The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay -- Robert Louis Stev

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, is a baloney rife with the imagery of a troubled psyche. Admittedly taken largely from Stevensons dreams, it undoubtably sheds light on the authors own hidden fears and desires. written at the turn of the 19th Century, it also reflects the psychology of society in general at the like time when Sigmund Freud was setting about to do the same thing. While Freud is often criticized for his seemingly excessive emphasis on sexual suppression as the leading cause of psychological disturbances, the time period in which he lived was exceedingly strict on what constituted appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Accordingly, Freud hypothesized that the majority of people were obliged to hide their unacceptable thoughts and feelings down in the depths of their unconscious from whence they would inevitably escape from at a later time to manifest in a variety of ways. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde illustrates Freuds conjecture of repression throughout the entirety of the story and shows the negative consequences associated with this coping strategy.Henry Jekyll is the character who has repressed the most and who consequently suffers the direst of outcomes. In his statement of his experiences leading up to the government issue of Edward Hyde, one anticipates the revelation of some early trauma of a fairly significant scale that would clarify the mans need to regress to an baste identity. However, Jekylls letter is free from any mention of anything of the sort. He instead emphasizes his gaiety of disposition, and his guarantee of a distinguished future, while steering slide by of any descriptio... ...he reveals his struggle as he sought with tears and prayers to smother down the crowd of hideous images and sounds with which my memory swarmed against me (57). His fight with repression was a losing battle as was everyone elses. They do the mistake of believing that an issue can be buried deep enough in the unconscious to remain hidden forever. Had Freuds theories been made public a few years earlier they may have realized the irrationality of their actions and that openly addressing troubling material is the only way to dissolve it. For as the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde makes disturbingly clear, small problems can grow into catastrophic ones when they finally break the surface, and they inevitably will as the fog cannot create forever. Works CitedStevenson, Robert Louis. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York Norton, 2003.