Jekyll and Hyde: good and evil

The idea of ​​a dual nature in the human being hovered in the mind of Robert Louis Stevenson, the idea that all of us have a good version and a bad version, that both coexist within us and that the bad one would be repressed by society. The result of these thoughts led to the well-known work The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886).

Is about one of the first works to give life to a character with a complex disorder, a personality disorder and its worst consequences; In the same way, it challenges the science of the time and religion itself, putting before our eyes a terrifying and vivid story. The popularity of this novel has given rise to countless adaptations in theater, film, television, etc.

The work presents a most intriguing plot; Through the lawyer Utterson, we will learn some strange facts, Stevenson leaves clues for the readers so that they ask themselves questions and, finally, thanks to a manuscript we will learn the surprising outcome.

Have you ever had thoughts considered “bad”? Surely, but they are just that, perhaps you have also asked yourself different questions, such as: What would happen if you could unleash that evil? Do we really have a dark side inside us? The idea of ​​this duality has been treated from different points of view within the framework of different specialties, such as philosophy, psychology or literature.

However, What if this duality is what makes us human? Perfection does not exist, neither does absolute goodness. Let’s think that what is good for me, may not be good for you. Ethics has been in charge of trying to delve deeper and establish what good is supposed to be and, even so, discrepancies have appeared. Throughout our lives, we have all been able to commit irrational, incoherent acts and act in a totally unexpected way.

The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde explores, in addition to a personality disorder, a series of questions about our own nature. In the form of intrigue, it captivates us and fuses psychology with literature and philosophy; definitely, an essential work in all our bookstores.

good and evil

Reviewing a little our history, culture, religion, etc., we find infinite manifestations that try to show us what is good and what is evil: examples that aim to clearly differentiate these two faces, to separate them. If we think about religion, we will realize that practically all of them try to define and argue good behavior, punish bad behavior, and explain to us the consequences of acting in one way or another.

How would we define good? The question may be simple, however, this idea of ​​good can be somewhat subjective and we would end up summarizing it as: “it is the opposite of evil.”. Ethics is the part of philosophy that has tried to answer these types of questions throughout history. Thus, several philosophers have tried to respond by revolving around the same idea: good is the opposite of evil.

For Aristotle, for example, the ultimate good is happiness, the common good for all, something that is achieved through virtue and where politics would have an important role; The path takes on special importance, it is not something immediate. Hedonistic ethics, on the contrary, fixes the good in sensory and immediate pleasure. The Christian religion goes a little further and identifies good with the figure of God and evil with Satan, gives them names and makes a sketch of their faces.

Thus, with countless examples throughout our history, we always return to the idea of ​​contrast. But what would happen if good and evil were two sides of the same coin? That is, indissoluble, inseparable, that they were intimately united as well as distinct, that one could not exist without the other. This idea of ​​the coexistence of both within the human interior is what Stevenson explores in his novel, but taking a step further, trying to separate them and, finally, unite them again.

Each individual grows up in a society and, in it, learns the most accepted or appropriate behaviors. However, it seems that there is a nature within us that sometimes pushes us to act or think against these inherited norms. Doctor Jekyll believed that he could separate that duality, that he could break that coin in two; and what he achieved was that each of the parties acted with their own will.

Jekyll and Hyde, duality

Literature has explored the idea of ​​the double on countless occasions and in very diverse perspectives, and Dostoyevsky paved the way towards a literature that explored human psychology.the most complex part of our mind, in works like The double (1846), where we witness a doubling in the same person. Other more recent works such as Steppe wolf They also tried to draw this complexity, but giving rise not only to duality, but to a multiplicity of personalities within the same being.

The story of Jekyll and Hyde explores the consequences of trying to separate these two faces, resulting in a split personality.; Both are the same person, both desires and impulses reside in the same being and, when they are separated, the consequences are atrocious.

Jekyll was a “good man”, an exemplary, distinguished and well-off man; a man who, like everyone else, repressed the darkest impulses that resided deep within him. His passion for medicine and his obsession with the idea of ​​separating good from evil within us led him to test on himself a strange potion that would give life to Mr. Hyde; that is, Jekyll’s contrast, letting oneself be carried away by impulses and pleasure.

The transformations involve not only a division, but a search by Jekyll to resort to those pleasures and desires prohibited by society.. The physical description of both characters is, in turn, significant; While Jekyll is described as having a graceful appearance, Hyde is described as a “caveman” being, with a wild and unpleasant appearance in society.

The play increases its intrigue and magic, until it gives way to its spectacular denouement, the moment in which, through a note from Jekyll, we discover the truth. But not just the truth about potions, but the truth of human nature, the acceptance of the impossibility of separating the good and evil that live in us.

Jekyll and Hyde were true, both were equal, but opposite. A whole round trip, an exploration of human nature to, finally, tell us that we should not try to separate good from evilwhich is part of us and that both sides make up our identity.

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