What Is The Dual Nature In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

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Robert Lewis Stevenson discusses the dual nature of human beings in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He is trying to show the two sides: evil and good, that every person has, and how they try to overcome their evil side. Jekyll wants an opportunity to reveal his evil side without disrupting his respectable image, so he creates Hyde. He is able to explore new avenues in science, which conventional scientists, such as Lanyon cannot even imagine. I argue that human beings do have a dual nature; people are concerned about their reputation rather than being themselves. Utterson, Richfield, and Lanyon are able to control their evil side so that society respects them. They pretend to be what they are not. Jekyll has more pressure to be …show more content…
His actions do not match with what he says; they are almost opposite to each other. He relates the whole incident with Mr. Hyde to Utterson with all the details that he could, but then he says, “He is ashamed of his long tongue and vows to never speak of it again” (pg.10). This shows his dual nature, as he is impatient to tell Utterson the whole story and only pretends to be reluctant about it. He involves himself with gossip and the latest talk of the town. The whole incident that he narrates also shows his nature. He wanted to kill Hyde for being cruel towards the girl. Hyde acted on his impulses, and Enfield could not. Dr. Lanyon is the opposite of Henry Jekyll. He has his own set of values that he wants to uphold no matter what. He fears that he might have some inner evil and he wants to keep it hidden, so he holds onto his beliefs as tightly as he can. Jekyll transforms in front of him and he sees what Jekyll has done in the name of science. He is reminded of the fact that every man does have an evil side to him and if Jekyll can commit murder while he is someone else that what will, he be capable of. He is scared and terrified as he questions as to what he will do if he becomes fully evil and has no …show more content…
He drinks the potion repeatedly and wishes to be Hyde all the time. He loves the pure evil soul that Hyde has. In his letter to Utterson, Jekyll is desperately trying to show his innocence but we can see that he enjoys being Hyde. He does nothing to stop him; rather he facilitates Hyde’s acts by buying a house and having cash at his disposal. “And thus fortified, as I supposed, on every side, I began to profit by the strange immunities of my position.”(60).This shows how glad Jekyll was about his creation and accomplishment. He was what he always wanted to be. He was living the dream and no one knew about it. He was the master of disguise, fooled everyone under his nose, and felt accomplished by it. In his letter, he is saying that he knew what Hyde was and he still drank the potion. When he wakes up as Hyde in the Soho apartment, he is excited for a while and enjoys the moment thoroughly before

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