Doppelganger in Stevenson’s Novel “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” Essay

Introduction

The novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886, presents the ultimate instance of a Doppelganger. The term is German meaning ‘double walker’ and refers to the idea of a shadow self that myth says accompanies each individual.

The traditional understanding of the doppelganger is that it is only seen by the owner, it is a duplicate of the owner and that its appearance is a warning of death. In Stevenson’s story, a scientist discovers a potion that enables him to separate himself into two distinct personalities that operate independently of each other, but only one is permitted to act at a time.

The purpose of this potion is to provide the scientist with a means of separating the good portion of his nature from the evil and it is successful, but the evil proves too strong and he becomes completely unable to control it or withstand it. In the end, the good doctor loses his life in abandoning himself to the strength of the monstrous evil portion of his being thus fulfilling the promise of the doppelganger. Within Stephenson’s story, the doppelganger varies slightly from tradition in that it is not immediately recognized as an alter-ego of Dr. Jekyll, but it remains as impossible to control.

Main text

The appearance of Mr. Hyde as the doppelganger of Dr. Jekyll is not apparent to the townspeople based on his actions and behaviors. The evil in Mr. Hyde is immediately apparent upon his first entrance into the story as the talk of the town after he tramples a young girl in the street. This half of the good doctor was left without any kind of conscience or other reason to restrain his actions and is thus free to commit any sort of evil he might choose to engage.

Regardless of what the respectable and good-hearted Dr. Jekyll might have felt about these actions, Hyde is capable of carrying them out without feeling any remorse or guilt as it is described, “And next moment, with ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot” (21). He is prevented from being associated with Dr. Jekyll based upon his actions. In an age when manners and comportment were of primary importance in determining the worth of the individual, Mr. Hyde makes it a point to forego such niceties.

As Mr. Enfield tells Mr. Utterson, “my man was a fellow that nobody could have to do with, a really damnable man; and the person that drew the cheque is the very pink of the proprieties, celebrated too, and (what makes it worse) one of your fellows who do what they call good” (6). This illustrates not only the evil of the man Mr. Hyde, but also the level to which manners and proper behavior are held sacred and the effect such a person might have upon the reputation and good-standing of the people they may come into contact with.

As the story progresses, Dr. Jekyll is seen to exercise some control over the creature by stopping the potion, but the evil, once released, cannot be so easily contained, highlighting the uncontrollable nature of the doppelganger in legend. Mr. Hyde begins emerging in Dr. Jekyll’s sleep and, once released, this constrained evil bursts out in even greater force, this time committing murder.

The details provided from the maid’s story indicate that “all of a sudden he [Mr. Hyde] broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on (as the maid described it) like a madman. The old gentleman took a step back, with the air of one very much surprised and a trifle hurt; and at that Mr. Hyde broke out of all bounds and clubbed him to the earth. And next moment … he was trampling his victim under foot and hailing down a storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway” (Ch. 4). Despite all attempts at control, the doppelganger acts of its own mysterious volition.

Summary

Mr. Hyde’s ability to completely take over the form of Dr. Jekyll, regardless of whether the potion has been taken or not and regardless of the level of Dr. Jekyll’s awareness, eventually emerging even during the day, leads Dr. Jekyll to the conclusion that his life is over. The close of his final letter marks the point at which Jekyll’s body becomes completely inhabited by Mr. Hyde. It is perhaps the inability of the doppelganger to exist without its host that causes Mr. Hyde to commit suicide rather than emerging from the Doctor’s laboratory to commit brutal and consistent evil on the city until the time he is caught.

Works Cited

Stevenson, Robert Louis. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York: Bantam Classics, 1982.