What would Jekyll have done differently under nobler intentions? He would have attempted both of the goals he began with:
Jekyll succeeded in his first goal: silencing the "just" superego so that the "unjust" id could do what it wanted with no remorse. But he never mentions even attempting his supposed second goal: silencing the id so that the superego is "no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil." No doubt, had he attempted such a thing, he would have found it completely impossible to suppress evil as easily as his drugs could release it, but he apparently never pursued such a route. Why? Because Evil Feels Good, and he was content to use his first discovery to let himself savor the joys of depravity with no remorse or risk of discovery.
Had Henry Jekyll admitted this in his explanation, of course, he wouldn't be the Hypocrite Stevenson so rightly declared he was.
As You Know, 90% of communication is non-verbal, and the way someone carries themselves can have just as strong an impact on how people perceive them when they see them as anything about their actual appearance, if not even stronger. Perhaps Hyde is subconsciously broadcasting his villainy through the world via disgustingly terrible posture.
Having radically different body language than Dr. Jekyll may also have played some role in why no one recognized him.
First of all, it's clear that no natural process could cause the potion's effects—that would require each DNA strand in all of Jekyll's cells to change at once, and for all his somatic cells to be replaced, which can't happen. Second, the very fact that Jekyll can change into Hyde spontaneously, when there is no potion in his system, is suspicious. Was his body producing it as Jekyll, but not as Hyde? That makes no sense.
So what happened is this: Jekyll knew of his sinful desires, but rather than abhor them, he really wanted to indulge them. The only reason he did not do so is because he didn't want to get caught. Were he ever in a situation, even without the potion, where he could get away with murdering someone who annoyed him, he would do it. So when he tried to create a drug that would separate one's good and evil side, letting him commit crimes without guilt, God had had enough. To punish Jekyll for his pride, God miraculously turned Jekyll into Hyde once he drank his prototype, making Jekyll think it worked when it was just a placebo. At first, Hyde didn't do all that much; it's implied that he started by just soliciting prostitutes and doing opium, but not harming anyone but himself. But then he ran over a girl and paid off her family instead of apologizing, and then took the potion to turn back into Jekyll and escape punishment. So God made him turn into Hyde in his sleep without drinking the potion, as a warning to change his ways and to remind him of what he did. But Jekyll ignored it. It was not until Hyde killed Danvers Carew that Jekyll begins to regret Hyde's behavior, but even in his confession letter, this is only because the law is now after him and he can't use Hyde's appearance to enjoy his sins anymore. He tries to make up for it by helping people, and had he been sincere in his repentance God would probably have let him remain Jekyll, but then he started thinking he was better than everyone else due to his recent good deeds. It was this act of pride that caused him to immediately become Hyde again, which doesn't really make sense if the potion is purely pharmaceutical, but makes quite a lot of sense if it is God's punishment. Now Jekyll slips further and further into denial, despite God continually turning him into Hyde in the hope that he one day repents of his sins. But that never happens because Jekyll keeps trying to make more of the potion to turn back into himself and evade punishment.
This also suggests that there was no impurity of salt; that was just Jekyll's desperate rationalization for why the potion made from his new stock didn't work.
- So God actively enabled Jekyll at first by giving him exactly the excuse he wanted to sin, and sabotaged his attempt to change his ways thanks to a single moment of pride?
- That's a bit harsh, and I think it depends on how much you consider Jekyll and Hyde to be different people. If Hyde is an Enemy Within that Jekyll's trying to repress, then it's a very cruel punishment. If Hyde is a disguise Jekyll wears to indulge his worst impulses, from drinking and whoring to beating a child to murdering a philanthropist on a whim, then it's more of a Mark of Shame.
- So God actively enabled Jekyll at first by giving him exactly the excuse he wanted to sin, and sabotaged his attempt to change his ways thanks to a single moment of pride?
- It worked, certainly, but the effects aren't what Jekyll says they are. Rather than changing his physical form or unlocking his evil side, the potion is "merely" some sort of super-drug. It heightens his awareness, reduces his inhibitions, alters his perception, but it's all physical affects. Hyde's crimes are a mix of reduced inhibitions from the first drug, mixed with other substances like alcohol and opium interacting with each other.
Eventually, Jekyll becomes addicted to it and his withdrawal symptoms boost his paranoia and depression, seemingly releasing his Hyde persona.- Related to a previous WMG, people don't recognize Hyde as Jekyll due to a mix of altered body language, bad lighting at night, and the simple reason that Hyde avoids Jekyll's social circles. The ill-fitting clothes are harder to explain, but it could be that Jekyll under the drug's influence simply has trouble dressing himself properly, and people's imaginations take it further.
