The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

 We’ve all heard of the vernacular phase: Jekyll and Hyde. Or perhaps Good cop, Bad cop. 

All of it comes from a novella Robert Louis Stevenson wrote in 1886. 

The story is about a prominent Dr Jekyll who has plenty of friends the become concerned by his strange behavior. When they spot a monstrous man, both in appearance and character, they grow even more concerned with the connection to their dear friend Dr Jekyll. 

What was Dr Jekyll up to? He was conducting experiments to separate the ‘evil’ part from a person and give it its own identity. He was certain that there were two beings in each of us, one who was prone to violence and one who was ethical. 

In conducting experiments and consuming various serums, Dr Jekyll was successful in turning himself into Mr Hyde, a man who was openly violent and didn’t care if the person he was hurting was a child or not. His vile nature had no bars. 

Of course the experiment went out of hand to the point that Mr Hyde showed up even when the good doctor didn’t consume any serums. He frantically tried to find a remedy and failed. When he realized Mr Hyde was overcoming him and he was losing control of himself, he decided to leave all his property and assets to his evil side. Mr Hyde/Dr Jekyll eventually commit suicide. 

All this happens because Dr Jekyll’s friends become too interfering and ask questions that the doctor didn’t want to answer. In hindsight, Dr Jekyll should have given up on socializing long before he began experimenting. The more aloof he had been, the more his friends would have wanted nothing to do with what he was up to. 

It was because of their interference that Dr Jekyll panicked. He was about to be found out. He raced to find a cure.

His mental health suffered. It made him weaker and allowed Mr Hyde to gain prominence. 

As for the analysis, I wonder if the author did actually intend this story to be seen as an example of deep psychosis and split personality. As time passes, someone or the other tries to find a deeper meaning behind the literature. 

Was the author implying that Dr Jekyll had a mental disorder? Was Mr Hyde not a product of experiment but the other personality? 

How about it was simply a story, written by a very intelligent and imaginative mind that was about a doctor trying to see if he could find a curb the evil nature all of us try to control. 

Our anger, our greed, jealousy, etc, all of this is measured by us and controlled. The day we let ourselves loose, crimes would be committed and lives will be ruined. We have been taught that these feelings are sinful and must be reined in. We must never give in to those bad feelings that cause bad deeds. 

Dr Jekyll was trying to create a good person, one who wasn’t inclined to do anything wrong. One who was kind and helpful. But unfortunately, his experiment failed. The evil part was too strong, too overpowering. It was finally unleashed and wasn’t going to go back down. 

So the doctor lost and the story had an unhappy ending. 

That’s all the story was supposed to be about; the way people are all good on the outside but harbor evil inside that needs to be caged. 

The story in full can be read here