Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Duality Essay

Duality characterizes someone who has two different and distinctive personalities, as is the case with Dr. Henry Jekyll and his alter-ego, Mister Hyde. Dr. Hyde who lived in England during the nineteenth century is a famous example of split personalities. The book, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is a narrative of the the events which took place resulting in the now famous story. It shows how one individual can be both good and bad. The individuals often conceal the bad personality from others to avoid criticism, or in Dr. Jekyll's case to avoid ruining his good reputation. Dr. Jekyll, according to Stevenson's book, was a kind, gentle, and highly respected physician in London who had a hidden inner desire to engage in violence and other decadent behavior. He knew it would destroy his good name if he ever allowed himself to act on those desires. In the book, the doctor states, “The pleasures which I made haste to seek in my disguise were, as I have said, undignified; I would scarce use a harder term. But, in the hands of Edward Hyde, they soon began to turn to the monstrous”. …show more content…
After a while though the drugs began to have the opposite effect and actually made his thoughts of violence even worse. The personality and alter-ego brought forth by the drugs was a much younger version of Dr. Jekyll, a man full of anger and hate and driven to murder and other disgusting acts. The doctor named his alter-ego Mister Hyde to distinguish between his two personalities. During the day the good doctor was his normal bright and cheerful self. He happily went about the business of caring for his patients. In the evening after consuming his drugs Dr. Jekyll would become Edward Hyde, the much younger, evil and violent man who committed horrible acts on people, thus becoming the total opposite of his daytime personality, a