Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, has been called a “perpetual masterpiece of psychological terror that sprang from the deepest crevices of Stevenson’s own subconscious -- a nightmare from which his wife awakened him” (Lombardi). The phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" is synonymous with man's internal war between good and evil (Auclair). Stevenson's story of the kindly scientist who drinks a potion that transforms him into a stunted, evil version of himself is a story of horror, which preceded modern psychology.
Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory states that an individual’s personality is divided into three different parts: the id, ego, and superego. The id consists of unethical, irrational, driving instincts for sexual gratification, aggression, and general physical and sensual pleasure. The superego represents the outer expectations forced on the personality by society and culture. The ego acts as the mediator between the impulses of the id and the supe...