The Conscious and Unconscious: Analysis on the Life of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde
The Conscious and Unconscious: Analysis on the Life of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde
By
Bernadine SyTiong
March 16 2010
“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson originated from a dream that the author once had and he described it as “a fine bogy tale” when he awoke from it. Stevenson was first inspired from the city’s low life and the bizarre characters that he came across with and that his Calvinistic upbringing and his constant fight against ill-health led him to be engrossed with death and the darker side of human nature serving as his inspiration in many of his works making him as a novelist often noted by his powers of invention and depth of psychological insight found in his work. This novel which focuses on the split personality and the belief that evil is potentially more powerful than good has been a popular topic even up until now. Humans may often be ignorant about the fact that at times they do hear a voice inside that tells them the desires of a personality exactly the opposite of the current one. The “Theory of Psychoanalysis” according to Sigmund Freud is that the whole psychoanalytic theory is in fact built up on the perception of the resistance exerted by the patient when we try to make him conscious of his unconscious. Once a person lets his unconscious free even for only a matter of time, it will always desire to get out from its cell once he is closed in again and the conscious will be disturbed and often times give in to the temptation of letting the other be control of him again. A successful doctor born to a large fortune and well respected by his fellow men, a life seems like to be perfect yet still yearning for something. This is exactly how Dr. Henry Jekyll feels after years of failure in inventing a sort of potion. His years of wanting to complete it only made him more anxious of desiring to have its final result and maybe finally ease his longing of something he has yet to
By
Bernadine SyTiong
March 16 2010
“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson originated from a dream that the author once had and he described it as “a fine bogy tale” when he awoke from it. Stevenson was first inspired from the city’s low life and the bizarre characters that he came across with and that his Calvinistic upbringing and his constant fight against ill-health led him to be engrossed with death and the darker side of human nature serving as his inspiration in many of his works making him as a novelist often noted by his powers of invention and depth of psychological insight found in his work. This novel which focuses on the split personality and the belief that evil is potentially more powerful than good has been a popular topic even up until now. Humans may often be ignorant about the fact that at times they do hear a voice inside that tells them the desires of a personality exactly the opposite of the current one. The “Theory of Psychoanalysis” according to Sigmund Freud is that the whole psychoanalytic theory is in fact built up on the perception of the resistance exerted by the patient when we try to make him conscious of his unconscious. Once a person lets his unconscious free even for only a matter of time, it will always desire to get out from its cell once he is closed in again and the conscious will be disturbed and often times give in to the temptation of letting the other be control of him again. A successful doctor born to a large fortune and well respected by his fellow men, a life seems like to be perfect yet still yearning for something. This is exactly how Dr. Henry Jekyll feels after years of failure in inventing a sort of potion. His years of wanting to complete it only made him more anxious of desiring to have its final result and maybe finally ease his longing of something he has yet to
Bibliography: Stevenson, Robert Louis. (1994). The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. London, England: Penguin Group. Nancy, Jean-Luc. (1993). The Experience of Freedom. Stanford, USA: Stanford University Press Miller, Jacques-Alain. (1977). The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis: The Seminar of Jacques Lacan (Book XI). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Edwards, David, & Jacobs, Michael. (2003). Conscious and Unconsciousness. Berkshire, England: Open University Press. Freud, Sigmund. (1950). The Wisdom of Freud. New York, NY: Philosophical Library.