Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Unhappy Life of Henry Jekyll

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Unhappy Life of Henry Jekyll

             In the New Testament, John states, "No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will" [10:18]. He is recognizing that everybody has free will and that nobody can make an individual act the way that he does not want to because individuals are the owners of their own lives. In Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll separates his good side and his evil side following his theory. He willingly does this experiment by drinking potion that allows Dr. Jekyll to separate his two identities. Furthermore, after the first test, he turns into Mr. Hyde by continuing to take the potions because he enjoys the feeling of being Hyde due to the moral freedom. He even sits on his hands when Mr. Hyde commits crimes, such as trampling a young girl. Moreover, he helps Mr. Hyde avoid arrest. Dr. Jekyll suddenly transforms to Mr. Hyde without taking the potion, for example in his bedroom and in the middle of the park. Finally, Dr. Jekyll lets Mr. Hyde control his life, which leads to Mr. Hyde getting stronger—Dr. Jekyll getting weaker—and freely gives up his life by enabling Mr. Hyde to take over. Dr. Jekyll's own free will leads him to end his life. Dr. Jekyll willingly experiments on his theory of separating good and evil which eventually leads him to lose his self-control and to freely give up his life.

             Dr. Jekyll's theory of separating good and evil by consuming a potion results in him having a pure evil side, known as Mr. Hyde, which represents the beginning of him losing his self-control. Dr. Jekyll notes: "Man is not truly one, but truly two" (Stevenson 65), and he realizes that he is living a dual life. He wishes to divide his good side and his evil side, and this leads to his loss of self-control. As a scientist, or maybe as a doctor, he creates a chemical solution that allows him to separate his good side and his evil side. He tests his theory by drinking the potion himself, and Dr. Jekyll transforms into Mr. Hyde. At this time, he realizes: "Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil" (68-69). He describes his feeling when he becomes Hyde, "I felt younger, lighter, happier in body" (67). The reason why he feels "younger, lighter" is his dark side, known as Mr. Edward Hyde, is part of him. When he looks at himself reflected in the mirror, he has an ugly appearance which he describes, "And yet when I looked upon that ugly idol in the glass . . . I was conscious of no repugnance, rather of a leap of welcome" (68). As was previously stated, Dr. Jekyll succeeds in separating his pure evil side, known as Mr. Edward Hyde, from himself, and despite its ugly appearance, he feels welcome instead of repugnance.

             Subsequently, Dr. Jekyll keeps turning into Mr. Hyde by taking the potions because he enjoys the feeling of the moral freedom he experiences from his lack of guilt, and temporarily, his loss of self-control. After his first transformation, Dr. Jekyll utters, "That night I had come to the fatal cross-road" (Stevenson 69). As he describes, he must face the "fatal crossroad," the conflict of living a dual life. When he is Mr. Hyde, he does not need to care about honour, manner or reputation which is required by people such as Dr. Jekyll. Therefore, he decides to live a dual life even though he realizes that he is losing control, as he explains, "My new power tempted me until I fell in slavery" (70). Dr. Jekyll enjoys feeling like Mr. Hyde due to his lack of guilt; he drinks the potions over and over, and transforms into Mr. Hyde. This makes Dr. Jekyll slowly gets weaker. Then, Dr. Jekyll's consciousness starts to disappear little by little. After the first test, Dr. Jekyll comes to the crossroads where he must decide to live a dual life or not. He then decides to drink the potion over and over even though he knows that it will lead him to lose his self-control, because, as Dr. Jekyll describes: "And thus his conscience slumbered" (71), his conscience is gone when evil works are done by Mr. Hyde.

             Moreover, Dr. Jekyll not only tries to stop Mr. Hyde when he commits the crimes, such as trampling a young girl, but he also turns into Dr. Jekyll to avoid arrest. Although Dr. Jekyll tries to live only as himself after the sudden transformation, Mr. Hyde regains the ascendancy. Dr. Jekyll buys a house in Soho that is owned by Mr. Hyde, and introduces him to Dr. Jekyll's servants as a friend. He explains the reason why he buys a house: "I took and furnished that house in Soho, to which Hyde was tracked by the police" (Stevenson 70). After Mr. Hyde tramples the young girl to avoid arrest from the police, Dr. Jekyll opens Mr. Hyde's bank account. Two months before the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, he unconsciously transforms in his bedroom. He mentions that situation: "Yes, I had gone to bed Henry Jekyll, I had awakened Edward Hyde" (72). He realizes he has to choose between his two identities and decides to live only as himself. But he does not sell the house in Soho or destroy Mr. Hyde's clothes, noting, "I neither gave up the house in Soho, nor destroyed the clothes of Edward Hyde, which still lay ready in my cabinet" (75). Although this is true, he tries to live as Dr. Jekyll, but two months later, he fails to stop Mr. Hyde as revealed when he states, "My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring" (75). He transforms to Mr. Hyde again, murders Sir Danvers Carew, and the city is out to get him. He stays as Dr. Jekyll, who is shown as honourable person, to hide from people, and recognizes that he is guilty for the death of Sir Danvers Carew. When Mr. Hyde commits crimes, such as trampling a young girl, rather than Dr. Jekyll trying to stop him, he just tries to hide him to avoid arrest. He does not get rid of the evidence of Mr. Hyde's existence when Dr. Jekyll transforms into Mr. Hyde involuntarily, and although he tries to live as Dr. Jekyll, he fails to stop Mr. Hyde who violently kills Sir Danvers Carew, then he becomes Dr. Jekyll to avoid arrest.

             At last, Dr. Jekyll suddenly transforms to Mr. Hyde without consciousness every day because Dr. Jekyll's evil side is getting stronger, and despite his hatred of Mr. Hyde, he fails to control himself, and freely gives up his life. Dr. Jekyll allows Mr. Hyde to control him after he murders Sir Danvers Carew. Good decreases, and evil increases. Eventually, in the middle of the park, he begins to think that he is a little bit better than others, which makes him involuntarily transform into Mr. Hyde. He explains how he transforms in the middle of the park: "I smiled, comparing myself with other men … And at the very moment of that vainglorious thought, a qualm came over me, a horrid nausea and the most deadly shudering" (Stevenson 78). Then, Dr. Jekyll starts to hate Mr. Hyde but he cannot stop him: sleeping as Dr. Jekyll, always awakening as Mr. Hyde. He notes: "If I slept … it was always as Hyde that I awakened" (81). After this involuntary transformation, Mr. Hyde keeps drinking the potion and transforming to Dr. Jekyll, which results in Dr. Jekyll getting weaker, and running out of potion. Therefore, he tries to make more potion. However, he fails due to the salts. He explains the reason why the new potion is not working: "I am now persuaded that my first supply was impure, and that it was that unknown impurity which lent efficacy to the draught" (83). At the end, Dr. Jekyll uses his last potion to write the letter to Mr. Utterson but does not commit suicide. He finishes his last confession writing: "I am careless; this is my true hour of death, and what is to follow concerns another than myself. Here then, as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end" (84). Hatred for Mr. Hyde allows him to take over before being found by Mr. Poole and Mr. Utterson in the laboratory. Mr. Hyde commits suicide when they barge into laboratory. Dr. Jekyll transforms into Mr. Hyde without consciousness and although he tries to live as Dr. Jekyll, he fails to stop Mr. Hyde's murderous appetite and allows him to control his life, which leads to Mr. Hyde getting stronger.

             In Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll tests his theory of separating good and evil on his own by drinking a potion, even though he is not forced to do so, and he loses self-control, ultimately his life. Specifically, when Dr. Jekyll sees Mr. Hyde for the first time, he feels a "leap of welcome" instead of "repugnance," and this is the beginning of his loss of self-control. He faces the fatal crossroad of transforming into Mr. Hyde again, and decides to live a dual life due to his lack of guilt, even though transformation to Mr. Hyde will lead him to become a slave to Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll just sits on his hands when Mr. Hyde commits crimes, such as trampling a young girl. Moreover, he helps him to avoid suspicion. He transforms to Mr. Hyde without consciousness in his bedroom, and tries to hate him, but actually does not put much efforts into his hatred for Hyde because he does not get rid of the evidence of Mr. Hyde's existence. He fails to stop Mr. Hyde, letting him control his life, which leads to Mr. Hyde getting stronger, Dr. Jekyll gives up his life freely by allowing Mr. Hyde to take over. Therefore, like in John's statement, Dr. Jekyll gives up his life of his own free will. Everybody has their own free will, but along with free-will comes the responsibility to accept the consequences of one's own action, Dr. Henry Jekyll freely gives up his life due to his loss of self-control arising from initiatively testing his theory of separating his two identities, good and evil. Like Albert Einstein intones, "The tragedy of life is what dies in the hearts and souls of people while they live." Jekyll loses all of his life due to his decision to separate his good side and his evil side.

Work Cited

Stevenson, Robert Louis. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York: Bantam Dell, 1981. Print.