This is an essay that I wrote during my junior and senior years of high school. Though there are many things I would add to it now, I still remember it fondly because the research process created a pivotal moment in my life. I encountered philosophy and themes that changed my worldview, and I finally began to enjoy literature again after a rough transition period where I couldn’t seem to find anything good once I outgrew middle-grade fiction. Without Demian and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I wouldn’t have opened the doors to live in the literature and ideas I enjoy now.
Introduction
While Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair’s Youth by Hermann Hesse is a bildungsroman following the spiritual growth of Emil Sinclair and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson explores the mystery of Dr. Jekyll’s reclusion, both works explore the duality of human nature and the disparities between two sides of an individual’s personality, “good” and “evil”.
Carl Jung defined these components of the personality as the persona and the shadow, with the ego at the center. Murray Stein compiles and analyzes most of Carl Jung’s essays in his book, Jung’s Map of the Soul. As an expert on psychoanalysis, he provides a comprehensive explanation of Jung’s works. The ego is the center of consciousness, which is the foundation of one’s identity and makes every individual unique and complex. The persona is the mask that the ego wears when confronting the world and presents different characteristics depending on the individual’s role in the context of their society and those around them; in other words, “Character is situational” (Stein 111). Behind all is the shadow which the ego casts, and is generally “quite unaware” of, with all the traits an individual unconsciously suppresses “because of cognitive or emotional dissonance” (Stein 106). “Persona and shadow are usually more or less exact opposites of one another, and yet they are as close as twins”, and they both develop and evolve based on the ego’s attitude and perception (Stein 109).
There may be bias present in Stein’s interpretation, as his analysis contains opinions and interpretations that counter Jung’s critics. In the introduction of his book, he acknowledges that he is presenting “presenting a map” of “Jung’s map of the soul” (Stein 3). He states that though Jung is “frequently criticized for being inconsistent and contradictory”, he “actually produced a coherent psychological theory” (Stein 7). Stein aims to reveal the “underlying unity of vision” despite the “gaps and inconsistencies” that “do exist” (Stein 8).
Hesse was quite familiar with these Jungian concepts, as he was in contact with “one of Carl Jung’s former students”, and his understanding of psychoanalysis had a large influence on his works (Rockefeller). And while Stevenson may not have actively utilized these concepts in his writing, he was highly influenced by the concept of duality that was prominent in his own life, from his childhood experiences to constant migration in his adulthood (Livesey). These perspectives manifest themselves in their works with parallels in the character development of both Sinclair and Dr. Jekyll. Additionally, these parallels are also seen between the works and both authors’ lives and reveal insight into how they view the duality of man.
Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair’s Youth was published in 1919 and set in Germany before WWI, with the novella ending as the war starts. Throughout the novella, Sinclair struggles with the two sides of him that seem to be clearly divided, his good and evil worlds. It is a bildungsroman narrated by the protagonist, Emil Sinclair. The fluctuation between persona and shadow during his journey of self-discovery adds to the complexity of his character. Ultimately, Sinclair becomes his own spiritual guide as he learns to accept all aspects of his personality.
Rather than a journey of spiritual growth, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, published in 1856, is a mystery set in 1800s London. The story is narrated by his lawyer friend Mr. Utterson, Dr. Lanyon, and himself through a combination of description and letters. Hyde, a cruel individual who commits heinous crimes, is Jekyll’s alter-ego, the separation of his shadow from the rest of his consciousness. Eventually, Jekyll begins to transform involuntarily and ultimately commits suicide to be free from the dissonance within himself. He is no longer able to keep up his persona and is not ready to reveal his shameful shadow to the world; he cannot accept his shadow as his new identity.
Sinclair reaches “wholeness” by learning to accept both parts of himself, while Henry Jekyll ultimately reaches his demise by trying to completely separate his two opposing expressions of himself. The two texts demonstrate clear distinctions between the protagonists’ persona, ego, and shadow, yet, ultimately, the characters approach them in completely different manners, with their contrasting attitudes making for a compelling comparative investigation. This leads to the question, “How do the Jungian ideas of the persona, ego, and shadow emerge in the novellas Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth by Herman Hesse and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson?” Jung’s psychoanalytic concepts emerge differently in both works, and the characters’ perceptions of them greatly influence their fates.
Character Foundations
In Hesse’s Demian, Sinclair’s description and attitude towards his two worlds illustrate the foundation of the internal conflict between his persona, ego, and shadow. To Sinclair, his childhood consisted of two worlds where “From two poles came forth day and night” (Hesse 4). His world of good “comprised only [his] parents” and was filled with “clarity and cleanliness” while everything else consisted of “monstrous, tempting, terrible, enigmatical goings-on” (Hesse 4, 5). Sinclair’s two worlds serve as an extended metaphor for his persona and shadow, and his tone and diction when describing his two worlds reflect his early perceptions of his personality. He identifies more with his brighter world and gravitates towards the impression of his parents, while he finds his dark world, or his shadow, “monstrous” and “terrible”, opting to shy away from it. Ironically, though he views his shadow negatively, he also describes it as “tempting”, demonstrating that he has had a curiosity about all aspects of his personality from a young age. Though Sinclair has an inclination towards good and warmth, he puts on a persona of delinquency to fit into an unfamiliar social situation. To appeal to and be accepted by the menacing bully Franz Kromer, he spins an elaborate lie about stealing a sack of apples. However, this ploy backfires as Kromer threatens to tell the owner of the orchard. Because his identity is centered around his association with his good world, and he has never put on a persona that conflicted with his values, his facade of rebellion creates internal dissonance. As he faces the downward spiral of his lies, he says that his “life was ruined”, and even considers committing suicide(Hesse 16). Sinclair draws a clear line between his ego and shadow, as he holds the strong belief that everything within the shadow is wrong. Yet, as he becomes increasingly aware of it, he feels that “it was an ugly and repugnant feeling” which at the same time “had a certain charm” (Hesse 19). The paradoxical “charm” of the “ugly and repugnant” traits of his shadow creates an internal conflict that again reveals his innate curiosity and becomes a catalyst for his future personal growth and exploration.
The disparities between Dr. Jekyll’s persona, ego, and shadow in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, contrarily, are expressed as externally as they are internally through the separation of his two alter-egos. He devises a method to completely separate his persona and shadow into two individuals, Jekyll and Hyde, who are hyperbolic representations of his divided personality. Jekyll is a well-mannered, eloquent, and highly respected doctor who had “but every mark of capacity and kindness”, while Mr. Hyde exuded a “haunting sense of unexpressed deformity” (Stevenson 13, 18). Stevenson creates a clear juxtaposition between the two alter-egos by painting Jekyll as a kind-hearted, warm, and intelligent individual, while he describes Hyde as menacing and feral, using words such as “snarled aloud” to describe his actions, yet still possessing the intelligence and ingenuity of Jekyll (Stevenson 10). Like Sinclair in his childhood, Jekyll sees a clear distinction between good and evil, his persona and shadow. Although he wishes to restrain and rid himself of Hyde, he is not completely repulsed by him. He had already been aware of Hyde’s traits before the separation, as in his memoir letter, he admits that he “concealed [his] pleasures” to the point where he became “committed to a profound duplicity of” himself. Rather than being curious like Sinclair, he wishes to indulge in the traits of his shadow and does not fear them. He merely creates the alter-ego to mask his “morbid sense of shame” that his “pleasures” brought (Stevenson 44). With his transformation serum, Jekyll allows his shadow to become the persona of a new body — which he refers to as his “disguise” — allowing him to commit atrocious acts without guilt. He is protected by the “strange immunities of [his] position” as a renowned doctor while he hides his sins behind his new persona (Stevenson 47). He does not shy away from his shadow as Demian does, but instead relies on physical transformation to unleash his sinister side, which would be frowned upon if harnessed by his original body with his prestigious status.
Both characters struggle with their shadows, which manifest differently. While Sinclair’s persona and shadow are “two worlds [bordering] each other”, Dr. Jekyll creates a distinct separation from Mr. Hyde through physical transformation (Hesse 6). The control that Sinclair’s shadow has over him waxes and wanes as he experiences different phases in his life. As he transitions to adulthood, he once again belongs “entirely to the dark world” as he indulges in alcohol. During his period of “debauchery”, he becomes “a leader and a star”, indicating that his shadow has infiltrated and bled into his persona. His ego views his transgressions not only as sins but also as a means of obtaining validation from his peers. Because of his change in perspective, his shadow and persona traits switch. He embraces his transgressions and appears proud and influential to his peers as his thoughts drift towards negativity and reckless behavior, yet he feels “pitiful” and “self-destroying”; during this period, his shadow becomes his persona, while his persona becomes his shadow (Hesse 91). His classmates see him as “the devil of a good fellow, as a cursed witty and spirited drinking companion,” also recognizing that his shadow, or “the devil” has taken over his persona, “a good fellow” (Hesse 91). His new shadow-influenced persona and the values of his original persona completely juxtapose each other, and he even acknowledges his peers’ recognition of the change. Because the novella is narrated through a first-person perspective, the audience is exposed to his inner dialogue and, therefore, can see both sides of him, his new persona and his ego. His perspective may also skew the way he perceives his peers’ view of him as “the devil” with his own perception of himself. He again experiences mental dissonance as his actions contradict his values, his world of good, but returns to expressing himself with his original persona as he experiences inner growth and maturity. Ultimately, he becomes closer to realizing the effects of his ego’s perspective on the unconscious manifestation of his persona and shadow.
Though the shadow is a portion of the personality that the “ego cannot control”, Jekyll tries his best to completely separate it from himself to create a righteous personality without sin (Stein 106). However, though they are referred to as different individuals, Jekyll and Hyde are one, merely taking on different appearances. Jekyll switches his persona and his shadow just as Sinclair did in his period of regression, but Jekyll can interchange them at will and appears to be in full control of the presentation of his personality through his transformation serum. However, later on, he begins to involuntarily transform into Hyde. As a portion of the personality that one would generally not pay attention to and even deny the existence of, his shadow is initially “much less exercised”, so Hyde was “much smaller, slighter and younger than Henry Jekyll,” demonstrating its weakness and ease to control (Stevenson 46). Yet, as he continues to indulge in his sins, his shadow is “much exercised and nourished”, which causes Hyde to grow "in stature”, granting him more power within Jekyll’s psyche (Stevenson 49). Jekyll’s transformation serum allows him to actively exercise his shadow and increase its strength. Rather than following the natural cycle of internal conflict and growth as Demian does, Jekyll completely removes the need for mental dissonance by isolating the unideal aspects of his personality, which proves to be detrimental to his personal growth. For Sinclair, the lines between his persona and shadow are blurred, while Jekyll attempts to draw a clear distinction between them to allow room for indulgence without guilt. Sinclair ultimately controls his darker urges while Jekyll succumbs to them completely. Sinclair acknowledges and accepts his two counterparts, while Jekyll does his best to hide his shadow from the public eye, preferring only to present his carefully sculpted persona and refusing to be vulnerable to the world. By attempting to control what the “ego cannot control”, Jekyll disrupts his inner world and stunts his personal growth.
Dealing with Disparities
Sinclair and Jekyll both face the manifestation of their shadows with great perturbation but choose to deal with them in different manners. During his period of tavern going, Sinclair’s contradictory thoughts and actions lead his “anxious soul” to be “full of apprehension”, in his mind “weeping bitterly at the thought of [his] past life, of [his] mother, of God”, juxtaposing his projected image as a “cursed witty and spirited drinking companion” (Hesse 91, 92). Sinclair’s alarm is consistent with his values, as his panic sets in when his persona begins to reflect delinquency and stray away from his true thoughts. His thoughts of his “mother” in his darkest times are symbolic of his unwavering values despite his evolving personality. By maintaining his idea of his “good” world, he maintains his conscience and feels the need to repent and be forgiven for his actions. Throughout the novella, Sinclair is in touch with his inner world and his unconscious, often pondering his actions and mental state deeply. His ironic internal conflicts caused by his changing persona and shadow demonstrate that he is a reflective character and considers the consequences of his actions and emerging traits of his personality. Similarly, after involuntarily transforming into Hyde, Jekyll feels as if “terror woke up in [his] breast as sudden and startling as the crash of cymbals”, demonstrating the uncertainty and anxiety that comes with the involuntary emergence of his shadow (Stevenson 49). However, unlike Sinclair, the disparities between his actions and beliefs never bothered him, as he used Hyde as a scapegoat for his depravity, stating that “It was Hyde, after all, and Hyde alone, that was guilty.” Through his avoidant mindset, “his conscience is slumbered” and he does not fully recognize the extent of the atrocities that he is committing (Stevenson 48). He turns a blind eye to the consequences of his actions while indulging in his shadow’s desires. He only begins to experience alarm when his existence is threatened by his shadow growing so strong that it begins to engulf and replace his righteous and pure persona. While Sinclair’s periods of his shadow emerging occur naturally with the tides of his emotions and experiences in life, Jekyll artificially induces its appearance in response to his “aversions to the dryness of a life of study” (Stevenson 47). Rather than allowing his personality to evolve naturally, he manipulates it for his personal entertainment, then dissociates from his shadow to avoid internal unrest. Sinclair grows throughout the bildungsroman because his internal conflicts allow the perspective of his ego to change, causing his persona and shadow to evolve, while Jekyll stunts his own growth through avoidance that prevents his mindset from changing.
Sinclair ultimately deals with his inner conflict by integrating his persona and shadow. He finds a mysterious note in his book one day during a lecture which reads, “The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever will be born must destroy a world. The bird flies to God. The name of the god is Abraxas” (Hesse 112–113). Abraxas is taught in the lecture as “a divinity on whom the symbolical task was imposed of uniting the divine and the diabolical,” a concept naturally attractive to Sinclair as an extended metaphor for his struggle with the border between his inner good and evil, his two worlds, and the paradox of their overlapping nature (Hesse 115). Through his self-exploration and reflection, Sinclair matures and eventually embraces all aspects of his personality as one whole. Beyond representing the world, the bird and the egg also symbolize escaping the confines of the dichotomous nature of the personality. Due to the novella being a bildungsroman written in the first-person point of view, Sinclair’s growth can be observed through his inner monologues and the gradual changes in his perception of events. When he was younger, he found that he ranked “higher than good and pious people” with his “wickedness and unhappiness” when his shadow was dominant (Hesse 36). Yet as his shadow appears later in his life, he no longer allows it to engulf him, as he becomes aware of the effects of his actions, reflecting on his “little thoughtlessness, crudeness” towards his mentor that became a “judgment” towards him (Hesse 156). Ultimately, with his maturity and realization that his two sides, persona and shadow, intertwine, Sinclair looks into “the black mirror to see [his] own picture, which now completely resembles Him, [his] guide and friend“; he becomes his own guide by completely understanding his inner world (Hesse 207). By coming to terms with his two sides and accepting them as one, Sinclair reaches closure and learns to accept himself for who he is.
Rather than embracing his two alter-egos, the extreme separation eventually leads to Jekyll’s demise. Unlike Sinclair, Jekyll views the increasing power of his shadow, and his lack of control over it, as a tragedy and tries to suppress it to the best of his abilities. After beginning to involuntarily transform into Hyde without the use of his serum, he spirals out of control and confines “himself to the cabinet over the laboratory” to prevent his newly-dominant shadow from taking over his life (Stevenson 25). The forced separation of the two facets of his personality leads him to fixate on the suppression of his shadow to the point where it affects both his mental well-being and his daily life. When his friend, Utterson, questions him about the frequent mention of Hyde in his will, Jekyll even goes as far as to say, “the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde”, with his tone indicating that he views Hyde as a completely separate entity from himself (Stevenson 13). In his letter, he states “that man is not truly one, but truly two”, which reflects his attitude towards the warring parts of his personality — in being “truly two”, he implies that he exists as two separate entities, despite his ego being in control and aware of both (Stevenson 44). Ironically, he eventually admits in his letter that “even if [he] could rightly be said to be either” Jekyll or Hyde, “it was only because [he] was radically both” and constantly refers to himself as “I”, even in the form of Hyde, in his testament (Stevenson 45). Using his persona as a mask, he convinces himself and others that he and Mr. Hyde are fundamentally different. However, deep down, his ego knows that they are the same. He sees his persona, ego, and shadow as separate entities that clash with each other and are completely distinct despite coexisting within his mind. He feels as if he is “slowly losing hold of [his] original and better self, and becoming slowly incorporated with [his] second and worse,” when, in actuality, the distinction between them is not black and white (Stevenson 50). His “second and worse” self refers to his shadow, and he feels that his original persona is being completely engulfed by it, hence the increasing frequency of involuntary transformations. As his persona and shadow war with each other, he begins to panic as he loses his sense of self, his sense of stability, and the identity of his ego. His physical state is symbolic of his mental corruption. Hyde’s growth “in stature” and increased frequency of appearance indicates that Jekyll is losing himself and growing too weak, due to his lack of acceptance towards his diverse personality, to resist the darker urges of his mind. Though he is still fundamentally Henry Jekyll, he becomes a version of himself that he never intended to nurture. The fear caused by the overwhelming power of his shadow eventually leads to his demise, where he commits suicide upon seemingly permanent transformation into Hyde.
Conclusion
The common motif of duality in the two works can be interpreted through the Jungian ideas of ego, persona, and shadow. In Demian, Sinclair struggles with the perception of himself, his persona and his shadow, which he visualizes as his light and dark worlds. He ultimately understands that they inevitably overlap and integrate all aspects of his personality into one. Similarly, in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll also struggles with his good and evil facets. However, unlike Sinclair, he copes with the disparity by completely separating his persona and shadow into two individuals with the same mind, himself and Mr. Hyde. He relies on physical transformation to unleash his sinister side, which would be frowned upon if harnessed by his original body with his prestigious status. This separation ultimately leads to his demise as his shadow becomes dominant, and he commits suicide to be free from the dissonance within himself.
While their stories take different turns, the fates of the two protagonists ultimately demonstrate the dangers of shunning parts of oneself, of one’s personality. In both works, there is a clear distinction between the characters’ persona, ego, and shadow, yet the outcomes are completely different. Sinclair’s journey reaches a wholesome ending, with him becoming his own spiritual guide by accepting all portions of his personality and exploring his unconscious. Dr. Jekyll’s demise is quite ironic: he creates Hyde to separate his persona from his shadow, yet ultimately becomes completely engulfed by it. An individual’s persona, ego, and shadow all bleed into each other, weaving together to form the foundation of the personality. Sinclair grows in understanding of this concept, while Jekyll notices it belatedly during his downfall. The spiritual growth in Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair’s Youth and the dark imagery of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde demonstrates that all portions of the personality should be accepted, no matter how repulsive, to form a stable identity. The psyche is full of complexities and dichotomies fundamentally brought by the many perspectives of the ego, which form the persona and shadow. Many subconsciously view the shadow as a shameful weakness that should be eradicated, yet, as demonstrated by the two works, the acceptance and evolution of the shadow can lead to personal growth and maturity. When considered from a Jungian lens, the works prompt reflection on the understanding of our inner thoughts and feelings, our multifaceted personalities.
Works Cited
- Hesse, Hermann. Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth. 1919. Reprint. Translated by N. H. Piday. Martino Fine Books, 2011. Print.
- Livesey, Margot. “The Double Life of Robert Louis Stevenson.” The Atlantic, The Atlantic, Nov. 1994, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/11/the-double-life-of-robert-louis-stevenson/306474/. Accessed 2 Jun. 2020.
- Rockefeller, Lily. “Biography of Hermann Hesse, German Poet and Novelist.” ThoughtCo., Dotdash Publishing Family, 26 Nov. 2019, https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-hermann-hesse-4775337. Accessed 2 Jun. 2020.
- Stein, Murray. Jung's Map of the Soul. Open Court, 1 Mar. 1998. Kindle Edition.
- Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 5 Jan. 1886. Reprint. Amazon Classics, 11 Jul. 2017. Kindle Edition.
Attributions
Thumbnail photo by Gülfer ERGİN on Unsplash