Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Duality Essay

Robert Lewis Stevenson introduces the concept of duality in Strange Case Of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by comparing the differences in Hyde and Jekyll, inherently good vs purely evil, and the internal struggle one has; How does one person have two natures, the good and the evil, but in one? Throughout Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde it becomes evident the battle one has with oneself, including the fight between good and evil, right and wrong, remorse and immoral.
Utterson is a prominent character in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. At the start of the book he is described as not too curious of a man, who keeps to himself, mostly. Stevenson wrote “ I let my brother go to the devil in his own way” (1) as a way to describe Utterson's character and

To find that Hyde, someone he was not knowledgeable of, was living in the same residence of his dear friend Henry Jekyll was strange. To discover different ways the two were connected but never knowing or hearing of Mr.Hyde, it truly was a strange case. With Utterson being a trusted and loyal friend and lawyer of Dr. Jekyll, he gave him his will for “safe keeps”. Intrusted with Jekyll's will he reads “ all his possessions were to pass into the hands of his “friend and benefactor Edward Hyde”… in case of Dr.Jekyll's “disappearance or unexplained absence…” (Stevenson 22). Disappearance, why would he disappear? Why would this random creature acquire all of Jekyll's belongings? Who really is this Mr.Hyde? Many questions were raised and rightfully so. As Mr.Utterson investigates their strange connection he comes across Jekyll's theories and personal discoveries of

Henry Jekyll is the person, but he has two sides: Jekyll and Hyde, one person and two natures. Jekyll was just a normal man but Hyde was not, he was quite different, “Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil” (Stevenson 81). Pure evil, Jekyll had found a way to separate the good and the evil, but he still had evil in himself, everyone does, but Hyde, not even an ounce of goodness was in him. Jekyll and Hyde were also perceived very differently by the people surrounding them. Jekyll was seen as a very kind, influential and a popular scientist, “he is the embodiment of goodness” (www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z92trdm/revision/3). While on the other hand Hyde is the opposite, a cruel, evil man, a “devilish little man”(Stevenson 14), seen as far from good. The way one is perceived can be used as an excuse for how they choose to act. “If the world's only gonna see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, there's no point in trying to be anything else” (zootopia.fandom.com/wiki/Nick_Wilde/Quotes). If you're only seen one way and no matter what you try and do, some people will just never change their minds, so why change? Why then try and be something you're not? Separating the good from the bad gave Jekyll the chance to be a “free” spirit, to do what he pleases, “ the unjust might go his way, delivered from the aspirations and remorse of his more upright