Category: Commonplace Book

“A study in dualism: The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” written by Shubh M. Singh and Subho Chakrabarti

This article covers various applications of dualism in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, such as in religion, philosophy, and Freudian psychology. Included are excerpts from this article that demonstrate these applications and provide insight into the dual nature of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

” Good and evil are not related but are two independent entities, individuals even, different in mental and physical attributes and constantly at war with each other. Evil now does not require the existence of good to justify itself but it exists simply as itself, depicted as being the more powerful, the more enjoyable of the two, and in the end ultimately it is the one that leads to Dr. Jekyll’s downfall and death”

On the religious duality of Jekyll and Hyde

” The ancient Greeks distinguished profoundly the soul and the body as the dictum states: “The body is a tomb.” Evil therefore was a result of an infinite soul trapped in a finite body.”

On the Greek philosophy of dualism

” Stevenson creates a hero who by way of a concoction (that he compares with alcohol in course of the novel) intervenes in his “normal” mental processes and unleashes Mr. Hyde. […] Not only the psyche is shown as a process that can be mediated by external tangible methods (the mysterious concoction) but also that a change in the psyche is associated with a change in the body or the soma”

Application of the Greek philosophy to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

“Mr. Hyde would seem easily recognizable as the id, seeking instant gratification, having an aggressive instinct, and having no moral or social mores that need be followed. He takes pleasure in violence and similar to the death instinct ultimately leads to his own destruction. Dr. Jekyll is then the ego; he is conscious and rational, and is dominated by social principles. He has a difficult time juggling between the demands of the id, represented by Mr. Hyde, and the superego as represented by the proclaimed and implicit morals of Victorian society which prided itself on refinement and goodness, and is shocked by the seeming nonchalance with which Edward Hyde indulges in his debaucheries.”

On the application of Freudian psychology to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Singh, Shubh M, and Subho Chakrabarti. “A study in dualism: The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Indian journal of psychiatry vol. 50,3 (2008): 221-3. doi:10.4103/0019-5545.43624

Metamorphosis: change from one form or shape to another

“Restoration to human form must be warranted and awarded”

From p. 522 of The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Volume 2

Jekyll could not overcome or control the transformations into Hyde and ultimately, it is Hyde’s body that is found dead. Therefore, since Jekyll died in the form of Hyde, does this imply that Jekyll is not worthy of his “good” human form? If that is the case, then can Jekyll even be considered to be the “good” in the good vs. evil dichotomy that appears to be established in the novella?

“Outer, physical, transformations reflect characters’ “true” self”

From p. 523 of The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Volume 2

Jekyll died as Hyde, reflecting his “true self”; therefore, Jekyll was not worthy enough to die in his “better” form as the form of Hyde best reflected who he was on the inside. If Hyde is the true, internal form of Jekyll and with the knowledge of Hyde’s deeds in mind, can Jekyll be trusted as a credible source of information?

“He lifted up the sable waves of hair which lay horizontally over his brow, and showed a solid enough mass of intellectual organs; but an abrupt deficiency where the suave sign of benevolence should have risen” (Brontë 203)

Jane makes numerous references to phrenology, such as in the example above. Phrenology studies bumps and indentations of the skull in order to draw conclusions about one’s character and capacity for particular skills. The above image depicts a phrenology chart, showing the regions of each quality.

Jane Eyre’s Life in Pop Songs

Above images are of various restraints commonly used in Victorian mental asylums

Pictures taken from “A Victorian Mental Asylum” published by Science Museum https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/victorian-mental-asylum

“By foregrounding the tensions in the framing structure of freak shows, Brontë reveals her interest in the dynamics of identification and differences surrounding Victorian freak bodies, and in how the meaning of ‘freakishness,’ as Robert Bogdan argues, depends heavily on the strategies of presentation; it is ‘something we created: a perspective, a set of practices a social construction’ of ‘freakishness'” ~ Chih-Ping Chen

CHEN, CHIH-PING. “‘AM I A MONSTER?”: ‘JANE EYRE’ AMONG THE SHADOWS OF FREAKS.” Studies in the Novel, vol. 34, no. 4, 2002, pp. 367–384. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/29533530. Accessed 10 Feb. 2020.