An alter ego is defined in two ways, as an alternative personality to the current figure, or as a close friend who thinks and feels similarly to them. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll’s alter ego, Mr. Hyde is a complete opposite of Jekyll, yet at the same time a close companion of him. Their relationship is a complex one that is ever-changing as the book progresses. Jekyll uses his counterpart of Hyde as a temporary escape to absolve himself of temptations and desires but Jekyll himself becomes a permanent disguise for Hyde.
The potion that transforms Jekyll causes him to rely more and control less of Hyde as the book progresses. Jekyll always knew of his dual personality, and he wanted to find a way to release that. That being so, he experimented with a potion risking his …show more content…
Upon taking it he exemplifies his sensation:
“There was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably sweet. I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a millrace in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but innocent freedom of the soul. I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked.” (44) When Jekyll discovers this other side of himself, he feels a new strength within himself. This new body acts as escape from Jekyll’s societal life which could be demanding. He senses that the new body is a freedom of his soul almost like an escape from life, and that causes his happiness. Even though his head is racing around, he calls the new life extremely wicked. This could be a foreshadowing of what can come from this newly born body. Nonetheless, he has control of this new body. Jekyll continues to use the potion more and more to become Hyde until an unexpected event occurs. He describes it as, “In the
The potion that transforms Jekyll causes him to rely more and control less of Hyde as the book progresses. Jekyll always knew of his dual personality, and he wanted to find a way to release that. That being so, he experimented with a potion risking his …show more content…
Upon taking it he exemplifies his sensation:
“There was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably sweet. I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a millrace in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but innocent freedom of the soul. I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked.” (44) When Jekyll discovers this other side of himself, he feels a new strength within himself. This new body acts as escape from Jekyll’s societal life which could be demanding. He senses that the new body is a freedom of his soul almost like an escape from life, and that causes his happiness. Even though his head is racing around, he calls the new life extremely wicked. This could be a foreshadowing of what can come from this newly born body. Nonetheless, he has control of this new body. Jekyll continues to use the potion more and more to become Hyde until an unexpected event occurs. He describes it as, “In the