Hyde and Seek

I think an interesting aspect of both Xander in “The Replacement” and Dr. Jekyll in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the difference between which aspects of their respective personalities are repressed in the two characters. Xander sees the return of his repressed confident side, whereas Jekyll sees the return of his repressed evil side. We’re lead to believe that the Xander with the best characteristics is a demon because he demonstrates aspects of Xander that we don’t see very often. He is charismatic, successful, clean, and organized. As the other Xander says, “He’s doing everything better.” However, we usually see Xander as a bit lazy, goofy, clumsy, and awkward. He’s the clown of the Scooby Gang; thus, we, as audience members, are more willing to believe that the dirty Xander with all the worst characteristics is the “real” Xander and the organized, charismatic Xander is a demon. Willow and the rest of the Scooby Gang readily accept the idea that the “better” Xander is a demon. Buffy even comments that she thought that Xander seemed too confident. Therefore, contrary to the scenario in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Xander tends to repress his best characteristics, and it is these aspects that he must confront and accept throughout the course of the episode. Xander feels comfortable being a clown and a goof around his friends, and he somehow finds that this role is the most accepted. Perhaps he represses his accomplished side because he somehow recognizes that his place within the Scooby Gang is the comic relief. Nonetheless, Xander’s doppelganger experience allows him to realize by the end that he has the potential for success and charisma as well as awkwardness and clumsiness. These two distinct aspects of Xander reach a state of harmony at the conclusion of the episode.

On the other hand, when Dr. Jekyll creates the potion that splits off an aspect of his personality, his evil side is the aspect of himself that leaps at the opportunity for freedom. It is not his good side, but his bad side that Dr. Jekyll must confront throughout the novel. Unlike Xander, Dr. Jekyll immediately recognizes his baser doppelganger. However, he does not embrace it as a part of himself. He instead quarantines it to a separate form that can be accessed when he wants. He wishes to explore his repressed side, and enjoy the opportunities that Hyde can give him, but without the repercussions from society. As Hyde, he can act as he wishes without besmirching his character as the esteemed doctor. Unlike Xander, Jekyll feels as though he cannot be his worst self in society without feeling ashamed of what others might think. The novel demonstrates the extreme censure that society placed on public behavior during the Victorian era. The demands on how to act were so high that Dr. Jekyll felt it necessary to split himself in order to find respite from the internal battle between carnal instinct and higher reason. Thus, partly through his own predisposition for being a studious and dedicated member of society and partly from societal pressure, Dr. Jekyll repressed his worst qualities and experienced the consequences of what happens when you don’t embrace the darkness within yourself and don’t, as Janelle said in class, regularly exercise your monsters. I would even stretch to say that the novel suggests that if you don’t reconcile the disparate aspects of your personality, the ensuing battle will kill you.