How do the book and film each deal with and reconcile the character of Jekyll/Hyde? What I mean by this is how much does Jekyll understand Hyde and Hyde, Jekyll? Why does Jekyll keep changing into Hyde and why does he change back? Does Jekyll know what he's doing when he's Hyde and does Hyde understand Jekyll? What does the film and what does the novel have to say about this?
Also, and relatedly, if Hyde is all evil, is Jekyll all good? Is there a way (according to the book and film) for the human to tap into his or her good side just as there's a way to tap into the purely evil? What's the deal with that?
And, in the film, why end on Jekyll? What message is the film sending?
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Both the book and film versions of Jekyll and Hyde portray those two characters as almost two separate beings trapped within the same body. Aside from minor behavioral similarities in the novel and their physical alikeness in the film, Henry Jekyll and Mr. Hyde act independently from one another to the point where no one recognizes that they are indeed the same person. Aside from knowing it as the evil side of him, Jekyll does not really understand Hyde. While Hyde himself is a personality with no real care to understand anyone. It seems as though that Henry Jekyll has no comprehension of his actions as Mr. Hyde until he changes back and realizes the destruction he has brought upon others. Jekyll changes into Hyde initially in an effort to learn more about the separation of good and evil within man. Unfortunately for him, after the first transition, Henry can no longer control the transformations to come. Even if Hyde IS all evil, it would not seem as though Jekyll is all-good because of his adulterous acts. According to both versions of the story, the way to tap into the good and evil sides of man is by separating the two so that neither one is corrupted by the other. Finally, I believe that the film ended on Dr. Jekyll because it wanted to symbolize the struggle between good and evil and how at times that conflict can cause even the innocent to fall.
Both film and book show that Jekyll and Hyde are aware of each other, after all they are the same person. Jekyll can recall Hyde's actions and Hyde can recall Jekyll's memories, specifically those of Ivy. The movie, however, portrays the two on a wider spectrum. Jekyll is portrayed a more extreme good and Hyde a more extreme evil. At first the transformation were purely experimental and then after awhile, they were uncontrollable. While Hyde, Jekyll is very aware of his actions, he just has no impulse control. He knows what he has done to Ivy when she shows up unexpectedly at his office, and Hyde goes to Ivy because he remembers Jekyll's memory of her. I believe that that book demonstrated more of a combined psyche. The only prevalent scene of the combined psyche in the movie was when Hyde transformed in front of his friend and he says that even as Hyde I tried to warn you. Although Hyde is all evil, Jekyll is not all good. He becomes so obsessed with his work, that he becomes confrontational and he even misses appointments with Beatrix, and goes against her father's will about public display of affection with her. The movie ends with Jekyll to show that even though mostly good, evil exists in everyone and it will ultimately lead to our inevitable downfall. Though killed while Hyde, evil, Jekyll, good, is directly effected.
In both the movie and the book Hyde understands a lot about Jekyll and Jekyll understands a lot about Hyde. In the movie there is a scene when Hyde is with Lanyon and Hyde warns Lanyon that he won't want to see him transform back into Hyde. I think Hyde says this because he doesn't want his friend to see what he's done to himself. This means that Hyde understands that Jekyll is the good person. Jekyll is definitely aware of Hyde because he knows what he did to Ivy and he promises to never let it happen to her again but, he fails to keep that promise. In both the movie and the novel Jekyll keeps changing into Hyde because of the primitive animalistic tendencies inside of him which every person contains in his or her unconscious part of the mind. Especially in the movie he can't resist temptation and he can't hold back his sexual urges, so he continually changes into Hyde to fulfill his sexual needs with Ivy. Hyde definitely represents the id because hes always seeking pleasure, but i think Jekyll represents the ego which is that part of the id but has been modified by the influence of the outside world. So Jekyll contains common sense and reason, while the primitive evil inside remains inside of him (Hyde). Jekyll is a normal person not a perfect person so there are some imperfections that show. I think the film ended with Jekyll because the whole time he really was Henry Jekyll. The character Hyde was just representative of the evil trapped inside his unconscious. This evil is still part of Jekyll it just never comes out until he takes the potion.
The book definately makes the reader feel like Jekyll and Hyde are aware of eachother, but the movie is different. In the movie, both sides know the other exists, but when Hyde is present, Jekyll has much less control than in the book. Here's a metaphor: In the book, when Hyde is in control, it's like Jekyll is riding shotgun and is playing the part of the navigator. In the movie, it's as if Hyde is driving and Jekyll is way in the back of the car. He can see what's going on, but has no say-so in what Hyde does.
While Hyde may be 100% evil, Jekyll isn't perfect himself either. In both the movie and book, Jekyll takes the potion for the same reason. He gives in to his small evil side so that he can tap in to his large evil side. Jekyll wanted to do whatever he wanted and not have to responsible for the consequences. He was very selfish. Jekyll drinks the potion while knowing what the effects would be, which makes him a little evil himself.
The body switches back to Jekyll at the end to show that the good guy (or mostly good guy) doesn't always win.
I believe Jekyll and Hyde understand each other completely. While Jekyll was Hyde, he knew what Hyde was doing he just wasn't able to control his "evil half". Both the film and the novel show this by Hyde taking the potion to turn back to Jekyll. Plus, like Sally mentioned, in the movie, when Hyde turns back into Jekyll in front of Lanyon, Jekyll says, "Even as Hyde I tried to warn you."
Hyde is definitely all evil and while Jekyll seems all good, he really is not. At first it did seem like Jekyll was all good, using the potion for experimental purposes only, but after a while he started using it for pleasure and doing bad things.
I think that the film ends on Jekyll after he is killed as Hyde to show that even "good" people are affected by evil.
In general, in both the book and the film, Jekyll and Hyde know about each other, but not in every aspect.For Hyde, he knows more about Jekyll's evil side. For Jekyll, he feels pity of Hyde. He is another himself the one who can do the bad things he wants. In the book, there's more description about Jekyll than Hyde. The film is focusing both on the two men. Sinece Dr. Jekyll drank the medicine, we know that the monster is the same as him. We can see when Hyde first time show up, he is so happy and exciting. He cannot wait to do bad thing, becuase Dr. Jekyll can't, he is a celebrity and a kind person. Hyde knows the stress on Jekyll, He wants to prove Jekyll's thoery is right, also he likes to do evil things. He thinks that this is a part of Dr. Jekyll. Jekyll knows about Hyde and feels fresh to have this new friend. He is exciting to change to Hyde at first. He wants to show that his thoery is right. He wants to revench the artificial society. But when he notices what he did is wrong and evil and when he wants to be a normal person, it's too late. Both Jekyll and Hyde know what each other are doing, but they let each other do what they should do. The story tells us, everyone has two sides, evil side and kind side. Even though, people hide their evil side, it dosen't mean that he has no evil side. Morality makes people develop the kind side. so we show less evil side. This is also the reason why it end on Jekyll. Becuase the kind side is what the society needs and the human need. People will always go to the purity of their soul.
I think Hyde understands Jekyll. But in the scene when he is with Lannon he says that Jekyll is weak and that he is a loser. While hyde is pure evil, Jekyll is not all good in the one scene when he was taking Ingrid home and kisses her in her room, I believe this shows a little of what evil side there is to Jekyll and that while a lot of the other characters in the movie believe him to be perfect he is not. I think Jekyll knows Hyde but he is addicted to the drink and the sensation he gets so he does and thinks he can control it until he does it and gets the urge to kill others/harm them.
I do not think that neither Jekyll or Hyde full understands their counterpart. Hyde does not understand why Jekyll is a gentleman all the time and dispises the fact that he is looked up to, in contrary, Jekyll is digusted at the evilness of Hyde. Jekyll shows that he is disgusted by the look on his face when he sees Ivy's back and the physcial evidence of the evil Hyde has done. Jekyll knows what he is doing when he is Hyde obviously, but has no control. Just like Hyde does not come out when Jekyll is Jekyll, Jekyll does not come out when Hyde is Hyde. They know the other is there, but it's like their hands are tied with no control. The film straight off the bat tells you that the two characters are the same person, and lets you see Jekyll's feelins gs on his transformation since he is the main character. In the novel however, Utterson is the narrator and therefore the reader only knows what Jekyll and Hyde's activites are, not their feelings or thoughs, nor does the reader know until the end that they are the same person. Neither character is completely good or evil. Hyde shows glimpses of civilness and Jekyll shows sometimes where he is about to loose his cool, especially when someone down talks his work. They way one acts solely depends on their decision of what they want to do. No one is completley on one side of the spectrum of good and evil, everyone has their battles with ethics or sometimes being too nice. By ending with Jekyll, the film is saying that the true person behind this is the person who started it all, Jekyl; Hyde is just an alter ego. Jekyll is the man who everyone knows and loved, but just struggled with the idea of how to control his science and prove to everyone that he could tap into an evil side.
Hyde seems to be aware of what Jekyll goes through on his daily basis. Jekyll is aware, but possibly not completely aware of how much effect he is having on people. He changes himself but then he stops having control over when he sees hyde is getting out of control and dangerous. No one is all good, even if their alter ego is all evil. Jekyll had to have some evil in his mind to have an alter ego to be so evil. Everyone could tap into their evil or good side. It is all in the state of mind. With the movie ending with Jekyll shows his true identity i guess.
The book leaves the question of the Jekyll/Hyde relationship kind of vague. The movie is a little more clear, though still leaves a lot to the imagination of the audience. In the movie, Jekyll doesn't seem to be fully cognizant of his actions as Hyde until he sees Ivy and her wounds in the flesh. He also doesn't seem remorseful at all about not writing to his fiancé while she is traveling with her father. Yet Hyde seems to understand Jekyll very well. He refers to Jekyll, knows where the ingredients for the potion are kept within Jekyll's lab and knows of Dr. Lanyon, a friend to Jekyll that Hyde had never met until the night he needed Lanyon's assistance. After Ivy goes to Jekyll for help and Jekyll declares that he will get rid of Hyde, he spontaneously becomes Hyde and goes to murder Ivy. He also mentions Jekyll during that interlude. This incident is singularly the most important moment in the film regarding the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde. Hyde is intimately aware of the control that Jekyll has over him and he does all he can to break that control to try to save his own existence. Yet Jekyll doesn't seem to know of all Hyde's transgressions, just the emotions that he feels before and after.
It is like a drug for Jekyll, yet he does not fully understand the effects. This suggests that Jekyll is not all good. The book and the movie both contain scenes of Jekyll portraying moral ambiguity. There are several close-up shots of Jekyll in the film where is face is filled with mixed emotions.
Ending the film on Jekyll is significant because it insinuates that it is Jekyll that is ultimately responsible for his crimes. The persona of Hyde cannot be fully held accountable for his actions because he is subject to Jekyll, his creator. In essence it was saying Hyde was a part of Jekyll, the purely evil element of a man that contained good and evil, just as we all do.
During the movie when mr. hyde goes to Ivy's room for the last time and he is repeating everything she said privately to mr. jekyll He said "i know mr. jekyll intimately and i hate him intimately" The two sides know each other very well, they are intertwined not seperated.
In no way is jekyll all good, he said so himself in the movie during the dinner party, something like, "we as Christians say there is evil in everybody." If jekyll was all good he would have never gotten involved with Mr. hyde, he would go no where near the evil side of himself.
Since the movie ended on jekyll, the movie is saying that the evil/good makeup of a person is good. i disagree i think we are by nature evil but it makes the movie end happy.
I feel that in the novel, Dr. Jekyll is fully aware of Hyde and knows of his horrendous actions. I don't think that Dr. Jekyll full understands Hyde's actions or justifies those actions, but I do feel that he is aware. As the story progresses, I feel that Mr. Hyde appears to grow more dominant in Dr. Jekyll's psyche as more and more Jekyll is unable to control his transformations. This is seen in both the movie and the novel. I also think that since Hyde generally represents pure evil, this doesn't mean that Dr. Jekyll is all good. The story attempts to contrast normal behavior with the unchecked aggression and horror of Mr. Hyde. I feel that by having the film end on Jekyll it is attempting to show that ultimately there was still good left in him. It attempts to show that ultimately good prevails.
Jekyll and Hyde are definaly aware of eachother in the film and in the movie. In the movie Dr.Jekyll was able to understand what Mr. Hyde has done which is similar to the book when Dr.Jekyll tries to make amends for Mr. Hydes actions. However in the movie Dr. Jekyll tries to cover up what Mr. Hyde has done which shows that he is not all good.
In the film Jekyll is most definitely aware of what Hyde does, and vice versa. Jekyll knows what Hyde has done, that's why Jekyll sent Ivy money. He felt bad and wanted to compensate her. But Jekyll is not as aware of Hyde as Hyde is of Jekyll because after Ivy sees Dr. Jekyll Hyde comes back and mocks her and the things that she said to Jekyll before murdering her.
Jekyll is obviously not all good. If Jekyll were all good he would never have created the potion that created Hyde. No one, actually, is all good, but in perspective, if Jekyll had dealt with the fact that everyone makes mistakes and isn't perfect, he would be all good, or as all good as anyone can get, but he couldn't leave it alone. It seems that the novel and the movie try to show us that evil will overpower good at most costs. I don't believe that.
The film ended on Jekyll because he was the main character. We also finally get to see him become at peace with himself, although he is dead. It also shows that Hyde was never in true power over Jekyll, that Jekyll was still Jekyll even with his creation of Hyde. I think, if Jekyll really wanted to, he could've overpowered Hyde when he changed without the potion. Hyde was only taking over because Jekyll wanted him to. Jekyll was addicted the carefree life of Hyde.
First I would like to say, its more than one question it's just all in one post =]. I think both Jekyll and Hyde are very aware n understand each other. I think Hyde understands Jekyll more but I think they both know of the others actions and thoughts.
I don't think Jekyll is all good, but I think ultimately he is.
Evil took over but in the end ultimate good stills win, ending with Jekyll.
I believe that when Jekyll is Hyde, he is very caught up in the moment of being evil and he does not know how to act. I do believe that he understands Hyde though because he repeatedly says to Ivy "Oh you want Mr. jekyll, Mr. Jekyll will make everything okay huh," almost as if he is jealous of his other side, Mr. jekyll. I also think that obviously Jekyll understands Hyde, because he regrets everything he's done whenever he comes back to normal. I think it makes the movie more interesting that he can't control when he changes to Hyde, because in the book he could control it a couple of times.
I believe that Jekyll understands Hyde in the sense that he knows what is evil and what it does, but he doesn't understand Hyde as a humanized manifestation of that evil. Jekyll is powerless to understand Hyde's thoughts or keep him under control.. Hyde is definitely the more powerful of the two. I don't think that Jekyll knows what he is doing when he is Hyde, but Hyde is aware of what Jekyll does. This is seen in the movie when Hyde knows the conversation had between Jekyll and the barmaid. I imagine this to occur in much the same way as when a schizophrenic person has a dominant personality that is aware of the other personalities thoughts and actions, but the other personalities aren't aware of the dominant's actions. Although Hyde knows what Jekyll is doing, I don't believe that he understands Jekyll because I don't believe it's possible for something that is all evil and has never known good to understand a human - which is good and evil. But Jekyll is not all good.. It appears that when he becomes Hyde he essentially just loses all the good in him, rather than totally separating the two because Jekyll is human, and Hyde is pure evil.
I don't believe Jekyll is completely aware of Hyde's evil actions until the end when he realizes he's hurting a lot more people than just Ivy. Hyde is very aware of Jekyll's kindness. He even said that to Ivy, but he also talked about how much he disliked the way Jekyll really was. Hyde is very aware of each conversation he has when he is Jekyll. We see this also through his interractions with Ivy.
Obviously, Jekyll is not totally good. He even said himself that every man had evil tendencies. No person is perfect. As Jordan said, had he been completely good, he would have never created Hyde.
I think the significance of the story ending with the dead Hyde changing back into Jekyll was to show two different things. One is that evil doesn't win. The other is that when he changed, it's as if he accepted who he was and that being that evil wasn't worth it in the end.
The book deals with the different emotions of them. How Jekyll feels afterwards. In the film they show the hallucinations. I think they understand eachother very well. I think so because in the film after Ivy had went to Jekyll to talk about Hyde, Hyde knew everything that happened even though he wasnt present at the time. Also the way Jekylls emotions are carried out after being Hyde is apparent he knows what has happen. The guilt in his eyes as he talks to Ivy.
I think Jekyll is there to represent all good. He might not be all good but hes there to represent all good. And both the film and novel are both sending the message that there is only a way to tap into his or hers purely evil side. THey both show that Jekyll cannot control Hyde. That Evil takes over. Also they ended with Jekyll to show that Evil conquered him.
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