Dr henry Jekyll

• Dr Henry Jekyll: '"All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil."'
• Henry Jekyll


  Eponymous character number one, a respectable and well-regarded gentleman
• Henry Jekyll's belief that within each person there exists both good and evil leads to him conducting some less well-reasoned scientific experiments</b>
• A well-respected doctor, thought to be based on notorious nineteenth century individuals William Brodie and John Hunter, Jekyll is a member of the upper-class with a very large secret to hide. His secret is Mr Hyde, who was created as a result of his experimentation. He is shown to be kind and generous, but shocks Utterson when he decides to change his will to leave everything he owns to Mr Hyde. It is implied inexplicitly that he was rather rambuncious and ill-behaved during his late teens / early twenties, alongside subtle hints that he may have engaged in homosexual relationships.
• "I am not quite myself tonight" - Jekyll
• 'The first time I did it, I felt such a relief and freedom from care come over me that I repeated the dose almost immediately; and now I have become a slave to the habit.'"
• Mr Edward Hyde: The second eponymous character, a small, deformed creature whose appearance contrasts greatly with that of Jekyll. Hyde is often seen as representing the darker aspects of humanity, including greed, jealousy and violence.
• Jekyll's transformation into Hyde represents the struggle between these opposing forces, which ultimately results in his downfall.
• He develops a concoction

  1. Separates the positive and negative characteristics of himself

  2. Creates Hyde, a seemingly separate person

  3. Allows him to act in a way disapproved by society

  4. Fulfil his pleasures
• As the story unfolds


  Jekyll loses control leading to Hyde appearing uninvited
• This is perhaps Stevenson commenting on the increasing lack of control individuals can have over their behaviour after giving into temptation
• It could be argued that Jekyll and Hyde are not separate characters but should be considered as one entity
• It is this conjunction of personalities which creates the drama in the novel and the relationships which provides the text's power
• Whilst he is able to liberate himself of his 'evil' side, his own personality remains a turbulent mix of good and bad traits
• This serves to question the true nature of "good and evil"
• Freud’s structural theory of the mind: Dr Jekyll can be viewed as symbolising the ego - a balance between man’s basal instincts and moral thought.