Freud - the interaction between the
conscious self and the unconscious self
Freud - Hyde represents the otherness
of the unconscious 'id', which invades
the stability of the conscious 'ego'
Lacks power but is
nevertheless threatening
Disrupts the order of things;
unfamiliar and unknown
Occupies the margins of
society - the outsider
Degeneration and Atavism
Fears about social and biological degeneration
Darwinian theories of evolution
Examples of degeneration: insanity,
criminality, immorality, physical abnormality
Hyde possesses atavistic
and degenerate qualities
Jekyll is progressive and Hyde is regressive
Mr Hyde was pale and drawfish, he gave an
impression of deformity without any nameable
malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he
had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of
murderous mixture of timidity and boldness,
and he spoke with a husky, whispering and
somewhat broken voice (15)
Utterson then continues: 'god bless me
the man seems hardly human!
Something troglodytic'