Alter Ego or Inner Battle?

                                                                                

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde written by by Robert Louis Stevenson and published in 1886 , is a Victorian era spin on our own Spider Man. Think about it for a second… both plots consist of men creating alter egos in order to fufill urges and thoughts that they feel won't be accepted by the civilization at which they are surrounded by.

     In Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Dr.Jekyll cannot seem to find happiness. He is described as a very somber man who has many inner thoughts and urges that he wishes to take action on. And just as we discussed in class, he has many repressions. He is just stuffing away all those thought and issues and trying to move along. However, we all know that not dealing with certain issues can drive us absolutely insane, and possibly pretty depressed. He news to find a way to unleash his inner, "crazy", if that is what you want to call it. When he has had enough, he decides to create an alter ego. He does this with the use of a so called mysterious potion, that changes his personality. This mysterious potion transforms him into a smaller man, a smaller but very evil man. Now if that is not a split personality, then i really don't know what is….unless he's a gemini…just kidding.  Via his alter ego, also known as, Hyde, he is able to be crazy and fufill those evil urges. He is comfortable with the idea because no one will ever no that it is Dr,Jekyll, that is, until he involuntarily transforms in public. 

    Now in the whole SpiderMan plot, there is an obvious aspect that is completely opposite to The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Peter Parker's alter ego was made to do good and not evil ! .. Peter Parker is a teenager who is being bullied and who does not quite feel accepted by his society…(similar to Dr.Jekyll who also thinks he would not be accepted by his "society"). Peter Parker sees all the unfortunate events around him and in his own life, that he decides to create an alter ego in order to do good.. Wait…Im getting ahead of myself, i forgot a HUGE part to the story! Peter Parker is bitten by a escapee spider at a museum. He felt kind of ill and the next morning, his spider senses were tingling. The bite had given him spidery characteristics, he could shoot webs, crawl on walls, basically he had powers normal teenage boys didn't. He then decided to use these so called powers in advantage to do good and help people.  He created a costume, with a mask of course, in order to hide his indentity. He became THE Spiderman. Both Dr. Jekyll and Peter Parker stressed over hiding their true identities.

       In both of these plots, there is the whole idea of alter egos and split personalities.These men created alter egos in order to find happiness or in hopes of creating another identity for themselves. Dr.Jekyll went from being overly good to overly bad . And Peter Parker went from being very timid to tough, brave and saving a bunch of people. Their alter egos satisfied them, however it was harder for Dr.Jekyll because his alter ego was evil. These alter egos were like defense mechanisms. Split personalities are seen in our day to day lives. Im sure we all know a couple of people who have split personalities, perky to angry for example. Disorders such as bipolar disorder and depression also contribute to people's split personalities, even if it is out of the person's control. And then personalities affect how people interact with us and how people view one another. Its kind of like a cycle of human nature and interaction. The way I see it, Dr.Jekyll was depressed. He did not feel like himself and he felt like he needed a change. He did not feel all the acceptance he should have felt. Now i don't know about you, but nobody is perfect, I certainly am not, it is highly impossible to be perfect 24/7, we all mess up. Now imagine worrying about being good all the time, all day everyday, it can drive people bozo. Just live. Dr. Jekyll was upset and felt like he needed change, sadly his change was pretty drastic, don't you think? Another connection that I made, which might sound a little silly, is the mysterious potion to substance abuse. Dr. Jekyll was upset and used a magic potion to become a different person. In our society, many people turn to substance influences such as drugs & alcohol in order to feel different, and they end up acting different. It can definitely be considered as another personality.  If you think about it, there is somewhat of that same ideology behind Dr. Jekyll and his mysterious potion. Its impossible to be good all the time, humans are humans. Many of us think that we have to impress the people around us. It seems to us that society is our biggest critic, we are judged by first appearances and our actions are criticized. But there is something bigger than society, a bigger critic we must be aware of….ourself. We are our own worst critics and we are all way too hard on ourselves. Jekyll was having an issue with himself most definitely and it lead to his ultimate alter ego….Hyde.