Apollonian And Dionysian Beliefs

Friedrich Nietzsche 's idea of the Apollonian and Dionysian beliefs presents itself in Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Two seemingly different characters, Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde, wind up to be the same person, able to occupy the same body, but transition physically and mentally to become the other. The terms “Apollonian and Dionysian”, derive from the representation of the relationship between Greek Gods, Apollo and Dionysus. Apollo, a calm, loving individual, lived intertwined in nature with Dionysus, who stood for disorder and ugliness, all the while, not considering one another enemies. The Apollonian and Dionysian belief is incorporated in the characters of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in order to represent the sides of good and evil. Henry Jekyll, a man who is “pink of the proprieties, celebrated” and does “what they call good” is written into The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in order

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’s inability to discern the boundaries between appearance and reality, is another example of allusion of the Apollonian and Dionysian belief, in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Alike Dionysus, Jekyll and Hyde are unable to interpret these boundaries, believing that they are “not truly one, but truly two”; the two egos apart of one person are so different, to the point of them believing themselves that they are two separate people (Stevenson 42). Reality is, they are the same person and just because their appearance and nature changes, does not mean that one can take blame over the other. The battle between appearance and reality continues as the potion used to transition between Jekyll and Hyde became a need rather than a want. Although it appeared that the potion was just used to turn Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde, in reality, the more he used the potion, the more he became addicted to it. The potion had to be used to turn Hyde back into Jekyll because they began to adapt to