The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Exploring Human Duality

This essay provides a literary analysis of Robert Louis Stevenson's 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,' focusing on the central theme of human duality. It explores the contrasting characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, examining how their dual natures reflect inherent good and evil within individuals and the societal implications of this duality. The essay references the psychological aspects of the characters and how the author used repression to bring out the bad nature. The analysis incorporates supporting evidence from the novel and related research, highlighting the interplay between the two personalities and their impact on the plot and other characters. The essay argues that the novel effectively portrays the complexities of human nature through the symbolic representation of Jekyll and Hyde, revealing various shades of human character.

Running head: ENGLISH
English
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a very intriguing piece of literature and it
has discussed on various themes and literary types that can be seen within the society. The theme
of duality of the human nature will be discussed in this paper so the actual scenario can be
understood in the dual representation of the same person by the author.
In the middle of the novel, Dr. Jekyll went on to admit to Utterson that he believed he
possessed a dual nature in his existence and this nature would create an impact on all the men
within the society (Stevenson: 25). The plot of the novel has revolved around the darker side of
the character of Dr. Jekyll. The psychological implications have been found in this novel through
both the types of characters hidden in one person only. Therefore, it will affect the human beings
around them also (Keith: 85). The dual personalities have revealed different factors and created
both types of impacts on the society. Dr. Jekyll was a very good person and social being also.
On the other hand, all the dark aspects of the characters have been found in the character
of Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde has been shown in the story as the evil looking dwarf kind of man who is
always ill tempered and goes on to create the mayhem. On the contrary, Dr. Jekyll is shown to be
the person with all kind of good things in his character (Stevenson: 25). This has very clearly
shown the fact that both types of qualities are inherent within the human beings and the bad
nature only comes out by the effects of repression. The theory of Jekyll regarding good and evil
seems to be very much neat and clean by all standards (Harman: 38).
The disorder of the character of Mr. Jekyll is reflected on the other persons of the story
also. This is how the theme of human duality has been expressed in the paper properly. The
morally upright situations of the human beings should be considered as the most crucial features
of the human beings indeed. The character of Utterson can also be shown as the proper example

2ENGLISH
because he is a very kind and justifiable person. On the contrary, the rigidness is also seen in his
character also (Harman: 38). Therefore, it is very evident that the positive and negative sides are
the biggest elements through which the human beings can be constituted properly. The
psychological aspects ate most significant things in this novel because the characters have shown
the contrary features in their works throughout the plot (Ferguson, Mann and Wojnowicz: 38).
Thus, this theme of human nature duality is the most efficient perspectives created in the
literature.
The conclusion of this paper can be shown from the fact that this novel has shown
various shades of the human character through the glass of Dr. Jekyll and Mt. Hyde together.
These representations are indeed very useful to locate how the theme of duality is present in
every human being.

3ENGLISH
References
Ferguson, Melissa J., Thomas C. Mann, and Michael T. Wojnowicz. "Rethinking duality:
Criticisms and ways forward." (2014).
Harman, Robert Louis Stevenson Claire. "The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde And
Other Stories."
Keith, W. J. "The land in Victorian literature." The Rural Idyll. Routledge, 2017. 77-90.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and other tales. OUP Oxford,
2006.