The Jekyll and Hyde Syndrome

One of the most distinct examples of an individual with a split, or double, personality is embodied in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The duality of an individual personality can be examined in a variety of ways, good versus evil, moral versus immoral, or the conscious self versus the unconscious desires. Stevenson, before Sigmund Freud or Gordon Allport, examined what it meant to have two competing identities. The character of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde reflects the division of [Page 250]personality that can plague an individual. In this case, Dr. Jekyll desperately tried to maintain self-control and resilience in order to keep the appearance of a well-respected and privileged doctor within his society. Mr. Hyde, on the other hand, was not ...