The modern relevance of ‘Jekyll and Hyde’

I plan to begin this article in a strange way by saying that I don’t particularly enjoy the novella I am writing this article on. While I understand that it is a brilliant work of literature, something about it never sat right with me. It seems odd that a text I only ever read due to school and didn’t enjoy much is one that I think about so often. When people think of Jekyll and Hyde, they think of the key theme of duality. It is such a bold, ambitious and gripping idea, that ‘man is not truly one, but truly two’. This theme has become so prevalent in pop culture that I think most people are aware of the main idea presented in the novella: Jekyll is the same as Hyde.

During my later teenage years, my mind began philosophising about human nature. The fact that I couldn’t be absolutely wrong definitely appealed to me, and so I began to speculate about human nature mainly. I was, without a doubt, a pessimist, and I was particularly inclined to the idea of human greed and duality. The idea that man does everything for his own benefit was my personal favourite, and my studies of Jekyll and Hyde were like putting coals on an open fire. Despite knowing the vague plot, I wasn’t very knowledgeable of the ideas of duality until I began my studies. From nearly the first page though, it is there right in front of you. Like what is Enfield, a reputable gentleman, doing at around 3 o'clock in the morning? And what was Carew (a knighted MP) doing at night? Even the dull and sincere Utterson may have his secrets, such as what explains his deep interest in the affairs of Mr Hyde? Could he be bored of the Christian society that he is so closely tied to?

With all the gentlemen I mentioned before, they are clearly repressed. The late Victorian era was definitely a different society to that which we live in now. There were more rules, a less open society, a place I’d describe as appearing without a grey area. It seemed like good was good and bad, bad. But there was without a doubt a grey area, it was just hidden by all. And this lead me to thinking to today’s society. Are we repressed in a similar way? Certainly in a slightly different way, for things such as homosexuality are much more acceptable today, but has social media especially led to repression?

I want it said clearly that I am not going to write the words you have heard so many times before. Phones are bad, social media is a sin. I disagree with that on every way. I think a world where I can click a button and someone thousands of miles away can respond and share their thoughts is amazing. The world has never been more connected. However I believe that it may be contributing to a repression not that dissimilar to that described so clearly in Jekyll and Hyde. People are being told by others online that their interests, fashion choices, dislikes, even taste in food isn’t acceptable. People are being forced to hide who they are because of what others think. Is this a new thing? No, of course not, but the connectivity of the world I spoke so fondly about earlier has led to this rising substantially.

Some people may choose to outgrow these habits as they are so ashamed of them, but others may choose to live, what are effectively, secret lives. I want everyone reading this to think, how different is your social media to what you’re actually like? If not, why not? I can certainly agree, that what I post on social media is what I want people to see, not who I actually am. And it’s through thinking about this that I compare myself to the characters in Jekyll and Hyde.

Duality is, without a doubt, more alive than ever. And after re-reading Jekyll and Hyde, I find how little has changed since those gentleman were thought up by Stevenson, a man who most certainly lived a dual life (although that’s a story for another time). Religion is much less significant, the idea of what’s socially acceptable is much more up for debate, however the idea of expressing yourself is still as hidden as it was then. And it’s through this that I truly agree with Henry Jekyll, who was likely voicing the thoughts of Robert Louis Stevenson:

‘Man is not truly one, but truly two’

Robin Romano