Jekyll and Hyde Themes Guaranteed Success
The duality of human nature: ✔️✔️Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde centers upon a conception of humanity as
dual in nature, although the theme does not emerge fully until the last chapter, when the complete
story of the Jekyll-Hyde relationship is revealed. Therefore, we confront the theory of a dual human
nature explicitly only after having witnessed all of the events of the novel, including Hyde's crimes and
his ultimate eclipsing of Jekyll. The text not only posits the duality of human nature as its central theme
but forces us to ponder the properties of this duality and to consider each of the novel's episodes as we
weigh various theories.
Jekyll asserts that "man is not truly one, but truly two," and he imagines the human soul as the
battleground for an "angel" and a "fiend," each struggling for mastery. But his potion, which he hoped
would separate and purify each element, succeeds only in bringing the dark side into being—Hyde
emerges, but he has no angelic counterpart. Once unleashed, Hyde slowly takes over, until Jekyll ceases
to exist. If man is half angel and half fiend, one wonders what happens to the "angel" at the end of the
novel.
Perhaps the angel gives way permanently to Jekyll's devil. Or perhaps Jekyll is simply mistaken: man is
not "truly two" but is first and foremost the primitive creature embodied in Hyde, brought under
tentative control by civilization, law, and conscience. According to this theory, the potion simply strips
away the civilized veneer, exposing man's essential nature. Certainly, the novel goes out of its way to
paint Hyde as animalistic—he is hairy and ugly; he conducts himself according to instinct rather than
reason; Utterson describes him as a "troglodyte," or primitive creature.
Yet if Hyde were just an animal, we would not expect him to take such delight in crime. Indeed, he
seems to commit violent acts against inn
The importance of reputation: ✔️✔️For the characters in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, preserving one's
reputation emerges as all important. The prevalence of this value system is evident in the way that
upright men such as Utterson and Enfield avoid gossip at all costs; they see gossip as a great destroyer
of reputation. Similarly, when Utterson suspects Jekyll first of being blackmailed and then of sheltering
Hyde from the police, he does not make his suspicions known; part of being Jekyll's good friend is a
willingness to keep his secrets and not ruin his respectability. The importance of reputation in the novel
also reflects the importance of appearances, facades, and surfaces, which often hide a sordid underside.
In many instances in the novel, Utterson, true to his Victorian society, adamantly wishes not only to
preserve Jekyll's reputation but also to preserve the appearance of order and decorum, even as he
senses a vile truth lurking underneath.
Good VS evil: ✔️✔️Good vs. evil is basically the novel's biggest theme. More specifically, Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde is easily viewed as an allegory about the good and evil that exist in all men, and about our
struggle with these two sides of the human personality. In this book, then, the battle between good and
, evil rages within the individual. The question is which is superior. Since Hyde seems to be taking over,
one could argue that evil is stronger than good. However, Hyde does end up dead at the end of the
story, perhaps suggesting a weakness or failure of evil. The big question, of course, is whether or not
good can be separated from evil, or whether the two are forever intertwined.
Repression: ✔️✔️Repression is indisputably a cause of the troubles in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The
repression here is that of Victorian England: no sexual appetites, no violence, and no great expressions
of emotion, at least in the public sphere. Everything is sober and dignified, and you're really not
supposed to be happy. (That would somehow take away from your focus on morality). The more Dr.
Jekyll's forbidden appetites are repressed, the more he desires the life of Mr. Hyde, and the stronger Mr.
Hyde becomes. This is clearly demonstrated after Dr. Jekyll's two-month hiatus from donning the visage
of Mr. Hyde; Dr. Jekyll finds that the pull to evil has been magnified after months of repression.
Friendship: ✔️✔️Friendship in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde serves to drive the plot forward. Aside from
basic curiosity, Mr. Utterson is compelled to uncover the mystery of the evil man because of his
friendship with Dr. Jekyll. In trying to unravel the secret, his many friendships deliver crucial pieces of
information. In this sense, friendship acts as both a motivator and an enabler. As for the friendship
between Dr. Lanyon and Dr. Jekyll, it's certainly not as unconditional as the loyalty Mr. Utterson bears
for Dr. Jekyll. Instead, it's fraught with competition, anger, and eventually an irreconcilable quarrel. We
see that friendships can be ruined by differences of opinion.
Appearance: ✔️✔️Appearances figure in the novel both figuratively and literally. Dr. Jekyll definitely
wants to keep up a façade of respectability, even though he has a lot of unsavoury tendencies. In a
literal sense, the appearances of buildings in the novel reflect the characters of the inhabitants. Dr. Jekyll
has a comfortable and well-appointed house, but Mr. Hyde spends most of his time in the "dingy
windowless structure" of the doctor's laboratory. Other disreputable quarters of London are described
as well; this is the stomping ground of Mr. Hyde.
Scaince: ✔️✔️In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, science becomes a cover and justification for supernatural
activities. Dr. Jekyll ostensibly derives his potion in some sort of scientific manner, as opposed to finding
a magical amulet or something that releases evil as you might find in other stories. Dr. Jekyll's brand of
science, however, veers towards the "transcendental" (indeed, supernatural), while Dr. Lanyon adheres
to a more traditional set of scientific notions. This disagreement causes an irreparable rift in their
relationship, especially after Dr. Lanyon witnesses Dr. Jekyll's transformation with his own eyes.
Curiosity: ✔️✔️In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, curiosity drives the characters to seek knowledge. This
curiosity is either suppressed or fulfilled in each character. Curiosity lacks any negative connotations;
instead, characters who do not actively seek to unravel the Jekyll and Hyde mystery may be viewed as
