The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis - Essay Example

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson proves to be an enduring literary illumination into the human psyche as the story centers on the conception of humanity as dual in nature, although this theme does not fully emerge until the last chapter, when the whole story is revealed. Stevenson uses an innovative approach to portray the human soul as a battlefield for an “angel” and a “fiend” who are foes in a battle for the possession of the human soul. Every human being contains these opposite forces within him, an alter ego that hides behind a social and polite everyday facade.

Jekyll asserts that “man is not truly one, but truly two,” that one is never black nor white and that the situation at hand always brings out more of one side or the other. Jekyll’s potion that was initially meant to separate and purify these two elements, the angel from the fiend, only manages to bring out the dark side into being. Hyde emerges from the depths of Jekyll, but he brings forth no angelic counterpart. It is left to be argued whether or not this role of the angelic counterpart is left for Jekyll.

It is more than obvious that his demeanor is outright moral and decent, and he enjoys the repute of a benevolent, well-mannered and genial man, yet he never embodies the virtue of good equally as Hyde embodies the very opposite from it. He merely portrays civilized behavior and morals, leaning towards good. In his bold and philanthropic efforts, he takes it upon himself to purify the good, but he ends up liberating the darkness from the shackles of conscience. The bad is let loose into the world, untainted with the virtues of decency and kindness, while his former self stays as mixed as before.

It is also significant to take into account that he himself ascribes his lopsided results to his shadowy state of mind on first taking the devilish concoction. Having been motivated by sinister emotions of ambition and pride, it was easy for him to construct Hyde. It is implied then, that if he had entered into this devilish endeavor with pure motives, an angelic being would have emerged. Once released, Hyde exerts a massive amount of supremacy and progressively reaches the point of entirely dominating both personas.

The existence of Hyde becomes more recurrent than the existence of Jekyll, who finally drowns in the persona of Hyde. Even though Jekyll’s primary objective was altruistic, it becomes evident that he succumbs to the darkness of his own soul. Wanting to expurgate the good from the bad, he ends up becoming the bad. The dominance of Hyde holds an assortment of implications for understanding the psychology of human nature. As Jekyll appears to lose his grip over Hyde and his life, one begins to wonder whether perhaps Hyde is the original, the authentic nature of man, which has been repressed but not extinguished by the accumulated weight of civilization, conscience, morality and societal norms, in a time when even Victorian England, which considered itself the pinnacle of Western civilization in its manners and demeanor, does not have the power to restrain the liberated dark, instinctual side of man foolish enough to release it.