Dual Nature In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

Many people know Mr. Hyde is Dr. Jekyll’s alter ego, however, alter ego is a misnomer because Hyde is simply a different aspect of Dr. Jekyll. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde he uses Jekyll and Hyde to demonstrate his idea of humanity’s dual nature. Further, following Jekyll and the other characters, indifference and inaction, Stevenson outlines his idea that crime is a choice, and those who chose crime will face the consequences. Dr. Jekyll personifies humanity as curious being, that ultimately eats the fruit, and is cast out of the garden. Hyde is an example of humanity’s capacity for evil, with no holds. Jekyll’s crime was not, having the urges, or not being perfect, instead it was unleashing his evil …show more content…
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are famous for being the same person, one an upstanding doctor, respectable in the eyes of society, the other a haunting man that they want for murder. This seems contradictory, however, it does illustrate the idea that humanity has dual nature, with a great capacity for good, and a great capacity for evil. Jekyll was born into wealth and was expected to do well in life, and for many years, he was an upstanding member of the community. Someone who was respected, and seemed normal. Stevenson challenges the idea of normality, however, with the reveal the Dr. Jekyll was transforming in Mr. Hyde and had actually committed a murder. Dr. Jekyll describes Hyde, “This familiar that I called out of my own soul, and sent forth …show more content…
In this novel, it catches up to two people in particular, Dr. Jekyll, and Dr. Lanyon. Jekyll, unleashed Hyde upon the world and is directly responsible for the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. Jekyll’s consequences come from his devolvement, and his decision to kill himself. Jekyll writes a confession to explain what happened and confess his guilt and then he kills himself, removing the evil that he brought into the world when he created Hyde and allowed him to act. However, the reason he has to confess does not come from a genuine desire to heal or repent, but because he has lost control of the transformation and has no more of the potion to turn himself from Hyde to Jekyll. By the end of his story, Jekyll cannot control when he transforms into Hyde, and further, his natural state became Hyde, thus, the evil was winning. The evil and urge to do harm overpowered Jekyll, to the extent that he had to surrender, and he decides to write the confession and kill himself, before Hyde completely takes over. In punishment for unleashing Hyde upon the world, Jekyll ultimately became Hyde, making his immoral urges and desires stronger instead of getting rid of them and the guilt as he intended. Jekyll then has to kill himself, and that is what he does. A counterpoint to this argument, is that Sir Danvers Carew, was murdered, and committed no crime, but Stevenson hints that he was only a plot device, instead of a character