Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are characters in Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which explores the duality of human nature. Jekyll creates a potion that brings out his evil side, Mr. Hyde, leading to heinous crimes and eventual suicide. The book deals with themes of good and evil, Victorian society, and the violent and animalistic nature within us. The characters have pervaded popular culture and the book is often required reading for students.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are two, or one, depending on how you look at it, characters in an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The novel is considered a classic of Victorian literature and a heartbreaking allegory on the duality of human nature, and in most English-speaking nations, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are familiar literary figures. Psychologists often use the story to illustrate the symptoms of split personality disorder; Dr. Jekyll is the original, or neutral, personality, while Mr. Hyde is a secondary, evil personality.
The basic plot of Stevenson’s book is that Dr. Jekyll becomes curious about human nature and obsessed with the idea that each person actually contains two people; an angel and a demon. In an attempt to isolate these two personalities, Jekyll develops a potion that brings out the personification of evil in himself: Mr. Hyde. He looks physically different from Dr. Jekyll, with a smaller, more contorted body that is in keeping with Victorian notions of physical appearance and moral prowess.
While the shapeshifting is initially undertaken as a science experiment, he begins to become obsessed with the character of Hyde. As Mr. Hyde, he roams the streets committing various heinous crimes, eventually killing someone and discovering that he can’t come to his senses without a counterpotion. He takes the counterpotion to hide his identity from the authorities, but eventually runs out of supplies to do so and realizes that he is meant to live as Mr. Hyde, so he kills himself in his laboratory.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde deals with a number of themes, not just of good and evil, but of Victorian society in general. Victorian life tended to be very dualistic, with heavy social expectations placed on prominent members of society such as doctors. Like Mr. Hyde, Jekyll could live out his socially inappropriate fantasies: and this ability eventually consumed the otherwise neutral character. We are never shown the purely angelic side of his personality, suggesting that perhaps the only personality rooted deep within us is violent and animalistic, aware of moral codes but choosing not to obey them.
Someone who experiences violent mood swings or acts erratically is sometimes said to have a Jekyll and Hyde personality, in reference to the book. Even those who haven’t read Stevenson’s book are familiar with the characters, for they have pervaded popular culture thanks to the book itself in conjunction with stage and film adaptations. The book is often required reading for students to get them thinking about human nature, Victorian society, and what makes a book an enduring classic.
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