It’s interesting that The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde presents the concept of doppelgangers by describing a choice, at least initially. In “The Replacement,” “Doppelgangland,” and The Transformation, the characters do not have any choice about the existence of their doppelganger. Guido chooses to exchange bodies with the dwarf, but that is a different sort of choice than the one Jekyll makes, which is to have a doppelganger in the first place. Because of this choice, Jekyll has no illusion that Hyde is part of himself, whereas Willow, Xander, and Guido all take a while to grasp this concept.
Nevertheless, the choice does not seem to be as important as the reaction to the doppelganger. Whether or not any particular character asked for a doppelganger, he was forced to acknowledge a facet of his personality once the doppelganger was present. Once this acknowledgement occurred, each character found himself accepting and reconciling the parts of his character, resulting in a harmonious whole (for better or for worse).
In “The Replacement,” the sloppier Xander cannot recognize the confidence that his other half displays, assuming it comes from a demon rather than from within himself. He assumes, and the audience is led to assume, that confident Xander is a demon, because his behavior is unfamiliar to the audience and to the dominant, goofier Xander as well. When the two sides are put together, however, they quickly even out so that they are fairly similar, showing that Xander’s character is actually fairly harmonious (and that he is less confident than he is clownish).
Jekyll, on the other hand, shares consciousness with Hyde, and fully recognizes Hyde as sharing his own characteristics from the very beginning. Of course, Jekyll does still have the more evil part of himself that is manifested in Hyde, where Hyde only possesses those evil characteristics. Still, I see the personas of Jekyll and Hyde as public versus private rather than whole versus evil. Jekyll continually reverts to Hyde, perfectly voluntarily for months, which tells us that he is not as ashamed of his actions as Hyde as he might lead us to believe. Hyde is a guise under which Jekyll can express himself freely. Perhaps Hyde shows more excess and violence than Jekyll would, but his actions have in a sense been condoned by Jekyll, as he continues to choose to unleash Hyde on the world.
As Lisa pointed out in class, the extent to which Jekyll and Hyde are harmonious figures becomes apparent when Jekyll wakes up one morning and suddenly realizes that he is Hyde. This realization is not based on his mental state. He believes himself to be Jekyll until he looks down and notices Hyde’s physical characteristics. How much can the characters of Jekyll and Hyde contrast if even he cannot tell the difference without physical cues?
Both the episode and the novel point to the fact that the sides of our natures are more in harmony than we might like to believe. When we are faced with an aspect of ourselves, whether or not we readily acknowledge it, we are able to reconcile it with the rest of us fairly quickly. We may or may not like all of our characteristics, but when we are forced to see that these characteristics do belong to us, we adjust fairly quickly into one fairly harmonious being.
On an unrelated note, how adorable is it that the worst part of Xander is simply clumsy and goofy instead of being murderous or something?
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