Now, however, that he is middle-aged, he has been fascinated with the theory that man has a “good” side and a “bad” side and he has decided to investigate the theory. His investigations were successful; he compounded a potion that could release the “evil” in a person in the form of an entirely different physical person, one who would take over one’s own body and soul. Then one could commit acts of evil and feel no guilt. Furthermore, one could drink the same portion and be transformed back into one’s original self
Jekyll’s evil dimension took the form of Edward Hyde, a man who committed any number of crimes and performed acts of sexual perversion; seemingly, his most serious crime is the vicious murder of Sir Danvers Carew, a member of parliament.
Jekyll’s fascination with his “other” self became so obsessive that he was finally no longer able to control the metamorphosis process and Edward Hyde began appearing whenever he wanted to and not at the command of Dr. Jekyll. Jekyll became, therefore, a frightened recluse, trying desperately to control Hyde but successively failing, especially benefit he would dose off. Finally crazed by anxiety and the lack of asleep he hears Utterson and Poole, his butler, breaking down his private study door and in desperation he commits suicide, but just as he loses consciousness, Hyde appears and it is the writhing body of the dying Hyde which Utterson and Poole discover.
Mr. Hyde
Hyde, as his name indicates, represents the fleshy aspect of man which the Victorians felt the need to “hide”-as Utterson once punned on his name “Well, if he is Mr. Hyde, I will be Mr. Seek”
Hyde clearly represents the beast in man and is described in a number of animalistic images. When Utterson confronts him he's described as hissing like a cornered snake. Poole describes him as a thing, which cries out like a rat. He moves like a monkey and screams in mere animal terror. When jekyll awakes one morning to find that the change to Hyde has become involuntary he sees that his hand is thickly shaded with a swart growth of hair and Jekyll describes his dual personality as the animal within me licking the chops of memory.
Hyde actually comes to represent the embodiment of pure evil merely for the sake of evil. When he is first extracted and in our first encounter with him, he is seen running over a young girl, simply trampling on her. He does not do this out of spite or intentionally; it is simply amoral act. He does make reparations but even in this first encounter, he raises a fear, an antagonism and a deep loathing in other people. The reaction of others to him is one of horror, partly because while looking at him, others feel a deep desire to strike out at him and kill him. In other words, his mere physical appearance brings out the very worst evil in other people.
What is apparent throughout the novel is that although he is described as having a displeasing smile and a ghastly face we are never given a detailed description of his face.
Since Hyde represents the pure evil in man (or Dr. Jekyll) he is, therefore, symbolically represented as being much smaller than Dr. Jekyll. Jekyll’s clothes are far too large for him and Hyde is also many years younger than Jekyll, symbolically suggesting that the evil side of Jekyll did not develop until years after he was born.
He speech is different from the other characters. He lacks their verbosity, having no time for social chitchat. In his surprise encounter with Utterson his language is clipped. He speaks in short staccato sentences which are in the form of unnervingly direct questions how did you know me what shall it be whose description who are they finally tiring of this conversation which had been forced upon him, he bluntly accuses Utterson of having lied. When Utterson complains that this is not fitting language Hyde snarled out in a savage laugh before disappearing into the house. It is not surprising that the lawyer is left a picture of disquietude after this whirlwind encounter. Clearly he has met more than his match
Hyde’s appearance is enigmatic seeming to change as he gains in power. Enfield describes him as getting a strong feeling of deformity yet he is not easy to describe. Utterson describes him as Pale dwarfish and again mentions the word deformity. He is an extraordinary mixture of timidity and boldness yet as every character that encounters him, argues it is not his appearance that causes the most repugnance but an uncanny influence what Utterson calls a mixture of disgust loathing and fear. There are frequent references to his devil like qualities. Enfield describes him as like Satan and Utterson as having Satan signature upon his face. Lanyon recognizes the malign influence also and describes the expression on his face with its remarkable combination great muscular activity and great apparent debility of constitution. There appear to be contradictory forces at work in Hyde.
Hyde also creates terror; the servants are extremely frightened of him. When they think he is around the house, the servants cringe in horror and some go into hysterics.
As the novel progresses, Hyde’s evil becomes more and more pronounced. He bludgeons Sir Danvers Carew to death for absolutely no reason other than the fact that Sir Danvers Carew appeared to be a good and kindly man- and pure evil detests pure goodness.
Since Hyde represents the evil or perverse side of Jekyll, and since Jekyll does, vicariously, enjoy the degradations, which Hyde commits, Hyde gradually begins to take the ascendancy over the good Dr. Jekyll.
A conflict between them erupts, as though the older Dr. Jekyll is a father to the errant and prodigal son. He wants to punish this son, but at the same time he recognizes that Hyde is an intimate part of himself. Ultimately, when Jekyll commits suicide in order to get rid of Hyde (suicide is considered evil by the Church), this allows Hyde to become the dominant evil figure and the
dying Jekyll becomes Hyde in the final death throes.