Elaine A.

Aguda III-13 HC BSE English

October 24, 2013 Professor Marla Papango Term Paper in English Literature: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The Dominance of Evil and Pleasure over Goodness and Reality Guided by the idea of Manichaeism under the philosophy of Dualism using Freuds Psychoanalysis, this paper seeks to claim that Mr. Hyde in the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the fruit of Dr. Jekylls repression as well as the representation of the prevalence of evil over goodness that caused Dr. Jekyll of his own downfall. To fully compress the analysis of Robert Louis Stevensons The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the idea of Manichaeism under the philosophy of dualism will be used as a looking glass in Freuds Psychoanalysis. Manichaeism under Dualism states that good and evil exist independently of each other as separate and utterly opposed entities (Fontaine n.d). The idea of the existence of good and evil as two independent opposing forces is reflected on the Dr. Jekylls admission and acknowledgement of the duality of his: the good and evil as revealed by his lines I saw that, of the two natures that contented in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both(p.61) , I stood committed to a profound duplicity of life(p.60) and I told

myself, could but be housed in separate identities the just might go his way, delivered from the aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin (p.61). In attempt to separate the two sides of himself, Dr. Jekyll through his experiment came up with a concoction that created Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde is the contrast of Dr. Jekylls character. He was an ugly small young man detested by the people for his evilness as suggested by the lines. so ugly that it brought out the sweat on me like running (p.9), there something wrong with his appearance; something evil displeasing, something downright detestable (p.12) and the mans cruelty, at once so callous and violent, of his vile life, of his strange associates, of the hatred that seemed to have surrounded his career (p35). Furthermore, Mr. Hydes murder of Sir Danver Carews and his trampling on a young innocent girl support the idea that he is pure evil. Unlike Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll himself is an honorable man well known for being respected by people because of his fortune and goodness as revealed by the whilst he had always been known for charities, he was now no less distinguished for religion he did good as if with an inward consciousness of service.(p.35) and his lines I was born--- to a large fortune, endowned besides with excellent parts fond of the respect of the wise and good among my fellow men with guarantee of an honorable and distinguished future (p.60). Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde represent the two opposing forces of good and evil. In Freuds psychoanalytic view as guided by the concept of Manichaeism, Dr. Jekyll represents the reality principle which is the ego as well as the conscience or superego that build the nature of goodness while Mr. Hyde embodies the id which is the

pleasure principle that when overpowers, leads to evilness. Dr. Jekyll himself serves as the reality principle because he knows and recognizes the duality of his nature of being good and evil as can be traced in the lines It was on the moral side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man I was radically both (p.61) and although I had now two characters as well as two appearances, one was wholly evil..(p.64). Aside from serving as the ego, Dr. Jekyll acts as a conscience or the superego at the same time by trying to repair and undo the evil deeds of Mr. Hyde as seen in his lines It was Hyde that was guilty Jekyll was no worse; he woke again to his good qualities seemingly unimpaired; he would even make haste, where it was possible, to undo the evil done by Hyde (p.66). On the other hand, Mr. Hyde represents the id or the pleasure principle. Mr. Hyde embodies the concealed desires of Dr. Jekyll to liberate the evil nature of ones self as revealed by his lines this familiar that I called out of my own soul, and sent forth alone to do his good pleasure, was being malign and villainous; his very act and thought centered on self; drinking pleasure with bestial avidity from any degree of torture to another. (p.65) Felluga (2011) in Freuds idea of repression suggests that the very act of entering into civilized society entails the repression of various archaic, primitive desires. Repression of desires is evident on the case of Dr. Jekyll when he is forced to conceal his evil desires to protect and maintain his good image as revealed by his lines I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the public it came about I concealed my pleasures(p.60) and I regarded and hid them with an almost

morbid sense of shame(p.60) in an appearance-based society that demands its members to possess the ideal characteristics of being honorable and well respected until his breakthrough in the field of science that separated his two opposing natures thus giving way to the birth of Mr. Hyde, the evil personified. As a result of Dr. Jekylls repression, Mr. Hyde became an outlet to free his evil desires without being condemned by the society as Dr. Jekyll himself proven by the lines Men have before hired bravos to transact their crimes, while their own person and reputation sat under shelter. I was the first that ever did so for his pleasures. I was the first that could thus plod in the public eye with a load of genial respectability like a school boy strip off these lendings and spring headlong into the sea of liberty in my impenetrable mantle, the safety was complete. Although Dr. Jekyll is able to free himself from the repression of his concealed desires and fulfill them through Mr. Hyde without being condemned by the society as Dr. Jekyll, it still became short-lived because of the occurrence of an imbalance between the two opposing sides of his self that prevented him to live the double life he wanted. An imbalance between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde takes places when Mr. Hyde becomes dominant as revealed by the lines and this brief condescension to my evil finally destroyed the balance of my soul (p.71) as he seeks to fulfill his pleasures through his evil deeds and when Dr. Jekyll becomes a slave to the gratification of Mr. Hydes pleasure as seen in the lines Jekyll(who was composite)now with the most sensitive apprehensions, now with a greedy gusto, projected and shared in the pleasures and adventure of Hyde(p.68) . Mr. Hyde was able to overpower Dr. Jekyll as seen in the lines Yes, I had gone to bed Henry

Jekyll, I had awakened Edward Hyde the part of me which I had the power of projecting, had lately been much exercised and nourished; it had seemed to me of late as though the body of Hyde has grown in stature (p.67) and the lines My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring my lust of evil gratified and stimulated, my love of life screwed to the topmost peg (p.69-70). Furthermore, Mr. Hyde as the representations of the evil based on the concept of Manichaeism and of the pleasure principle anchored on Freuds psychoanalysis, outweighing Dr. Jekyll as the representations of goodness and of reality principle and conscience suggests that evil and pleasure dominates over goodness and reality. With the dominance of Mr. Hyde over Dr. Jekyll, the balance between goodness and evil, and ego and id are destroyed. Because of the imbalance of the opposing forces Dr. Jekyll loses the grasp of the control over his self as revealed by the lines I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self, and becoming slowly incorporated with my second and worse (p.68); Hence, leaving Dr. Jekylls fate in the hands of Mr. Hyde who happened to commit suicide by drinking poison as suggested by thoughts of Mr. Utterson right in the midst there lay the body of a man sorely contorted and still twitching he was looking on the body of a selfdestroyer(p.49). The dominance of his evil side brought Dr. Jekyll his own downfall as Mr. Hyde dictated the end of his life. Indeed, Dr. Jekylls acceptance and repression of his evil nature paved the way for the birth of Mr. Hyde and the triumph of the evil over the good, which in the end, caused him to meet his own tragic death.

References: Fontaine, P. M. (n.d). The Light and the Dark: A Cultural History of Dualism. Retrieved October 22, 2013 from http://home.wanadoo.nl/piet.fontaine/on_dualism.htm Felluga, D. (2011). Modules on Freud: On Repression. Retrieved October 23, 2013 from http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/freud3.html Stevenson, R. L. (1886). The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and other Tales(1987 ed.). New York City: Oxford University Press.