Psychological Doubling

Psychological Doubling

Stefanie Matteson
A.P. Lit. 3rd
Ms. Fitzgibbon
Psychological Doubling
A Study of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Dualism derives from the Latin word duo, meaning two. Simply put, dualism can be understood as a thought that facts about the world in general or of a particular class cannot be explained except by supposing ultimately the existence of two different, often opposite, and irreducible principles. Dualism is most often discussed in context of the systems of religion and philosophy. (Robertson) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde uses psychology and images of the human condition and knowledge to convey the message that human beings must accept the complex wholeness of their psychological condition, even when certain aspects of such complexity prove repulsive to them.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde deals with a Dr. Henry Jekyll who is widely respected, successful, and possesses a brilliant intellect but is only too aware of the duplicity of the life that he leads, and of the evil that resides within him. Dr. Jekyll covertly provides utterance to the evil in his soul by various unspeakable acts, but is afraid of doing so openly because of the fear of social criticism. In the course of his experiments, he succeeds in producing a concoction that enables him to free this evil in him from the control of his good self, thus giving rise to Edward Hyde. Edward Hyde is pure evil and amoral. Not only is his psyche different from Dr. Jekyll but also his body is grotesque and deformed. Thus, Dr. Jekyll thinks that he can receive the pleasure that both parts of his being crave without each being encumbered by the demands of the other. However, Mr. Hyde evokes feelings of dread and abhorrence in Dr. Jekyll's friends who beseech him to give up his “friendship” with this Edward Hyde. Edward Hyde gradually becomes ever more powerful than his ‘good’ counterpart and ultimately leads...

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