Dr. Jekyll and Mr.

Hyde

THE DOMINANT THEMES

 The meaning of ‘Mr. Hyde’

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has been described as a parable (a story that teaches a moral or spiritual
lesson as those told by Jesus) of the struggle between good and evil, a mystery story, a classic
Victorian tale of the supernatural, a critique of a male-dominated Victorian society, a representation
of both sides of the author’s personality…

 The double

The single dominant theme in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is that of the double, the divided nature of
Man and that things are not always what they appear. This theme is expressed mainly through the
characters. Obviously, Hyde represents the well-respected Jekyll’s evil nature; Utterson has many
subtle contradictions in his character and his friendship with Enfield seems to flourish because and
not in spite of the fact that he is a man who is the complete opposite to him in many ways. Just as
Jekyll is drawn to Hyde, Utterson is drawn to Enfield and vice versa. Lanyon is described as
“somewhat theatrical”, suggesting that he is not all that he seems and the woman at Hyde’s rooms
“had an evil face smoothed by hypocrisy; but her manners were excellent”.

 Hypocrisy

Stevenson was keen to expose the hypocrisy exhibited in all his characters and he does this largely
through their reactions to Hyde. No one seems to be able to pinpoint what is so repugnant about him
but he provokes such extremely violent responses in all who encounter him. Hyde represents the
dark side which is present in all people. The characters in the novel are unable to recognise this and
the abhorrence they have for Hyde is an expression of the distaste which all humans have for
accepting this truth. In wanting to kill Hyde, they are rejecting what is in fact part of their true
selves and so are guilty of hypocrisy.

 Suppression can lead to violence

According to Stevenson, the suppression of the less socially acceptable facets of the human
personality can lead to sudden, violent outpourings such as seen in Hyde’s murder of Sir Danvers
Carew and in the real life murders committed in the East End of London in 1888. The greatest
hypocrite in the novel is Jekyll; although he admits he enjoys the wicked part of his nature, he
cannot accept it as a natural part of him and therefore seeks to separate it from him in his scientific
experiments. This denial leads to his destruction.

Sources: York Notes on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Cliffs Notes on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary