The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (PDF)

Dr. Jekyll is a kind and generous professional of the highest rank, and yet within him is a malevolent soul who desires the freedom to pursue his most barbarous conceits without consequence. This is not only the story of good and evil but of the hypocrisy through which one denies the other. Dr. Jekyll has developed a chemical potion which allows a separation to occur between the two natures present in everyone. By isolating the dichotomous qualities of a personality, Jekyll believes it is possible to monitor and define these characteristics. To proceed with this experiment, the doctor administers the liquid to himself and changes into Mr. Hyde, an animalistic and sinister man whose physical need for retribution can go as far as pillage and murder. After the doctor swallows the medicine and performs his undignified lusts as Mr. Hyde, he is transformed back into Dr. Jekyll. But an accomplished friend of his who is a lawyer, Mr. Utterson, finds evidence that the two are connected in ways unimaginable. Jekyll says to his friend, "I can be rid of Mr. Hyde at any point," meaning that he can control his association with Hyde. But Jekyll becomes addicted to summoning this threatening attribute until it happens that Mr. Hyde appears in Jekyll's sleep. It becomes more and more difficult to atone for the monstrosities Hyde executes against Jekyll's wishes. There is always evidence of Hyde in Jekyll, but there is no trace of Jekyll in Hyde. In other word, there is no technique by which people can rid themselves of a dual nature. The terror of the story is not bloody nor tempestuous but intellectual. In reality Hyde is not a distinct person but an externalization of Jekyll's immoral hunger. And yet the story Stevenson wrote down is still one of the most horrifying narratives ever told. To be a responsible citizen who does not suffer the remorse of his wicked experiences costs Jekyll a fatal reversal of his control. The murders, the frightening foggy London streets, the anger, the scientific poisons can make a reader gasp and choke out of eyes-wide-open fear.