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I don't understand this concept, and I was hoping for some help

2007-08-28 10:44:11 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities Books & Authors

2 answers

The opposite natures of Jekyll and Hyde are an allegory for different sides of human nature - the civilised and the violent.

"More than anything, however, Jekyll and Hyde works as an allegorical portrayal of the goodness and evil that resides in equal measure within the soul of a man. It pre-empted Freudian psychoanalysis (which really only began to be common currency on the publication of Freud's Interpretation of Dreams in 1901) by twenty-five years, and yet is eerily similar to some of its theories.

"Under the constraints of rigid Victorian society, the unprepossessing Jekyll learns to give into his inner desires (the instinctive forces Freud termed the Id) when he is transformed into Hyde. The rational, controlled, civilised part of Jekyll attempts to (like Freud's super-ego) repress the Id, and make Hyde controllable. However, as Freud pointed out in his studies of neurotic patients, such a repression of the driving force of nature within us often leads to horrible, barbaric consequences.

"Both an exciting horror story, and a perceptive allegorical portrayal of what it is to be human, The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, works on its readers on a number of levels. Insightful, well-written, and extremely enjoyable, it is a story that chimes so with our collective consciousness, that it has entered into legend."

2007-08-28 12:00:37 · answer #1 · answered by Beardo 7 · 0 0

You have to understand that Jekyll and Hyde were 2 different people. The allegory is their different personas. Jekyll the mild mannered Dr and Hyde, the monster within.

2007-08-28 10:53:44 · answer #2 · answered by Mr. Cellophane 6 · 0 0

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