Stevenson

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

There’s a common saying: “Inside every human being, there are two wolves. Whichever one is stronger is the one you feed the most.” This saying refers to the good and evil sides of human nature. Whichever one a person indulges, he will become. It will overpower the other, which will weaken and eventually die. This is the lesson of Jekyll and Hyde.

Dr. Henry Jekyll is in late middle age. He has lived his life as an honorable and upstanding gentleman in Victorian England. For reasons I’m still not clear on, he creates a potion that will separate the two halves of his personality, creating Edward Hyde. Hyde is the wants and desires that are repressed by proper British society. He has no conscience or morals and embodies wanton cruelty and evil. This short book is about pride, the attractiveness and addiction of evil, and inevitable self-destruction.

For me, the most interesting part of the story is the description of Hyde. In many adaptations, Hyde is depicted as a monstrous figure – huge, terrible, and ugly. But that’s not how Stevenson wrote him. In the story, Hyde is actually younger than Jekyll and smaller in stature. He is also quite good-looking, but everyone that meets him instantly dislikes him but cannot explain why. It’s an instinctual reaction. I think this was brilliant of Stevenson as it personifies evil perfectly. Evil seems harmless and attractive at first. This makes it easier to justify one’s choice to do bad things: “Oh, it’s just a little fun. No one will get hurt.” Later in the book, Jekyll will write how much he came to enjoy his new existence. It was freeing. He could do anything he wanted through Hyde and avoid the consequences as Jekyll—until he couldn’t. Evil is addictive. As soon as it gets a toe-hold, it refuses to let go. It will constantly demand more and is never satisfied. Eventually, Hyde would cost Jekyll everything.

Usually in these reviews I try to avoid spoilers, but this book has been around for so long, its plot and themes are so infused into our culture and language, that I don’t think it’s possible to spoil it anymore. The story is still shocking and tragic one-hundred-forty years later. A horror classic, Jekyll and Hyde reminded me somewhat of Frankenstein in how it’s a cautionary tale about scientific hubris and human arrogance. This book’s themes and lessons are universal and timeless, retold again and again, and are still relevant. That we still refer to it in 2023 is, I think, the sign of an excellent and immortal story.