strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde One said that everything has two sides, then so do human natures. As we cannot separate darkness from brightness, since wherever there is a light, there always is a shadow. We too cannot distinct goodness from badness, because underneath our sober and respectable appearances and actions, there lies down a hidden instinct of our own Mr. or Mrs. Hyde. “Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” of Robert Stevenson tells the story of the well-mannered Dr. Jekyll who obsessed with completely isolating good and evil within human characters into another human form by consuming a special potion which unintentionally unleashing the double evil character of Mr. Hyde within himself. According to the Victorian era’s traditions that everything should be sober and dignified, the society was forced to have no sexual appetites, violence, and no great expressions of emotion underlying the enthusiasms which would somehow take away from people‘s focus on morality which reflected in Mr. Utterson’s characters that “that was never lighted by a smile” and also Mr. Enfield when he stated "I feel very strongly about putting questions; it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgment”. These stimulate the repressions which is a cause of Dr. Jekyll’s struggling in the pursuit of happiness. The more Dr. Jekyll’s forbidden appetites are repressed, the more he desires the life of Mr. Hyde, and the stronger Mr. Hyde grows. Moving on to the Protagonist, Dr. Henry Jekyll is “a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness” who born with large fortune. His outward victorian-ideal appearances and actions including being generous master, reading a religious book, engaging in charity works and hosting parties for bachelor friends, all are his good quality which can be seen and reflected from people surrounding him such as Mr. Utterson’s anxiety of his old fellow has been black mailed and his respectful and loyal servant, Poole, trying to save his master. However, even Dr. Jekyll appear serious in public, he has always felt an inner gaiety that he conceals originated by his much repression, calling himself a double-dealer. Realizing that all human beings are dual in nature, he seeks a chemical method of separating these dual personalities in order to allow one side to seek pleasure without guilt and the other side to remain steadfast and not be tempted by the pleasure-seeking half. Thus, here comes, the incomplete transformation of Dr. Jekyll becoming Mr. Hyde. After his first transformation, the doctor stated that “I came to myself as if out of a great sickness”. He says that he feels “younger, lighter, and happier in body” and also “I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be wicked”. He is considerate of Mr. Hyde’s unleashing that “This, too, was myself”. Nevertheless, things has not gone so well since Mr. Hyde’s evil instinct has commit a crime of trampling a little girl, killing an innocent old man and gradually taking over of Dr. Jekyll’s body. Afterwards, Dr. Jekyll is nearly “occupied by one thought: the horror of my other self” owing to his poor resistance of his own temptation of transforming into the reckless Mr. Hyde. Then, to the evil instinct, Mr. Edward Hyde is Dr. Jekyll alter ego who gives a strong feeling of deformity; no one can specify the point of deformity. He is described by Mr. Enfield as “It wasn’t like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut”, also by Mr. Utterson as pale and dwarfish, with a smile that is a “murderous mixture of timidity and boldness” and so many times as ape-like creature. Besides, due to a “life of effort, virtue, and control, it had been much less exercised and much less exhausted. And hence, as I think, it came about that Edward Hyde was so much smaller, slighter, and younger than Henry Jekyll”. Moreover, contrast with Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde plays a role of pure evil. He intentionally tramples a little child and kills an old man without guilty, leading Dr. Jekyll to the finally stage of putting "the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end”. Finally, to the last internal fight of the two different instincts within Dr. Jekyll, since Hyde seems to be taking over, one could argue that evil is stronger than good. But Mr. Hyde only succeed in possession of Dr. Jekyll’s body, because at the end, Dr. Jekyll who stand for goodness remains conscious and in control enough to write down the explanation of his strange case and most importantly is to suicide himself to stop Mr. Hyde of committing more crimes. However, no matter which instinct or character will conquer, the point is no one survives at the end, because we cannot separate goodness from badness, because Dr. Jekyll is also Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are easily viewed as an allegory of the duality of good and evil that exist in all men’s nature. The battle between good and evil rage within the individual character. However, in my opinion, to deal with our own hidden wickedness originated from human’s sensuality; we should not entirely cover or press it inside. Instead, admit it as a natural desire of human and remain consciously warning ourselves that life is so much more valuable with good spirit. Because besides hidden instinct of Mr. Hyde, there lays a bright spirit of Dr. Jekyll, stressing on the significant idea of this story of the inseparable good and evil in human’s nature.

Reference
Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Plot Analysis. Retrieved March 11, 2015 from http://www.shmoop.com/jekyll-and-hyde/plot-analysis.html
"Characters Discussed" Great Characters in Literature Ed. A. J. Sobczak and Frank N. Magill. eNotes.com, Inc. 1998 eNotes.com 12 Mar, 2015 <http://www.enotes.com/topics/dr-jekyll-mr-hyde/characters#characters-characters-discussed>