Duality of man- Jekyll and Hyde

Introduction

-Stevenson uses it to show everyone contains good and evil within

-It challenges the Victorian belief of outward respectability by revealing the hidden side of human nature

-Stevenson shows duality is dangerous and unescapable when suppressed

Duality is shown through J&H who are physical manifestations of a split personality

-J is ‘well made and smooth faced’

-H is ‘pale and dwarfish’ and gives an impression of deformity though ‘without any nameable malformation’

-The vagueness implies H’s deformities are spiritual not physical and represents the ugliness inside J’s soul showing evil is a reflection of suppressed desire

Stevenson uses J to explore psychological conflict within humans

-J describes man as ‘not truly 1 but truly 2’ and his experiment is an attempt to separate his good and evil self

-This division explores the struggle between moral behavior and sinful desires

-J looks respectable but H does his ‘pleasures’ he can’t publicly admit to

Duality is shown through the setting

-London is shown as a city of contrasts with ‘2 doors’ connected to the same house

-1 elegant and one sinister

-This mirrors J’s double life with a respectable front and a hidden immoral reality at the back

-Stevenson uses the fog, darkness and winding streets to sympathize hidden depths of human nature suggesting beneath the surface of civilization lies something deeper

Conclusion

-Duality of man is presented as an inescapable part of human nature

-Through J’s transformation to H, divided setting of London, Stevenson warns about denying ones darker side can lead to destruction