In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the plot of this peculiar story has a deeper allegorical meaning. Robert Stevenson’s main theme and message toward the reader is that inside every single person’s soul, there are two opposing, yet coexisting components of human nature within that one person. As the reader becomes conscious of that inside the dual nature there is the ethical, perfectionist Superego which is portrayed as Dr. Jekyll and the greedy, pleasureful Id which is embodied by Mr. Hyde, they finally understand Stevenson’s and Freud’s psyche concept.
Throughout the story the respectable, gentle Dr. Jekyll personifies the Superego and Ego pieces of the dual nature of humanity. The Superego is the moral component of a person that tells him/her to always do the right thing, strive for perfection, and to ultimately suppress …show more content…
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the reader uncovers the letter from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Utterson and discovers that the mysterious Mr. Hyde is the same exact person as Dr. Jekyll. This demonstrates that even though Jekyll and Hyde are the same person, within that body there is the two sides of human nature, the Id and the Superego. In his letter Jekyll explains the entire theme of the story that, “ man is not truly one, but truly two” (43). He later described his “I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the thought of the separation of these elements” (43). Dr. Jekyll knows that inside of him and Mr. Hyde there is two dual natures in humanity controlling the same body, similar to Freud’s theories. He realizes this dilemma at a young age and he dreams that someday he would be able to separate the Id and the Superego into different bodies so that he could satisfy his evil pleasures, yet at the blink of an eye change back into a civilized man, who is respected by everyone. He successfully does so, and creates Dr. Jekyll personifying the Superego and Mr. Hyde embodying the
Throughout the story the respectable, gentle Dr. Jekyll personifies the Superego and Ego pieces of the dual nature of humanity. The Superego is the moral component of a person that tells him/her to always do the right thing, strive for perfection, and to ultimately suppress …show more content…
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the reader uncovers the letter from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Utterson and discovers that the mysterious Mr. Hyde is the same exact person as Dr. Jekyll. This demonstrates that even though Jekyll and Hyde are the same person, within that body there is the two sides of human nature, the Id and the Superego. In his letter Jekyll explains the entire theme of the story that, “ man is not truly one, but truly two” (43). He later described his “I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the thought of the separation of these elements” (43). Dr. Jekyll knows that inside of him and Mr. Hyde there is two dual natures in humanity controlling the same body, similar to Freud’s theories. He realizes this dilemma at a young age and he dreams that someday he would be able to separate the Id and the Superego into different bodies so that he could satisfy his evil pleasures, yet at the blink of an eye change back into a civilized man, who is respected by everyone. He successfully does so, and creates Dr. Jekyll personifying the Superego and Mr. Hyde embodying the