Dr. Henry Jekyll, also known as Mr. Edward Hyde, is the eponymous main antagonist of the 1886 gothic novella Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by the late Robert Louis Stevenson . He is the dark side of Henry Jekyll, unleashed by use of a potion. Over the course of the novel, Jekyll transforms into Hyde in order to keep his good and evil personalities separate, only to find himself addicted to the potion as Hyde slowly overtakes him. He has been the subject of many films, and was prominently featured in the first two volumes of The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, a graphic novel by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill.
Biography[]
Stevenson's Hyde[]
In the original novella, Hyde is described as "pale and dwarfish", and has rough, corded hands. Everyone who sees him describes him as giving an impression of ugliness, although he is not physically deformed. Essentially, he exudes pure evil. Hyde was created out of an experiment by Dr. Henry Jekyll, who wanted to live a wild and carefree existence without losing his respectability, so he decided to unleash his darker side. He created a potion, which allowed this to happen, and he transformed into Edward Hyde, the embodiment of his inner evil. Hyde was shorter than Jekyll because the evil in man is lesser than the good.
For a time after this, Jekyll is the respectable doctor by day, then uses the potion to become Hyde and live a life of debauchery and excess by night. Hyde's truly evil nature first made itself apparent when he trampled a small child who had bumped into him in the street. About a year after that, something worse occurred: Hyde, without provocation, savagely beat an old Member of Parliament named Sir Danvers Carew to death with his cane and feet. After this incident, Jekyll determined never to use the potion again. However, Hyde asserted himself and Jekyll began to transform without even taking the potion, and he had to brew more to change back into himself.
When Jekyll ran out of his materials, he tried procured more to brew the potion again, but he couldn't reproduce it exactly. Unable to go on, Jekyll brewed a lethal poison and swallowed it, but changed back into Hyde before he died.
Film Adaptations[]
The first film adaptation was a silent film released in March 28, 1920. Jekyll and Hyde were both portrayed by the late John Barrymore . His Hyde had a pointed head, a hunched over stance, and long fingernails. In this version, Jekyll creates Hyde after facing pressure from Carew, his future father-in-law, to live a wild life before his marriage. Hyde's murder of Carew is done out of anger at this behavior.
The next adaptation was released in December 31, 1931. It starred the late Fredric March as Jekyll and Hyde. This Hyde was clearly more bestial in appearance than its predecessors. Its creators designed him to look like current reconstructions of the Neanderthal man. They gave Hyde flared nostrils, a heavy brow ridge, and fangs. As the film progresses, Hyde grows more apelike. In the film, Jekyll transforms himself after Carew insists he wait to marry his daughter for eight months. Hyde obsesses over Ivy Pierson, a prostitute whom Jekyll had previously encountered. He murders her after she goes to Jekyll for help.
The last major film version was released in August 12, 1941 and starred the late Spencer Tracy as the doctor and his alter ego, the late Ingrid Bergman as Ivy Pearson, and the late Lana Turner as Bea Emery. The film followed the same basic screenplay as the 1932 version, but this version of Hyde had a different design, looking more human than March did. However, Hyde's appearance still deteriorated throughout the film.
In the 1973 TV film, he was portrayed by the late Kirk Douglas .
In other media[]
Alan Moore's Portrayal[]
In their graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill picked up Hyde's story after his alleged death in the original story. In this version, Jekyll faked his suicide and relocated to Paris, where Hyde began murdering the prostitutes he brought back to their apartment. He was found and captured by Alan Quatermain and Mina Murray, sent to Paris by the British Secret Service to recruit him for a special team. This version of Hyde is far taller than Jekyll, who plays a far smaller part in this story. Hyde explains this in the second volume, stating that as Jekyll lost any assertiveness, Hyde lost all restraints.
In the second volume of the story, Hyde even exhibits certain noble characteristics. He forms a bond with Mina, and when Hawley Griffin , better known as the Invisible Man, betrayed the team and humanity itself to the Martians and assaulted and nearly killed her, Hyde sought violent revenge. Hyde could actually see Griffin through the use of infrared vision (which he cleverly kept a secret), and he beat, raped, and murdered him (ironic, as Hawley had used his powers to rape numerous people before). When the Martian tripods where about to enter London, Hyde distracted them just long enough in order for the secret germ weapon to arrive. The Martians incinerated Hyde, but he kept them distracted just long enough to save London.
