visitor, but held out a cold hand and bade him welcome in a changed voice.

"I cannot say that I care what becomes of Hyde; I am quite done with him. I was thinking of my own character, which this hateful business has rather exposed."

The death of Sir Danvers was, to his way of thinking, more than paid for by the disappearance of Mr. Hyde. Now that that evil influence had been withdrawn, a new life began for Dr. Jekyll. He came out of his seclusion, renewed relations with his friends, became once more their familiar guest and entertainer…

The middle one of the three windows was half-way open; and sitting close beside it, taking the air with an infinite sadness of mien, like some disconsolate prisoner, Utterson saw Dr. Jekyll.

"O, sir," cried Poole, "do you think I do not know my master after twenty years? Do you think I do not know where his head comes to in the cabinet door, where I saw him every morning of my life? No, sir, that thing in the mask was never Dr. Jekyll--God knows what it was, but it was never Dr. Jekyll; and it is the belief of my heart that there was murder done."

“Think of me at this hour, in a strange place, labouring under a blackness of distress that no fancy can exaggerate, and yet well aware that, if you will but punctually serve me, my troubles will roll away like a story that is told. Serve me, my dear Lanyon and save

Your friend, H.J.”

"Lanyon, you remember your vows: what follows is under the seal of our profession. And now, you who have so long been bound to the most narrow and material views, you who have denied the virtue of transcendental medicine, you who have derided your superiors--behold!"

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.

I looked down; my clothes hung formlessly on my shrunken limbs; the hand that lay on my knee was corded and hairy. I was once more Edward Hyde.

I am careless; this is my true hour of death, and what is to follow concerns another than myself. Here then, as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end.

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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Duality Between Good and Evil

Essays on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

What makes a good the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde essay topics.

When it comes to writing an essay on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , choosing the right topic is crucial. A good essay topic should be thought-provoking, unique, and analytical. It should also allow for in-depth exploration of the themes, characters, and symbolism in the novel. To brainstorm and choose an essay topic, start by considering the themes and motifs present in the book. Think about the duality of human nature, the concept of good and evil, and the consequences of scientific experimentation. Consider the characters and their motivations, as well as the setting and its significance. A good essay topic should also allow for critical analysis and interpretation, so look for topics that are open to interpretation and analysis.

When choosing a topic, consider What Makes a Good essay topic. A good topic should be specific and focused, allowing for a deep exploration of the subject matter. It should also be relevant and timely, addressing current issues and concerns. Additionally, a good essay topic should be original and unique, offering a fresh perspective on the novel. Finally, a good topic should be interesting and engaging, both for the writer and the reader. By considering these factors, you can brainstorm and choose an essay topic that is both compelling and intellectually stimulating.

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• The duality of human nature in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
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• The role of women in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
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• The significance of the ending in the novel

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde essay topics Prompts

• Imagine you are Dr. Jekyll and write a journal entry detailing the moments before you first transform into Mr. Hyde.
• Write a character analysis of Mr. Hyde, exploring his motivations and actions throughout the novel.
• Compare and contrast the characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, examining their similarities and differences.
• Analyze the role of the setting in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , focusing on its significance to the plot and themes of the novel.
• Create an alternate ending for the novel, exploring how the story would have unfolded if certain events had transpired differently.

When it comes to choosing The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde essay topics, it's important to consider the themes, characters, and symbolism present in the novel. By brainstorming and selecting a topic that is specific, relevant, and original, you can create an essay that is engaging and thought-provoking. Whether you choose to explore the duality of human nature, analyze the characters, or examine the role of the setting, there are plenty of creative and compelling topics to choose from when writing about The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde .

Analysis of Jekyll and Hyde Duality in Stevenson's Novel

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The Duality of Human Nature in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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5 January 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson

Novella; Psychological Thriller, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Gothic, Science Fiction

Gabriel John Utterson, Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Edward Hyde, Richard Enfield, Dr. Hastie Lanyon, Mr. Poole, Inspector Newcomen, Sir Danvers Carew, MP, Maid

1. Stevenson, R. L. (2012). The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-with other short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson (Fantasy and Horror Classics). https://www.scribd.com/book/377905117/Strange-Case-of-Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde-Other-Stories Read Books Ltd. 2. Clunas, A. (1994). Comely External Utterance: Reading Space in" The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". The Journal of Narrative Technique, 24(3), 173-189. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/30225414) 3. Mills, K. (2004). The Stain on the Mirror: Pauline Reflections in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Christianity & Literature, 53(3), 337-348. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014833310405300303) 4. Goh, R. B. (1999). Textual Hyde and Seek:" Gentility," Narrative Play and Proscription in Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Journal of Narrative Theory, 29(2), 158-183. (https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/38/article/375823/summary) 5. Buzwell, G. (2014). Man is not truly one, but truly two’: duality in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The British Library. (https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/duality-in-robert-louis-stevensons-strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde) 6. Maynard, K. K. (2000). The Perils and Pleasures of Professionalism in Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Doyle's A Study in Scarlet and Other Fictions. The European Legacy, 5(3), 365-384. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/713665493?journalCode=cele20) 7. Dury, R. (2005). Strange Language of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. https://www.academia.edu/11373763/Strange_Language_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde_Journal_of_Stevenson_Studies_2_2005_33_50  Journal of Stevenson Studies, 2, 33-50. 8. Stevenson, R. L., & Glasser, B. (2018). Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In Medicine and Literature (pp. 105-118). CRC Press. (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781315375670-8/strange-case-dr-jekyll-mr-hyde-robert-louis-stevenson-brian-glasser)

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Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde: Themes ( AQA GCSE English Literature )

Revision note.

English Senior Content Creator

Exam responses that are led by ideas are more likely to reach the highest levels of the mark scheme. Exploring the ideas of the text, specifically in relation to the question being asked, will help to increase your fluency and assurance in writing about the novella.

Below are some ideas which could be explored in the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. This list is not exhaustive and you are encouraged to identify other ideas within the novella.

Good and Evil

Secrecy and reputation, science and religion.

The theme of duality is one of the most prevalent themes in the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Although the theme does not become fully evident to the reader until the final chapter, Stevenson presents clues and references to this duality throughout the narrative.

Knowledge and evidence:

Stevenson presents the theme of duality primarily in the character of Jekyll as his inner sinister desires and his outward respectable persona are in conflict with each other, leading to his creation of Hyde:

Hyde appears in the narrative before Jekyll which reinforces the reader’s perception that he is a separate entity  rather than merely the alter-ego of Jekyll

Jekyll admits in the final chapter of the novella, that without Hyde, Jekyll lives a life of “profound duplicity”

While Jekyll is presented as a respectable gentleman, Stevenson hints at his cunning, secretive and deceitful nature by the manner in which he is first described, further alluding to the dual aspect of his character:

Jekyll is not simply portrayed as a purely good character, which reinforces Stevenson’s idea that human nature itself is both complex and multifaceted

Throughout the novella, Jekyll finds himself living a double life and he is unable to reconcile  the two sides of his character:

He wishes to be a respected doctor adhering to the highest moral standards. However, he also yearns to engage in malevolent  acts

Duality is further revealed in the novella’s setting of London:

Stevenson presents the city of London with contrasting descriptions where affluent streets exist next to areas of degradation  and poverty

The description of Jekyll’s house is also used to reveal a duality:

Stevenson presents the door at the front as having a “great air of wealth and comfort” leading to the reputable Jekyll; while the door at the back, which has an impression of “sordid negligence” leads to the repungant  Hyde

The door is used as a metaphor for the inner struggles between their two identities:

Stevenson uses this to comment on the deceptive outward appearance of upper Victorian society

Stevenson also hints at the concept of duality in other characters:

Utterson is described as a man having “a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile”, but also a man of “soundness of mind and ease of manner”

Stevenson hints that Enfield has all the exterior of a gentleman, though may also have sinister secrets of his own

By the end of the novella, Jekyll acknowledges "the thorough and primitive duality of man"

Stevenson continually uses contrasts to further underscore the aspect of duality throughout the novella: for example, rich/poor; light/dark; honesty/secrecy; night/day; inside/outside; respectability/ notoriety

What is Stevenson’s intention?

Stevenson is concerned about the duality of human nature and society in general and considers the idea that everyone is capable of good and evil deeds

Stevenson may also have used the dualities in the novella to reflect a society rapidly moving from the past into a new modern world

The theme of good and evil is closely linked to ideas about duality. Stevenson explores the tension which exists between good and evil and presents the temptation and allurement   of evil within the novella.

Jekyll is presented as a man with a reputation and a respected member of society representing good, while Hyde is depicted as a manifestation  of evil:

In Jekyll’s view, “man is not truly one, but truly two” and while he is aware of his good side, he also acknowledges there is evil within him

Jekyll believes that it is the “curse of mankind” that good and evil are bound together within him and the two parts are in direct conflict with one another:

Stevenson aims to highlight this idea of an innate  duality and the implications of giving in to one’s own evil side

Hyde’s sinister presence and actions are a constant reminder of the power of evil throughout the novella:

He invokes terror in other characters and again this may hint at the possibility of the inner evil and depraved  nature that resides within each person

Stevenson depicts Hyde as an inherently violent character and he displays no remorse for his crimes:

Both of Hyde’s victims are presented as innocent and vulnerable which elicits sympathy from the reader and makes them horrified at the wickedness of Hyde’s actions

All of the characters who encounter Hyde are repulsed by the sense of evil that he exudes:

For example, Stevenson uses contrasting imagery to describe Carew and Hyde to highlight the difference between what we could infer is the “good” character of Carew and the “evil” character of Hyde:

The imagery associated with Carew is linked to lightness and innocence: for example, “an aged and beautiful gentleman with white hair” while Hyde is depicted as having an “ape-like fury”

Hyde is described in terms of animalistic imagery which strengthens as the novella develops: for example, “savage”, “snarled”, “ape-like fury” and “hardly human” all allude to his aggressive, predatory and primitive  nature:

Stevenson’s deliberate use of animal imagery is used to suggest Hyde’s separateness from human society and his unrestricted nature

Stevenson associates Hyde with Christian ideas about Hell and Satan and Jekyll repeatedly refers to him as “my devil”

Further, Stevenson presents evil through Hyde’s manner and appearance but he deliberately chooses to make that evil to remain somewhat undefined:

This lack of a clear definition of evil in the novella makes it appear more pervasive and more terrifying

Stevenson presents good and evil as a constant duality throughout the novel and portrays it as a natural facet of the individual, which results in an ongoing battle between the two

Stevenson proposes that the inherent evil aspect of man is merely suppressed by society and he attempts to explore the consequences of attempting to separate one from the other

Stevenson’s narrative explores the uncovering of Jekyll’s secret and the mystery of Hyde’s actions and identity. Other characters also display hints of secretive behaviour and the lengths they are determined to go to in order to preserve and protect their reputation and those of others.

The deepest secret in the novella is the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde which Stevenson uses to create tension and suspense

Jekyll is depicted as a respectable, model gentleman: he is courteous, has a wide circle of acquaintances, is charitable and supports the Church:

Underneath this veneer of respectability, Jekyll retains his dark secret, for if exposed to society, it would result in his utter ruination  

Stevenson also presents other characters who appear to retain secrets or fail to disclose information about their behaviour:

Lanyon refuses to tell Utterson as to why he had a disagreement with Jekyll; Enfield and Carew do not disclose why they are out walking the London streets late at night:

This heightens the sense of secrecy and suspicion within the novella, as characters withhold information in order to protect their reputation or the reputation of others 

As a character, Utterson attempts to only do good though he desperately tries to avert any form of scandal which could impair Jekyll’s reputation

All the way through the novel, Utterson does not share his suspicions about Jekyll because he wants to protect his friend’s reputation:

For example, when he suspects Hyde’s letter has been forged or believes Jekyll is hiding Hyde, he keeps it a secret in order to shield Jekyll from any public disgrace

Further, Utterson is motivated to maintain the appearance of respectability and propriety even though he is aware of the depravity  of Hyde’s actions

Even at the conclusion of the novella, Utterson remains steadfast in his belief that Jekyll’s reputation must be upheld: for example, “I would say nothing of this paper. If your master has fled or is dead, we may at least save his credit”

Ideas relating to secrecy are also revealed through descriptions and events within the narrative:

Stevenson continually references locked doors and windows, and letters with information that must not be read, which all heighten the sense of mystery of what is not being revealed to the reader:

In Chapter I, “The Story of the Door” Stevenson uses the door and lock to suggest how it can prevent the true nature of a person from being revealed

For example, “The door was very strong, the lock was excellent” underscores how deeply hidden and protected Jekyll’s secret appears to be that it cannot be easily penetrated

Further, pathetic fallacy  and the descriptions of the fog are used to create an atmosphere of concealment

Stevenson conveys how reputation is based merely on one’s appearance to society, rather than one’s actual conduct and this leads to ideas about hypocrisy

Stevenson demonstrates the extent to which the characters place reputation and respectability above responsibility

As science was considered new and unpredictable in the Victorian period, this led to increased anxieties about it. Stevenson uses the Victorians’ fear and uncertainty of science to make Jekyll’s experiment appear more frightening to his readership. 

Stevenson uses fear of the unknown to create anxiety and terror in the novella:

Victorian concerns about the progress of science makes Jekyll’s experiment even more terrifying as they would have feared his experiment might have been possible 

Jekyll is presented as a highly intelligent scientist with an inquiring mind:

His motivation for creating Hyde demonstrates his ability to question societal beliefs about science and religion

Jekyll’s experiments lead to a feud with his friend, Lanyon, as he believes Jekyll’s experiments are morally objectionable  and should not be conducted:

Lanyon is a respectable and conventional scientist and stands in contrast to Jekyll, as he views Jekyll’s experiments as dangerous and describes them as “scientific balderdash”

He is also established as one of Jekyll’s “oldest friends” and as his “colleague and old-school companion”:

Stevenson does so in order to depict how repulsed Lanyon is about Jekyll’s experiments, as he distances himself completely from his former friend

Lanyon is unable to reconcile his opposition to Jekyll’s experiments and as a result, their friendship ceases to exist

Lanyon is presented as conservative and traditional in his approach to science:

Stevenson positions Lanyon as the only character to witness Jekyll’s transformation, as his belief in the laws of science does not enable him to comprehend what he has witnessed: for example, he states “My life is shaken to its roots"

Lanyon’s shock at Jekyll’s experiment is so great that it leads to his own physical and mental deterioration and subsequent death

Stevenson presents Utterson as a highly moral and devout Christian and he is depicted as a model Victorian gentleman:

He is described as being “austere with himself” and that he restricts his pleasures: for example, he enjoys attending the theatre though had not frequented one for twenty years, due to their somewhat poor reputation

Jekyll could be viewed as using science to access the supernatural and could be viewed as ‘playing God’ by interfering with it

Further, the threat of the modern world of science is evident in the depiction of Carew as he is described as “innocent” and having an “old-world kindness of disposition”:

Carew’s world of tradition, politeness and decorum could be seen to be under threat by Jekyll’s scientific experiments and its alignment with modernity

Stevenson could be viewed critiquing the dangers of science 

Alternatively, Stevenson could also be suggesting that repressing natural urges and instincts will eventually lead to harm and injury

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Author: Nick Redgrove

Nick is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and King’s College London. He started his career in journalism and publishing, working as an editor on a political magazine and a number of books, before training as an English teacher. After nearly 10 years working in London schools, where he held leadership positions in English departments and within a Sixth Form, he moved on to become an examiner and education consultant. With more than a decade of experience as a tutor, Nick specialises in English, but has also taught Politics, Classical Civilisation and Religious Studies.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Full Analysis and Themes

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The story for Jekyll and Hyde famously came to Robert Louis Stevenson in a dream, and according to Stevenson’s stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, Stevenson wrote the first draft of the novella in just three days, before promptly throwing it onto the fire when his wife criticised it. Stevenson then rewrote it from scratch, taking ten days this time, and the novella was promptly published in January 1886.

The story is part detective-story or mystery, part Gothic horror, and part science fiction, so it’s worth analysing how Stevenson fuses these different elements.

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: analysis

Now it’s time for some words of analysis about Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic 1886 novella. However, perhaps ‘analyses’ (plural) would be more accurate, since there never could be one monolithic meaning of a story so ripe with allegory and suggestive symbolism.

Like another novella that was near-contemporary with Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , and possibly influenced by it ( H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine ), the symbols often point in several different directions at once.

Any attempt to reduce Stevenson’s story of doubling to a moral fable about drugs or drink, or a tale about homosexuality, is destined to lose sight of the very thing which makes the novella so relevant to so many people: its multifaceted quality. So here are some (and they are only some) of the many interpretations of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde which have been put forward in the last 120 years or so.

A psychoanalytic or proto-psychoanalytic analysis

In this interpretation, Jekyll is the ego and Hyde the id (in Freud’s later terminology). The ego is the self in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, while the id is the set of primal drives found in our unconscious: the urge to kill, or do inappropriate sexual things, for instance.

Several of Robert Louis Stevenson’s essays, such as ‘A Chapter on Dreams’ (1888), prefigure some of Freud’s later ideas; and there was increasing interest in the workings of the human mind towards the end of the nineteenth century (two leading journals in the field, Brain and Mind , had both been founded in the 1870s).

The psychoanalytic interpretation is a popular one with many readers of Jekyll and Hyde , and since the novella is clearly about repression of some sort, one can make a psychoanalytic interpretation – an analysis grounded in psychoanalysis, if you like – quite convincingly.

It might be significant, reading the story from a post-Freudian perspective, that Hyde is described as childlike at several points: does he embody Jekyll’s – and, indeed, man’s – deep desire to return to a time before responsibility and full maturity, when one was freer to act on impulse? Early infancy is the formative period for much Freudian psychoanalysis.

Recall the empty middle-class scenes at the beginning of the book: Utterson and Enfield on their joyless Sunday walks, for instance. Hyde attacks father-figures (Sir Danvers Carew, the MP whom he murders, is a white-haired old gentleman), which would fall in line with Freud’s concept of the Oedipus complex and Jekyll’s desire to return to a time before adult life with its responsibilities and disappointments.

However, one fly in the Oedipal ointment is that Hyde also attacks a young girl – almost the complete opposite of the ‘old man’ or father figure embodied by Danvers Carew.

Nevertheless, psychoanalytic readings of the novella have been popular for some time, and it’s worth remembering that the idea for the book came to Stevenson in a dream. Observe, also, the presence of dreams and dreamlike scenes in the novel itself, such as when Jekyll remarks that he ‘received Lanyon’s condemnation partly in a dream; it was partly in a dream that I came home to my own house and got into bed’.

An anti-alcohol morality tale?

Alternatively, a different interpretation: we might analyse these dreamlike aspects of the novel in another way and see the novel as being about alcoholism and temperance , subjects which were being fiercely debated at the time Stevenson was writing.

Here, then, the ‘transforming draught’ which Jekyll concocts represents alcohol, and Jekyll, upon imbibing the draught, becomes a violent, unpredictable person unknown even to himself. (This reading has been most thoroughly explored in Thomas L. Reed’s 2006 study The Transforming Draught .)

Note how often wine crops up in this short book: it turns up first of all in the second sentence of the novella, when Utterson is found sipping it, and Hyde, we learn, has a closet ‘filled with wine’. Might the continual presence of wine be a clue that we are all Hydes waiting to happen? Note how the opening paragraph informs us that Utterson drinks gin when he is alone.

This thesis – that the novella is about alcohol and temperance – is intriguing, but has been contested by critics such as Julia Reid for being too speculative and reductionist: see her review of The Transforming Draught in The Review of English Studies , 2007.

The ‘drugs’ interpretation

Similarly, the idea that the ‘draught’ is a metaphor for some other drug, whether opium or cocaine . Scholars are unsure as to whether Stevenson was on drugs when he wrote the book: some accounts say Stevenson used cocaine to finish the manuscript; others say he took ergot, which is the substance from which LSD was later synthesised. Some say he was too sick to be taking anything.

You could purchase cocaine and opium from your local chemist in 1880s London (indeed, another invention of 1886, Coca-Cola, originally contained cocaine, as the drink’s name still testifies: don’t worry, it doesn’t any more).

This is essentially a development of the previous interpretation concerning alcohol, and arguably has similar limitations in being too restrictive an interpretation. However, note the way that Jekyll, in his ‘full statement’ becomes reliant on the ‘draught’ or ‘salt’ towards the end.

A religious analysis

As such, the story has immediate links with the story Stevenson would write sixty years later. Stevenson was an atheist who managed to escape the constrictive religion of his parents, but he remained haunted by Calvinistic doctrines for the rest of his life, and much of his work can be seen as an attempt to grapple with these issues which had affected and afflicted him so much as a child.

The sexuality interpretation

Some critics have interpreted Jekyll and Hyde in light of late nineteenth-century attitudes to sexuality : note the almost total absence of women from the story, barring the odd maid and ‘old hag’, and that hapless girl trampled underfoot by Hyde.

Some critics have suggested that the idea of blackmail for homosexual acts lurks behind the story, and the novella itself mentions this when Enfield tells Utterson that he refers to the house of Mr Hyde as ‘Black Mail House’ as a consequence of the girl-trampling scene in the street.

As such, the novella becomes an allegory for the double life lived by many homosexual Victorian men, who had to hide (or Hyde ) their illicit liaisons from their friends and families. The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote to his friend Robert Bridges that the girl-trampling incident early on in the narrative was ‘perhaps a convention: he was thinking of something unsuitable for fiction’.

Some have interpreted this statement – by Hopkins, himself a repressed homosexual – as a reference to homosexual activity in late Victorian London.

Consider in this connection the fact that Hyde enters Jekyll’s house through the ‘back way’ – even, at one point ‘the back passage’. 1885, the year Stevenson wrote the book, was the year of the Criminal Law Amendment Act (commonly known as the Labouchere Amendment ), which criminalised acts of ‘gross indecency’ between men (this was the act which, ten years later, would put Oscar Wilde in gaol).

However, we should be wary of reading the text as about ‘homosexual panic’, since, as Harry Cocks points out, homosexuality was frequently ‘named openly, publicly and repeatedly’ in nineteenth-century criminal courts. But then could fiction for a mass audience as readily name such things?

A Darwinian analysis

Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species , which laid out the theory of evolution by natural selection, had been published in 1859, when Stevenson was still a child. In this reading, Hyde represents the primal, animal origin of modern, civilised man.

Consider here the repeated uses of the word ‘apelike’ in relation to Hyde, suggesting he is an atavistic throwback to an earlier, more primitive species of man than Homo sapiens . This reading incorporates theories of something called ‘devolution’, an idea (now discredited) which suggested that life forms could actually evolve backwards into more primitive forms.

This is also linked with late Victorian fears concerning degeneration and decadence among the human race. Is Jekyll’s statement that he ‘bore the stamp, of lower elements in my soul’ an allusion to Charles Darwin’s famous phrase from the end of The Descent of Man (1871), ‘man […] bears […] the indelible stamp of his lowly origin’?

In his story ‘Olalla’, another tale of the double which Stevenson published in 1885, he writes: ‘Man has risen; if he has sprung from the brutes he can descend to the same level again’.

This Darwinian analysis of Jekyll and Hyde could incorporate elements of the sexual which the previous interpretation also touches upon, but would view the novel as a portrayal of man’s – and we mean specifically man ’s here – repression of the darker, violent, primitive side of his nature associated with rape, pillage, conquest, and murder.

This looks back to a psychoanalytic reading, with the ‘id’ being the home of primal sexual desire and lust. The girl-tramping scene may take on another significance here: it’s a ‘girl’ rather than a boy because it symbolises Hyde’s animalistic desire to conquer and brutalise someone of the opposite, not the same, sex.

There have been many critical readings of the novella in relation to sex and sexuality, but it’s important to point out that Stevenson denied that the novella was about sexuality (see below).

A study in hypocrisy?

Or perhaps not: perhaps there is something in the idea that hypocrisy is the novella’s theme , as Stevenson himself suggested in a letter of November 1887 to John Paul Bocock, editor of the New York Sun : ‘The harm was in Jekyll,’ Stevenson wrote, ‘because he was a hypocrite – not because he was fond of women; he says so himself; but people are so filled full of folly and inverted lust, that they can think of nothing but sexuality. The Hypocrite let out the beast’.

This analysis of Jekyll and Hyde sees the two sides to Jekyll’s personality as a portrayal of the dualistic nature of Victorian society, where you must be respectable and civilised on the outside, while all the time harbouring an inward lust, violence, and desire which you have to bring under control.

This was a popular theme for many late nineteenth-century writers – witness not only Oscar Wilde’s 1891 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray but also the double lives of Jack and Algernon in Wilde’s comedy of manners, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). This is a more open-ended interpretation, and the novella does appear to be about repression of some sort.

In this respect, this interpretation is similar to the psychoanalytic reading proposed above, but it also tallies with Stevenson’s own assertion that the story is about hypocrisy. Everyone in this book is masking their private thoughts or desires from others.

Note how even the police officer, Inspector Newcomen, when he learns of the murder of the MP, goes from being horrified one moment to excited the next, as ‘the next moment his eye lighted up with professional ambition’. He can barely contain his glee. The maid who answers the door at Hyde’s rooms has ‘an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy; but her manners were excellent’.

From these clues, we can also posit a reading of the novel which sees it as about the class structure of late nineteenth-century Britain, where Jekyll represents the comfortable middle class and Hyde is the repressed – or, indeed, oppressed – working-class figure.

Note here, however, how Hyde is repeatedly described as a ‘gentleman’ by those who see him, and that he attacks Danvers Carew with a ‘cane’, rather than, say, a club (though it is reported, tellingly, that he ‘clubbed’ Carew to death with it).

A scientific interpretation

The reference to the evil maid with excellent manners places Jekyll’s own duality at the extreme end of a continuum, where everyone is putting on a respectable and acceptable mask which hides or conceals the evil truth lurking behind it. So we might see Jekyll’s scientific experiment as merely a physical embodiment of what everyone does.

This leads some critics to ask, then, whether the novella about the misuse of science . Or is the ‘tincture’ merely a scientific, chemical composition because a magical draught or elixir would be unbelievable to an 1880s reader? Arthur Machen, an author who was much influenced by Stevenson and especially by Jekyll and Hyde , made this point in a letter of 1894, when he grumbled:

In these days the supernatural per se is entirely incredible; to believe, we must link our wonders to some scientific or pseudo-scientific fact, or basis, or method. Thus we do not believe in ‘ghosts’ but in telepathy, not in ‘witch-craft’ but in hypnotism. If Mr Stevenson had written his great masterpiece about 1590-1650, Dr Jekyll would have made a compact with the devil. In 1886 Dr Jekyll sends to the Bond Street chemists for some rare drugs.

This is worth pondering: the use of the ‘draught’ lends the story an air of scientific authenticity, which makes the story a form of science fiction rather than fantasy: the tincture which Jekyll drinks is not magical, merely a chemical potion of some vaguely defined sort. But to say that the story is actually about the dangers of misusing science could be a leap too far.

We run the risk of confusing the numerous film adaptations of the book with the book itself: we immediately picture wild-haired soot-faced scientists causing explosions and mixing up potions in a dark laboratory, but in fact this is not really what the story is about , merely the means through which the real meat of the story – the transformation of Jekyll into Hyde – is effected.

It’s only once this split has been achieved that the real story, about the dark side of man’s nature which he represses, comes to light. (Compare Frankenstein here .)

All of these interpretations of Jekyll and Hyde can be – and have been – proposed, but it’s worth bearing in mind that the popularity of Stevenson’s tale may lie in the very polyvalent and ambiguous nature of the text, the fact that it exists as a symbol without a key, a riddle without a definitive answer.

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Duplicity in 'Jekyll & Hyde': a model essay

I can use model responses to refine my own writing about ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’.

Lesson details

Key learning points.

• A successful essay will have a clear overarching argument.
• Select main quotations and supporting quotations to support your overarching argument.
• Main quotations should be analysed; supporting quotations don’t need to be analysed.

Common misconception

All quotations in an essay require analysis.

Some quotations are useful for supporting your argument but do not require detailed analysis. These should embedded directly into pupils' sentences.

Trangressions - wrongdoings or offenses against rules or moral standards.

Clandestine - secretive or hidden, done in a concealed or sneaky way.

To harbour - to shelter or hide, providing a safe place for something.

Content guidance

• Depiction or discussion of upsetting content
• Depiction or discussion of serious crime

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Adult supervision required

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited ( 2024 ), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 questions.

topic sentence -  

States the paragraph’s main idea and links to overarching argument.

main quotations -  

Quotations which support your topic sentence, and require analysis

supporting quotations -  

Quotations which support your topic sentence, but don’t need analysis

concluding sentence -  

The final sentence of a paragraph which links to your topic sentence.

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The duality of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

An essay planning and writing frame for exploring duality in  The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde .

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• v.50(3); Jul-Sep 2008

A study in dualism: The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Shubh m. singh.

Department of Psychiatry, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh - 160 012, India

Subho Chakrabarti

R. L. Stevenson's novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a prominent example of Victorian fiction. The names Jekyll and Hyde have become synonymous with multiple personality disorder. This article seeks to examine the novel from the view point of dualism as a system of philosophy and as a religious framework and also from the view point of Freud's structural theory of the mind.

Dualism derives from the Latin word duo , meaning two. Simply put, dualism can be understood as a thought that facts about the world in general or of a particular class cannot be explained except by supposing ultimately the existence of two different, often opposite, and irreducible principles. Dualism is most often discussed in context of the systems of religion and philosophy.[ 1 ]

The purpose of this paper is to examine Robert Stevenson's famous novel, “ The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ”[ 2 ] from the view point of the above mentioned systems and to discuss the novel from a psychological perspective.

THE AUTHOR AND THE NOVEL

Robert Balfour Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, and poet. Born in 1850, he was a qualified advocate but earned his living as a writer. He was chronically afflicted with tuberculosis, and dabbled with various psychotropic drugs such as alcohol, cannabis, and opium. He is well known for his dark and sinister tales like Markheim, Thrawn Janet, and racy adventure novels such as Treasure Island and Kidnapped . Successful and famous, he died at a young age in 1894. Interestingly enough, Stevenson later claimed that the plot of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was revealed to him in a dream.[ 3 ]

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde deals with a Dr. Henry Jekyll who is widely respected, successful, and possesses a brilliant intellect but is only too aware of the duplicity of the life that he leads, and of the evil that resides within him. Dr. Jekyll covertly provides utterance to the evil in his soul by various unspeakable acts, but is afraid of doing so openly because of the fear of social criticism. In the course of his experiments, he succeeds in producing a concoction that enables him to free this evil in him from the control of his good self, thus giving rise to Edward Hyde. Edward Hyde is pure evil and amoral. Not only is his psyche different from Dr. Jekyll but also his body is grotesque and deformed. Thus, Dr. Jekyll thinks that he can receive the pleasure that both parts of his being crave without each being encumbered by the demands of the other. However, Mr. Hyde evokes feelings of dread and abhorrence in Dr. Jekyll's friends who beseech him to give up his “friendship” with this Edward Hyde. Edward Hyde gradually becomes ever more powerful than his ‘good’ counterpart and ultimately leads Dr. Jekyll to his doom. “Jekyll and Hyde” as an eponymous term has become a synonym for multiple personality in scientific[ 4 ] and lay literature[ 5 ] and the novel has also been considered a case demonstration of substance dependence.[ 6 ]

DUALISM, RELIGION, AND THE NOVEL

A religion that is dualistic admits not only that the universe comprises good and evil, or light and darkness, but also that though these are eternally opposed they are coeternal, coexistent, and equipotent.[ 7 ] This is an important distinction from nondualistic, monistic religions where evil comes about as an accident during creation of the Universe or as a result of powerful beings that can be good or bad as per what serves them or injures them and not because they are evil for the sake of being evil. Here, the good and the evil are often derived from the same source or from one another, much like the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Mahabharata . Zoroastrianism is often cited as an example of a dualistic religion where the concentration of all that is good is around Ahura Mazda, and all that is evil around Ahra Mainyu . These two forces are at constant war and only at the end will good finally vanquish evil. Interestingly, Christianity, the religion Stevenson was born into, rejects dualism and preaches a monistic origin to the universe from one, infinite, and self-existing spiritual being who freely created everything. However, the dualism of the human soul and the body which it animates was made clearer and is emphasized by the church. In the same vein, Christianity holds that evil is the necessary limitation of finite created beings and is a consequence of creation of beings possessed by free will. As an imperfection inherent in the manufacturing process of individuals, evil is tolerated by God.[ 1 ]

In the novel, Stevenson creates a hero in Dr. Jekyll, who aware of the evil in his own being, and sick of the duplicity in his life, succeeds by way of his experiments on himself in freeing the pure evil part of his being as Mr. Hyde, so that each can indulge in a life unfettered by the demands of the other. As Dr. Jekyll says, “With every day and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and intellectual, I thus drew steadily 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.” He further adds,”… that I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man;… if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both”. Mr. Edward Hyde he describes as, “a second form and countenance substituted, none the less natural to me because they were the expression, and bore the stamp, of lower elements in my soul” and that, “Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil”.[ 2 ] Thus, Stevenson creates in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, two equipotent, coexistent, and eternally opposed components that make up a “normal” individual. Here, good and evil are not related but are two independent entities, individuals even, different in mental and physical attributes and constantly at war with each other. Evil now does not require the existence of good to justify itself but it exists simply as itself, depicted as being the more powerful, the more enjoyable of the two, and in the end ultimately it is the one that leads to Dr. Jekyll's downfall and death. This is because Dr. Jekyll in the last phases of his lucidity recognizes the danger that Mr. Hyde poses to society and altruistically decides to do away with himself. Stevenson seems to discard Christian notions of monism and embrace dualism as described above.

The novel needs to be looked at in the context of its setting of Victorian London. Stevenson seems to make a comment not only about the dualism present in every individual but also in society as a whole, where the aristocracy that superficially was genteel and refined, had dark secrets to hide behind the high walls of the mansions in which they lived. Most of the action takes place in the night time and much of it in the poorer districts of London, considered the abode of evil-doers. Most significantly, Mr. Hyde enters and leaves Dr. Jekyll's house through the back door which seems a metaphor for the evil that lies behind the façade of civilization and refinement.

DUALISM, PHILOSOPHY, AND THE NOVEL

Dualism as a philosophy signifies the view that the universe contains two radically different kinds of being or substance-matter and spirit, body, and mind.[ 7 ] The ancient Greeks distinguished profoundly the soul and the body as the dictum states: “The body is a tomb.” Evil therefore was a result of an infinite soul trapped in a finite body. Plato for instance was strongly dualistic in that he expressed the view that the soul exists independently of the body. The rational soul is a spiritual substance distinct from the body within which it dwells, much like the chariot and a charioteer.[ 8 ] Dualism served a great purpose in the European Renaissance when Descartes described the mind exclusively as a substance that thinks and matter exclusively as an extended substance. This dualism enabled a wholly mathematical science of physics to come about where every fact in the material world was to be explained on basis of measurements. In this scheme, the psyche is immeasurable and thus not open to either understanding or intervention.[ 1 ]

In the novel, Stevenson creates a hero who by way of a concoction (that he compares with alcohol in course of the novel) intervenes in his “normal” mental processes and unleashes Mr. Hyde. This new persona not only is pure evil but also has a countenance that suggests “Satan's signature” and a body that is “something troglodytic”.[ 2 ] Here, not only the psyche is shown as a process that can be mediated by external tangible methods (the mysterious concoction) but also that a change in the psyche is associated with a change in the body or the soma. Stevenson seems to eschew traditional mind–body dualism to a remarkably modern monistic way of looking at the mind–body functioning.

ECHOES OF “ THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE” IN FREUDIAN PSYCHODYNAMIC CONCEPTS

The issues raised in the novel find resonance with the Freudian concepts of instincts, life and death instincts, and the structural theory of the mind propounded by Freud.

Freud defined instincts variously but most cogently as “a concept that is on the frontier between the mental and somatic, as the psychical representative of the stimuli originating from and reaching the mind, as a measure of the demands made upon the mind for work in the consequence with its connections with the body.” Freud developed the theory of instincts in relation to the concept of libido and the consequent foundation of the psychosexual phases of development. However, aggression as a component of the libidinal drives became increasingly important and could not be ignored. It was therefore elevated to the status of a separate instinct. It was further realized that humans were neither exclusively nor essentially good. Freud introduced his final theory of life and death instincts in 1920. Freud postulated that the death instinct is a dominant tendency of all organisms and their cells to return to a state of inanimateness. The death instinct represented the aggressive instincts and Freud later separated the libidinal and aggressive instincts from the ego and located them in a vital stratum of the mind which is independent of the ego. This line of thought led to the further differentiation of the psyche as per the “Structural Theory” into the id, ego, and superego.[ 9 ]

The characters in the novel manifest characteristics of the structural theory of the mind. Mr. Hyde would seem easily recognizable as the id, seeking instant gratification, having an aggressive instinct, and having no moral or social mores that need be followed. He takes pleasure in violence and similar to the death instinct ultimately leads to his own destruction. Dr. Jekyll is then the ego; he is conscious and rational, and is dominated by social principles. He has a difficult time juggling between the demands of the id, represented by Mr. Hyde, and the superego as represented by the proclaimed and implicit morals of Victorian society which prided itself on refinement and goodness, and is shocked by the seeming nonchalance with which Edward Hyde indulges in his debaucheries. In the novel, Dr. Jekyll gives in to his impulses and after initial pleasure soon cannot control their power. Rather than let Mr. Hyde go free and realizing that Hyde needs Jekyll to exist, he decides to end his own life.

Further, by labeling Mr. Hyde as a “troglodyte”, Stevenson seems to make a comment on the theories of evolution and that he considered Hyde that is savage, uncivilized, and given to passion: poorly evolved. Edward Hyde represents a regression to an earlier, less civilized, and more violent phase of human development.

A WORK AHEAD OF ITS TIME

The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde can be seen at various levels. As a story, it talks about the concept of good and evil that exists in all of us. At another level, it is a critique on the hypocrisy and double standards of the society. It is also an interesting study into the mind of the author and into the theories of dualism. Finally, it can be seen as a remarkable study into human psychology that presaged the structural personality theories as detailed by Freud.

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Student Writing Awards

Duality in dr. jekyll and mr. hyde, the picture of dorian gray, and "dionea".

Lauren McDonald , University of Northern Iowa

University of Northern Iowa Dept. of English Language and Literature student writing award of excellence for critical essay, 2008

Document Type

Dualism in literature; English literature--19th century; Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894. Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900. Picture of Dorian Gray; Lee, Vernon, 1856-1935. Dionea;

Description

Duality appears as a common theme in late-Victorian literature. Duality serves as a way for the modern reader to analyze late-Victorian literature and common late-Victorian culture as well. Through studies of pieces of literature such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and "Dionea" readers can see this common theme. Despite the prevalence of duality and the both/and perspective in late-Victorian literature the idea of duality itself was not traditionally accepted in late-Victorian culture. Victorians preferred to look at things in an either/or perspective. I will write about Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Vernon Lee’s "Dionea" and analyze the duality of the main characters in terms of late-Victorian culture and the both/and and either/or perspectives as well as prove that these three works of literature implicate their historical and modern readers in a negative social way.

Department of English Language and Literature

Object Description

©2008 Lauren McDonald

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application/pdf

Recommended Citation

McDonald, Lauren, "Duality in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The picture of Dorian Gray, and "Dionea"" (2008). Student Writing Awards . 4. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/swa/4

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