Comparing Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Stevenson is a novel about a man named Dr. Jekyll who lives a double life as Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde was an evil man who committed acts of murder in rage. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a novel about a young man, Dorian, who wishes to stay forever young. Dorian eventually realizes the immorality that stems from his desires and commits suicide. Both The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Picture of Dorian Gray explore the theme of the duality of man. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde consistently uses the duality of man to show the battle between good and evil. In the final chapter, Dr. Jekyll wrote a letter to Mr. Utterson to confess his sins. Jekyll explains,

Henry Jekyll is a representation of good, and Edward Hyde is a representation of evil. Jekyll being both meant he constantly had a battle of good vs evil, Jekyll vs Hyde. Jekyll continues his letter by explaining how it felt to have a battle between good and evil. He says “it seems natural.” The battle of good and evil is natural to every human. Everybody naturally wants to do whatever they feel like doing, but the battle requires them to step back and evaluate if what is being done is right or wrong. Matthew Brennan agrees with this. He writes in his critical essay, “Though Jekyll labels Hyde ‘pure evil,’ he recognizes that all humans ‘are commingled out of good and evil’”. Jekyll sees the wrong in becoming Mr. Hyde, but at the same time he understands everybody battles against evil. Stevenson conveys a message about good versus evil in his novel through the thematic strand of the duality of man. The duality of man is also used to show good vs evil in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. By chapter nine, Dorian Gray fell in love with an actress named

Dorian was led to be this way because of Lord Henry. Lord Henry is the evil Dorian has to constantly battle against because Henry encourages Dorian to do things he shouldn’t. Michael Gillespie wrote a critical essay outlining Lord Henry’s influence and how it impacted Dorian Gray’s morality. Gillespie writes, “Basil protests against such an outspoken articulation of New Hedonism by refusing to believe that Harry holds views as cynical as his statements suggest.” Basil and Henry were constantly on opposite sides when it came to ethics, what mattered, and what didn’t. Henry’s hedonistic views largely impacted Dorian, and we can see this through Dorian’s character development throughout the novel. Dorian began as a kind young man but after meeting Henry, Dorian did bad things that led him to be responsible for two deaths. When Dorian kills Basil, he didn’t tell anybody about it; proving he lived a second life in