Jekyll & Hyde

When I decided to start off my year by reading The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I had not realized how utterly and shamefully ignorant I was concerning the actual story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde {which is why I was so confused as to who Mr. Utterson was}. I was like one of those terribly unfortunate people who do not know that Frankenstein is the doctor and not the monster. But now I can tell you that I know what happens and who is who and why it all happens and how, et cetera. Hip hip hooray!

And now for my favorite quote from my reading:

"My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring."

The creation of Mr. Hyde came about because of Dr. Jekyll's theories about the duplicity of man. Man is essentially not one, but two in the sense that he is made up of both good and evil. If man is two, then surely the two entities can be separated right? Correct!

The whole thing was quite . . . Edgar Allan Poe if you ask me. Must I bring him up? Yes, I must. Ah, Edgar Allan Poe, the master of American Romanticism. The mere mention of his name sends chills up my spine {both from the horror of his stories and his sheer genius}. When it comes to duplicity, Stevenson and Poe are a swell pair. Why? Here is why: "The Imp of the Perverse". In case you're not too keen on reading the mentioned short story or aren't quite caught up with all your Poe reading, allow me to sum up. Basically, "The Imp of the Perverse" relates the concept of there being within man, an innate desire to do evil simply for evil's sake. Hence, man is duplicitous in both his goodness and his need to do evil.

What can we learn from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

Perhaps it is important to occasionally allow your devil out of his cage in order to avoid his total domination. However, if your devil murders or harms small children, it will not bode well with your future. So keep your devil in check.

{Okay, so I'm still mulling over a few things . . .}

-Kelly

Rating: 4/5