Duality of Jekyll and Hyde

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Focusing on the opening and closing chapters, how does Robert Louis Stevenson explore the conflict of duality in human nature in 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'.

'The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' is a book published in a Victorian society with strict moral codes. This was also a time of discovery and science, and tension between religion and science was constantly rising. In this book you can infer that religion doesn't bring answers or contentment, but also a warning to the use of science, and what could become of it. The book explores the duality of a man, Dr Jekyll, and how neither science nor religion brought him salvation.

The duality in Jekyll and Hyde is represented by Jekyll and Hype as good and evil. The cause of why Jekyll made the potion was to satisfy his inner desires, but was prevented because of "the high views I had set before me, I regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense of shames". This quote from Jekyll explains that, because of the strict moral codes, and high respectability, Jekyll was unable to fulfil his desires without dishonouring his name, and so buried his fascinations away, showing self control. "These polar twins... continuously struggling", describes the duality fighting in Jekyll mind before he split himself. The "polar twins" is cleverly used and the two poles (Arctic and Antarctic) are on two different sides of the world, in two different hemispheres of the earth. This could be that the poles are so far apart, but similar in climate, so closer than they might think, as is the case for the 2 sides of Jekyll, and each is struggling to gain power over the other.

To avoid dishonouring himself, he split his good and evil personalities, so only one side of himself could be threatening his good or neutral name, but where Jekyll possessed normal human self control, Hyde had none.

What actually happens to Jekyll, once he had taken the potion, was that it allowed both his evil and his good sides to roam free, with little consequences. Until the changes start to get out of control, and Jekyll's grasp over Hyde alters in Hyde's favour. Jekyll becomes addicted to the use of the potion, and leads to a twisted world of murder, deception and death.

The physical change from Jekyll to Hyde is described by Jekyll as "grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death". Jekyll's alteration is show through mainly his pain in the description. "Grinding in the bones" sets the scene with not just visual, but audio. It describes the cringing sound of the change more than the appearance. Also, "deadly nausea" is possibly a symptom or side effect of the potion that causes sickness and confusion during the event, and Stevenson used 'deadly to emphasise the pain. At the time where religion was being doubted, Jekyll chose the opportunity to play god with science. Some certain, powerful phrases use both spiritual and scientific vocabulary and references, such as 'Horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth and death'; this phrase is important to comparing the scale of what Jekyll had just discovered. It illustrates that both birth and death are a major event, and play a big part of a living organism's life, which God was believed to have controlled and kept balance of good and evil, whether it's the birth and death of us, or of someone who was a part of our lives. Yet, Jekyll was able to manipulate the power of science to over through God's rule and will, pushing boundaries no one had dared dreamed of reaching before. Comparing a scientific discovery, and what happens when using that discovery, would imply that it was on a grand scale of great importance. Also, events such as birth and death tend to be painful experiences, so it could also link into the pain of such event.
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However, from Lanyon's narrative, he describes the changing from Jekyll to Hyde slightly more viciously, which also gives us insight into what it is like from someone else's point of view. 'Staring with infected eyes, gasping with open mouth.' The description of 'infected eyes', seem as though it would be slightly exaggerated. When thinking of 'infected', we usually think of illness. This is probably, from what we can imply, what Lanyon thought it was. Also, 'gasping with open mouth', could be panic from Jekyll, for regrettably knowing that once again e is unleashing Hyde back into the world. ...

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