Duality of Man in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay Example

conscious choice to experiment with what he named "man's dual nature" (1709). In the last chapter of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll finally explains his motivations for creating Hyde. He reveals that he had always hidden his pleasures with a sense of shame and that If he dissociated the struggling sides of good and evil within him, he might live out those pleasures he had for so long repressed. Jekyll soon learned that he had brought on himself a punishment Instead, as he began to lose control of the desire to turn Into Hyde.

Unwillingly, Jekyll would morph Into Hyde at Inopportune moments. In other words, he was too far Into his evil deeds to turn back: "l became, in my own person, a creature eaten up and emptied by fever, languidly weak both In body and mind and solely occupied by one thought: the horror of my other self" (1718). For a brief period, Jekyll tries to go back to his old self and repress Hyde, but, alas, It Is too late.

It Is Important to note that though the characters are talked about as separate Individuals and represent two different things, It was Jekyll's choice to divide them. No one can speak as to how much Stevenson really believed in the duality of man, but the audience can safely conclude that all humans possess a conscience, which acts as a guide between right and wrong. Since Jekyll decided to split his conscience and Ignore all the wrong behavior on Hyde's part, he should still be held responsible for his actions, which Is why Stevenson kills him at the end of the novella. Perhaps, himself.

Had Jekyll really chosen to redeem himself, he might have lived.