The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Jekyll declares in his confession in Chapter 10: “I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two” (Page 111).

Man is constantly aware of conflicts within himself; of being pulled in different directions by his desires. From an early age, Jekyll feels the pull between good and evil—the latter of which he describes as “a certain impatient gaiety of disposition” (110) which makes him seek illicit “pleasures.” Jekyll seeks to heal this division, to separate out the bad part so that man will no longer be tormented by the conflict between good and evil. This desire comes from a good impulse in Jekyll. However, there is already evil in his soul, which means that part of him longs to taste evil in the guise of another person and live a sinful life with impunity. Therefore, in trying to separate evil from good, he proves that it can’t be done, at least not without severe consequences. Jekyll was a split and divided man even before he took the potion, thus showing that good and evil are both present, indissolubly, in man’s soul.