What Are the Moral/philosophical Messages of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

Question by Simply Insane: What are the moral/philosophical messages of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

Best answer:

Answer by jack99skellington
Dr Jekyll has little regard for ethics.
Mr. Hyde is Dr. Jekyll without restrictions.

This is a book on drug creation and usage – how creating drugs is irresponsible, and using them is as well, and the danger of addiction, as well as the duality of people – Good and evil, and the problems of keeping evil in check. Did you read the story? This story is chock full of messages beyond that.

from wikipedia:

The work is known for its vivid portrayal of a split personality, split in the sense that within the same person there is both an apparently good and an evil personality each being quite distinct from the other. The novella’s impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the phrase “Jekyll and Hyde” coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next

This story represents a concept in Western culture, that of the inner conflict of humanity’s sense of good and evil. The novella has been interpreted as an examination of the duality of human nature (that good and evil exists in all) and that the failure to accept this tension (to accept the evil or shadow side) results in the evil being projected onto others. Paradoxically in this argument, evil is actually committed in an effort to extinguish the perceived evil that has been projected onto the innocent victims.

Answer by Electric Blue
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson

Study Guides:

http://www.bookrags.com/notes/jek/

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/jekyll/

http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/jekyll/

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-88.html

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides2/Jekyll.html#Top

http://www.shmoop.com/intro/literature/robert-louis-stevenson/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde.html

Analysis and Themes Summary

http://www.articlemyriad.com/jekyll_hyde_analysis.htm

Review: Saints Row IV
It's the freedom to use limitless power, to bend or break virtually every law, and to rise to the level of the world's most lethal operative. And so begins a notable …. Drivers are having to put up with a Jekyll and Hyde attitude to petrol pricing …
Read more on Belfast Telegraph


Is Individuality the Savior of Eugenics?
Once defined as “the science of human improvement through better breeding,” eugenics has roared back into the headlines in recent weeks in both Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll personae. The close observer may well … old eugenics remain in our own time …
Read more on Yahoo! News


Corporal Punishment has Life-long Repercussions
Corporal punishment is linked to cancer and a multitude of health maladies, massive school drop-outs, mood and anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug abuse, cardio-vascular disease, arthritis, obesity, wife-beatings, muggings and other social misbehaviour …
Read more on Daily Star Online