WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.580 OK, let's unpack this. Usually when we think 00:00:03.580 --> 00:00:06.099 about monsters, we look outwards. Right, yeah, 00:00:06.299 --> 00:00:08.800 like into the dark. Exactly. We look to the dark 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:12.380 alleys or deep oceans, haunted houses. We're 00:00:12.380 --> 00:00:14.779 always looking for the thing that's lurking in 00:00:14.779 --> 00:00:17.120 the shadows, waiting to strike from the outside. 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:19.500 Oh, absolutely. It's an external threat. Yeah, 00:00:19.620 --> 00:00:21.879 but what if the ultimate monster isn't hiding 00:00:21.879 --> 00:00:25.280 in the dark at all? What if the most terrifying 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:27.839 creature you could ever possibly encounter is 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:30.339 the one looking back at you when you stare into 00:00:30.339 --> 00:00:33.340 your own bathroom mirror? That is such a chilling 00:00:33.340 --> 00:00:35.899 concept. It really is. And welcome to the deep 00:00:35.899 --> 00:00:38.700 dive, by the way. Today, we are taking an intensive 00:00:38.700 --> 00:00:41.960 look at a text that has been just so thoroughly 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:45.600 absorbed into our cultural DNA that I think we've 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:47.520 we've actually forgotten where it came from. 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:50.780 Oh, entirely. And more importantly, we've forgotten 00:00:50.780 --> 00:00:54.119 how utterly terrifying it originally was. Yes. 00:00:54.619 --> 00:00:56.780 We're talking about Robert Louis Stevenson's 00:00:56.780 --> 00:01:00.039 classic 1886 narrative, the strange case of Dr. 00:01:00.219 --> 00:01:03.049 Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The mission for you 00:01:03.049 --> 00:01:05.409 today, as we go through these original documents, 00:01:05.829 --> 00:01:08.890 is to completely strip away, like, over a century 00:01:08.890 --> 00:01:11.250 of pop culture baggage. Which is a lot of baggage, 00:01:11.390 --> 00:01:13.790 let's be honest. Oh, it's immense. We want to 00:01:13.790 --> 00:01:16.489 jettison all those cartoon parodies, the Halloween 00:01:16.489 --> 00:01:19.510 costumes, the Incredible Hulk comparisons, you 00:01:19.510 --> 00:01:22.049 know, all the jokes. We are returning to the 00:01:22.049 --> 00:01:25.370 highly complex, chilling original text to deconstruct 00:01:25.370 --> 00:01:27.489 how this narrative is actually built. Because 00:01:27.489 --> 00:01:30.269 what we have here, it isn't just a spooky campfire 00:01:30.269 --> 00:01:33.000 story. I mean, it is a... brilliant psychological 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.780 thriller. It's a masterclass in the architecture 00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:38.500 of a mystery, and honestly, a profoundly unsettling 00:01:38.500 --> 00:01:40.859 look at the duality of human nature. And the 00:01:40.859 --> 00:01:43.540 terrifying loss of control. Exactly. It's a profoundly 00:01:43.540 --> 00:01:46.140 unsettling concept, and what makes this source 00:01:46.140 --> 00:01:48.319 material so compelling, and frankly, what is 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:50.439 almost always lost in the cinematic adaptations, 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:53.459 is exactly how the information is revealed to 00:01:53.459 --> 00:01:55.980 you as the reader. Oh, the pacing of it. Right. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:59.019 If you think about it, Stevenson makes this brilliant, 00:01:59.420 --> 00:02:01.459 kind of counterintuitive choice. He doesn't just 00:02:01.459 --> 00:02:03.280 hand you a first -person confession right out 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:05.480 of the gate. No, which is what you'd expect today. 00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:07.840 Right. We don't start inside the chaotic mind 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.180 of a mad scientist. Instead, we are forced to 00:02:11.180 --> 00:02:14.740 view this deeply unnatural, supernatural event 00:02:14.740 --> 00:02:18.069 through the eyes of the ultimate repressed buttoned 00:02:18.069 --> 00:02:21.330 up Victorian bystander. It's all filtered through 00:02:21.330 --> 00:02:24.949 this incredibly strict society. Exactly. We have 00:02:24.949 --> 00:02:27.689 to piece the horror together through, you know, 00:02:28.009 --> 00:02:31.270 legal documents, hearsay, forged letters, and 00:02:31.270 --> 00:02:33.689 the incredibly strict societal codes of 19th 00:02:33.689 --> 00:02:35.930 century London. Which is such a brilliant narrative 00:02:35.930 --> 00:02:38.069 choice, really, because it forces you to do the 00:02:38.069 --> 00:02:40.770 detective work alongside a man who actively does 00:02:40.770 --> 00:02:42.909 not want to find the answers. He really doesn't. 00:02:43.030 --> 00:02:45.409 He's fighting it the whole way. He is. And that 00:02:45.409 --> 00:02:47.789 brings us to the man who serves as our primary 00:02:47.789 --> 00:02:51.180 lens for this whole nightmare. Mr. Gabriel John 00:02:51.180 --> 00:02:53.659 Utterson. Good old Utterson. The text introduces 00:02:53.659 --> 00:02:55.840 him with this absolutely incredible description. 00:02:56.360 --> 00:02:59.120 It says he was a lawyer with a rugged countenance 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:02.800 that was never lighted by a smile, cold, scanty, 00:03:02.860 --> 00:03:05.919 and embarrassed in discourse, backward in sentiment, 00:03:06.340 --> 00:03:10.240 lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable. 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:12.819 I always love that last part. Right. I mean, 00:03:13.099 --> 00:03:16.039 dusty and dreary and yet somehow lovable is quite 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:18.479 the dating profile. It really is, but it's a 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:21.090 very specific, carefully constructed type of 00:03:21.090 --> 00:03:25.629 character. And Stevenson elaborates on his austerity 00:03:25.629 --> 00:03:28.110 in ways that are crucial to understanding the 00:03:28.110 --> 00:03:30.810 whole book. Like his drinking habits. Yes, exactly. 00:03:31.490 --> 00:03:33.789 For example, the text notes that Utterson drinks 00:03:33.789 --> 00:03:36.810 gin when he is alone, specifically to mortify 00:03:36.810 --> 00:03:39.030 a taste for vintages. Wait, I have to pause there. 00:03:39.110 --> 00:03:41.349 He doesn't drink gin because he likes it. No. 00:03:41.629 --> 00:03:43.930 He drinks it to actively punish his own desire 00:03:43.930 --> 00:03:46.710 for good wine. That is just, that's wild. He's 00:03:46.710 --> 00:03:49.289 purposely making himself miserable. Right. Furthermore, 00:03:49.469 --> 00:03:51.409 he loves the theater, but he hasn't crossed the 00:03:51.409 --> 00:03:54.310 doors of one for 20 years. This is a man whose 00:03:54.310 --> 00:03:57.270 entire existence is defined by restraint. He 00:03:57.270 --> 00:03:59.789 is essentially a walking monument to keeping 00:03:59.789 --> 00:04:02.349 one's impulses entirely ruthlessly in check. 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:06.419 He really is the patron saint of Victorian repression. 00:04:06.699 --> 00:04:09.120 He absolutely is. And his best friend, or at 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:12.379 least his most consistent companion, is his distant 00:04:12.379 --> 00:04:15.840 kinsman, Richard Enfield. And the text actually 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:18.180 makes a point to say that it was a, quote, nut 00:04:18.180 --> 00:04:20.660 to crack for many what these two even saw in 00:04:20.660 --> 00:04:23.279 each other. because they seem so mismatched or 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:26.060 at least so boring together. Exactly. They go 00:04:26.060 --> 00:04:28.339 on these Sunday walks and people report that 00:04:28.339 --> 00:04:30.500 they say absolutely nothing to each other. They 00:04:30.500 --> 00:04:33.019 look completely dull and seem visibly relieved 00:04:33.019 --> 00:04:34.819 when someone else shows up to interrupt them. 00:04:34.899 --> 00:04:36.939 Which sounds like a terrible time. It does. I 00:04:36.939 --> 00:04:39.699 have to push back a little on this because on 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:42.819 the surface, considering a totally silent awkward 00:04:42.819 --> 00:04:46.560 walk, the chief jewel of your week seems Completely 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:48.939 bizarre. It definitely does to a modern reader. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:50.699 But then again, if you really think about it, 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:53.439 is it that different from two people today sitting 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:55.699 on a couch in the exact same room, just staring 00:04:55.699 --> 00:04:58.040 at their phones for three hours in dead silence? 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:00.819 Oh, wow. Yeah, that's a really good point. It's 00:05:00.819 --> 00:05:03.860 a shared isolation. You are physically together, 00:05:04.259 --> 00:05:06.939 but you are entirely locked inside your own head, 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:09.759 carefully curating your internal world while 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:12.379 projecting a completely blank slate to the outside. 00:05:12.860 --> 00:05:15.250 That is an excellent comparison. And it hits 00:05:15.250 --> 00:05:17.930 exactly what Stevenson is doing here. It is a 00:05:17.930 --> 00:05:20.790 shared isolation. And that dynamic functions 00:05:20.790 --> 00:05:23.870 as a perfect microcosm for the society they live 00:05:23.870 --> 00:05:26.930 in. Because everyone is doing it. Exactly. Everyone 00:05:26.930 --> 00:05:29.430 in this narrative and in 19th century upper class 00:05:29.430 --> 00:05:32.089 London, by extension, is hiding their true thoughts. 00:05:32.689 --> 00:05:35.129 They are keeping to themselves, maintaining the 00:05:35.129 --> 00:05:38.709 surface at all costs. The facade of respectability 00:05:38.709 --> 00:05:41.730 is the actual currency. of their world. Right 00:05:41.730 --> 00:05:44.209 and it's on one of these silent shared isolations 00:05:44.209 --> 00:05:46.889 that the entire plot gets kicked into motion. 00:05:47.009 --> 00:05:49.040 The famous walk. Yeah, they are walking down 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:51.480 a by street and Enfield points out a specific 00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:53.939 door. It's in this sinister block of building 00:05:53.939 --> 00:05:55.959 thrusting forward on the street, no windows, 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:59.000 just a blistered, disdained door that looks like 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:01.779 it's suffered prolonged negligence. Tramp strike 00:06:01.779 --> 00:06:04.220 matches on it. I think it's his. Yep. Vagrant 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:07.639 strike matches on it. And seeing this door prompts 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:10.120 Enfield to break the silence and tell what he 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:13.339 calls the story of the door. And we really need 00:06:13.339 --> 00:06:15.379 to look closely at the details of Enfield's story, 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:18.060 because the mechanics of how this society reacts 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:21.500 to trauma are deeply revealing. It's so weird 00:06:21.500 --> 00:06:24.800 how they react. It is. So Enfield describes walking 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:26.819 home at 3 o 'clock on a black winter morning, 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:29.699 the streets are empty, lit up like a procession, 00:06:29.860 --> 00:06:32.720 but totally void of people. It's an eerie... 00:06:32.649 --> 00:06:35.110 almost theatrical stage setting. Very atmospheric. 00:06:35.329 --> 00:06:37.589 Right. And he witnesses two figures approaching 00:06:37.589 --> 00:06:39.949 an intersection, a little man stumping along 00:06:39.949 --> 00:06:42.350 and a young girl of maybe eight or 10 running 00:06:42.350 --> 00:06:44.790 as hard as she can. And they collide right at 00:06:44.790 --> 00:06:47.389 the corner. And what happens next is so shocking 00:06:47.389 --> 00:06:49.850 because of how casually it's described. The total 00:06:49.850 --> 00:06:52.689 lack of emotion in the act. Yes. The text says 00:06:52.689 --> 00:06:55.189 the man trampled calmly over the child's body 00:06:55.189 --> 00:06:57.850 and left her screaming on the ground. Enfield 00:06:57.850 --> 00:06:59.649 says it sounds like nothing to hear, but it was 00:06:59.649 --> 00:07:02.069 hellish to see. A juggernaut. Yeah, he said it 00:07:02.069 --> 00:07:04.470 wasn't like a man, it was like some damn juggernaut. 00:07:04.750 --> 00:07:07.310 So Enfield chases the guy down, grabs him by 00:07:07.310 --> 00:07:09.370 the collar, and brings him back to the screaming 00:07:09.370 --> 00:07:12.769 child. And this is where the societal reaction 00:07:12.769 --> 00:07:15.550 completely throws me. Let's examine that reaction, 00:07:15.709 --> 00:07:18.550 particularly the crowd that gathers and the doctor 00:07:18.550 --> 00:07:21.050 who arrives to check on the trampled girl. Because 00:07:21.050 --> 00:07:22.709 the doctor is supposed to be objective, right? 00:07:22.829 --> 00:07:25.860 Exactly. Enfield describes this doctor as the 00:07:25.860 --> 00:07:29.319 usual cut -and -dry apothecary, about as emotional 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:32.779 as a bagpipe. But every single time, this highly 00:07:32.779 --> 00:07:35.899 rational, unemotional doctor looks at the man 00:07:35.899 --> 00:07:38.879 who we, of course, know as Mr. Hythadown. The 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:41.720 doctor turns sick and white with a desire to 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:44.180 kill him. Just instantly. Yes. It's not just 00:07:44.180 --> 00:07:47.379 anger. It's an immediate... visceral physical 00:07:47.379 --> 00:07:49.819 hatred. The women in the Child's family are described 00:07:49.819 --> 00:07:52.500 as wild as harpies. Everyone just instantly, 00:07:52.660 --> 00:07:55.540 physically loathes this guy. So what do they 00:07:55.540 --> 00:07:58.000 do? Do they drag him to the police? Do they lock 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:00.300 him up? You would think so. No. Because killing 00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:01.959 him is out of the question and going to the police 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:04.220 man's a public fuss, they do the most intensely 00:08:04.220 --> 00:08:06.879 Victorian thing possible. They threaten his reputation. 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:09.800 It's unbelievable. It really is. They tell him 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:12.120 they will make a scandal that will make his name 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:15.120 stink from one end of London to the other. They 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:18.459 literally weaponize gossip instead of the law. 00:08:18.740 --> 00:08:21.600 And Hyde's response is a kind of black sneering 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:24.480 coolness. He understands their currency perfectly. 00:08:24.980 --> 00:08:27.720 He says no gentleman but wishes to avoid a scene. 00:08:27.850 --> 00:08:30.329 He knows exactly what buttons to push. He does. 00:08:30.550 --> 00:08:32.610 So they screw them up to 100 pounds in damages 00:08:32.610 --> 00:08:35.570 for the child's family. To get the money, Hyde 00:08:35.570 --> 00:08:37.990 takes them to that very door, whips out a key, 00:08:38.350 --> 00:08:40.789 and comes back with 10 pounds of gold and a check 00:08:40.789 --> 00:08:43.049 for the balance. And here comes the twist. Right. 00:08:43.389 --> 00:08:45.789 But the check is signed by a name that Enfield 00:08:45.789 --> 00:08:48.370 refuses to mention out loud to Utterson, though 00:08:48.370 --> 00:08:50.529 he notes it is a very well -known and celebrated 00:08:50.529 --> 00:08:52.509 name. And we, the audience, know from the jump 00:08:52.509 --> 00:08:55.009 that the name on the check is Dr. Henry Jekyll. 00:08:55.340 --> 00:08:58.519 Of course. Now Enfield immediately assumes the 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:00.559 check must be a forgery because in his mind, 00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:03.220 why on earth would a highly respectable famous 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:06.440 man give this absolute monster a signed check? 00:09:06.620 --> 00:09:09.259 It doesn't compute for him. It doesn't. But they 00:09:09.259 --> 00:09:11.360 hold hide hostage, wait until the bank opens, 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:13.879 cash the check, and the teller confirms it's 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:16.940 completely genuine. And this leads Enfield to 00:09:16.940 --> 00:09:20.500 a very specific and I think wildly flawed conclusion. 00:09:20.779 --> 00:09:23.860 The blackmail theory. Yes. He assumes it's blackmail. 00:09:24.100 --> 00:09:26.799 He figures this highly respectable man is paying 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:29.320 through the nose for some youthful indiscretion. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:32.440 Enfield even casually dubs the place with the 00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:35.240 door blackmail house. I mean, I have to stop 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:39.370 here because that is a wildly It's quite a stretch. 00:09:39.610 --> 00:09:42.049 You see a monster literally trample a child, 00:09:42.330 --> 00:09:44.269 and your first thought is, oh, his friend must 00:09:44.269 --> 00:09:45.870 have partied too hard in college and is paying 00:09:45.870 --> 00:09:49.190 him off. It seems absurd to us, yes. But this 00:09:49.190 --> 00:09:51.789 assumption is a crucial piece of the psychological 00:09:51.789 --> 00:09:54.429 puzzle Steventon is building. The instinct of 00:09:54.429 --> 00:09:57.129 the Victorian gentleman is always, without fail, 00:09:57.610 --> 00:10:00.509 to assume a mundane, predictable sin. They want 00:10:00.509 --> 00:10:03.320 things to fit into neat little boxes. Exactly. 00:10:03.779 --> 00:10:06.200 The indiscretions of youth coming back to haunt 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:09.320 a wealthy man is a storyline they understand. 00:10:09.899 --> 00:10:12.379 It fits neatly into their societal framework. 00:10:12.830 --> 00:10:16.070 They never suspect a supernatural anomaly or 00:10:16.070 --> 00:10:18.909 a horrific scientific experiment because that 00:10:18.909 --> 00:10:20.970 would require breaking their entire paradigm 00:10:20.970 --> 00:10:23.309 of how the universe operates. So they just lie 00:10:23.309 --> 00:10:25.970 to themselves. They assume the mundane because 00:10:25.970 --> 00:10:28.210 it protects their worldview. And to protect that 00:10:28.210 --> 00:10:30.429 worldview even further, Utterson and Enfield 00:10:30.429 --> 00:10:32.809 agree to literally never talk about it again. 00:10:33.210 --> 00:10:35.950 The silence again. Utterson says, let us make 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:38.809 a bargain never to refer to this again. Enfield 00:10:38.809 --> 00:10:41.940 replies. With all my heart. It is the ultimate 00:10:41.940 --> 00:10:44.240 manifestation of the societal code of silence. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:46.299 We see something terrible, we sweep it under 00:10:46.299 --> 00:10:49.220 the rug, and we don't ask questions. It's repression 00:10:49.220 --> 00:10:51.419 on a macro scale. Yeah, and Enfield actually 00:10:51.419 --> 00:10:53.740 explains his philosophy on this. He says, starting 00:10:53.740 --> 00:10:55.919 a question is like starting a stone rolling down 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:58.799 a hill. You sit quietly on top, and the stone 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:01.039 rolls and knocks over some bland old bird in 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.120 his garden, and the family has to change their 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.539 name. Basically, asking questions only ruins 00:11:05.539 --> 00:11:07.659 reputations. Right. Mind your own business at 00:11:07.659 --> 00:11:10.370 all costs. And if we connect this to the bigger 00:11:10.370 --> 00:11:14.470 picture, this exact societal code of silence, 00:11:14.950 --> 00:11:17.809 this intense suffocating repression where appearances 00:11:17.809 --> 00:11:20.549 are everything and the truth is buried, is the 00:11:20.549 --> 00:11:23.149 causal foundation for the entire tragedy. It's 00:11:23.149 --> 00:11:25.809 just the whole stage. We have to understand this 00:11:25.809 --> 00:11:28.740 world to understand the villain. This environment 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:31.440 directly sets the stage for why a prominent, 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:34.059 respected man like Dr. Jekyll, who has natural, 00:11:34.460 --> 00:11:36.919 perhaps darker human impulses, would feel so 00:11:36.919 --> 00:11:39.679 trapped, so scrutinized, and so desperate that 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:42.159 he would feel compelled to invent a literal chemical 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:44.419 escape hatch. The pressure was just too much. 00:11:44.620 --> 00:11:46.970 The society created the pressure cooker. Jekyll 00:11:46.970 --> 00:11:49.629 just built the valve. Wow. And that valve, that 00:11:49.629 --> 00:11:51.830 physical manifestation of his escape, is where 00:11:51.830 --> 00:11:54.570 the horror truly begins. Because Mr. Utterson, 00:11:54.710 --> 00:11:56.830 despite agreeing to never speak of it, is a lawyer. 00:11:56.950 --> 00:11:59.370 And he has documents. He does. And he has a very 00:11:59.370 --> 00:12:02.090 specific piece of paper in his safe that turns 00:12:02.090 --> 00:12:04.529 this piece of street gossip into a personal nightmare. 00:12:05.210 --> 00:12:07.730 Utterson is Dr. Jekyll's lawyer, and he is holding 00:12:07.730 --> 00:12:10.190 Jekyll's will. And knowing what he now knows 00:12:10.190 --> 00:12:12.570 about Hyde, the contents of this will are suddenly 00:12:12.570 --> 00:12:15.730 terrifying. The will is an offense to Utterson. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:18.919 both as a legal professional and as a lover of 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:22.600 sanity. It's completely unhinged. It is. The 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:24.580 document stipulates that in the case of Henry 00:12:24.580 --> 00:12:27.500 Jekyll's death, all his possessions pass to his 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:30.879 friend and benefactor, Edward Hyde. Which is 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:33.480 bad enough. But what is far more disturbing is 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:37.240 the second clause. In the case of Jekyll's disappearance 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:39.720 or unexplained absence for any period exceeding 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:42.559 three calendar months, Edward Hyde is to step 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:45.899 into Jekyll's shoes entirely, free from any burden 00:12:45.899 --> 00:12:48.720 or obligation. It's absolute madness to Utterson. 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:50.759 I mean, he goes home and starts having literal 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:53.299 nightmares. The scroll of lighted pictures. Yes. 00:12:53.419 --> 00:12:55.779 The text gives us this visit image of Utterson 00:12:55.779 --> 00:12:58.240 tossing in the gross darkness of the night, seeing 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:00.320 a scroll of lighted pictures playing on a loop 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:02.639 in his mind. He sees the juggernaut crushing 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:05.200 the child and then a faceless figure standing 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:07.919 by his friend Jekyll's bed, ripping the curtains 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:10.460 open and forcing Jekyll to rise and do its bidding. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:13.039 He's fixated on the face. Utterson's rational 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:16.080 mind cannot handle the facelessness of it. He 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:18.539 decides he absolutely has to see Hyde's face 00:13:18.539 --> 00:13:21.299 to understand the hold he has on Jekyll. He says, 00:13:21.659 --> 00:13:25.279 if he be Mr. Hyde, I shall be Mr. Seek. A rare 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:27.480 moment of humor from Utterson. Right. He just 00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:29.639 starts haunting that door at all hours of the 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:31.879 night. And his patience eventually pays off. 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:34.740 He intercepts Hyde in the dark. He steps up and 00:13:34.740 --> 00:13:36.899 touches him on the shoulder. And the physical 00:13:36.899 --> 00:13:39.480 description we get from this interaction is paramount 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:41.220 to the philosophy of the book. How does Hyde 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:44.639 react? Well, when touched, Hyde shrinks back 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:47.340 with a hissing intake of breath. When Utterson 00:13:47.340 --> 00:13:50.500 asks to see his face, Hyde hesitates, then fronts 00:13:50.500 --> 00:13:53.159 about with an air of defiance. And the impression 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:55.980 he leaves on Utterson's incredibly stoic, unemotional 00:13:55.980 --> 00:13:59.019 mind is profound. Utterson is instantly filled 00:13:59.019 --> 00:14:01.659 with what he calls disgust, loathing, and fear. 00:14:02.259 --> 00:14:04.480 He notes these specific physical details. He 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.980 says, hide is pale and dwarfish. He gives an 00:14:06.980 --> 00:14:09.279 impression of deformity without any nameable 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:12.120 malformation. That's the key phrase. Right. He 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:15.139 has a displeasing smile. He speaks with a husky, 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.539 whispering, somewhat broken voice. But Utterson 00:14:18.539 --> 00:14:20.720 realizes that none of these physical traits alone 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:23.320 explain the sheer nausea he feels. It's something 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:25.629 deeper. Utterson thinks to himself, there must 00:14:25.629 --> 00:14:27.769 be something else. There's something more if 00:14:27.769 --> 00:14:31.269 I could find a name for it. He calls him troglodytic. 00:14:31.649 --> 00:14:33.990 He says he reads Satan's signature upon his face. 00:14:34.730 --> 00:14:38.509 So I have to ask you, what exactly is this unnameable 00:14:38.509 --> 00:14:40.990 deformity? Because it's not a limp, right? It's 00:14:40.990 --> 00:14:44.029 not a hunchback or a scar. Exactly. Hyde does 00:14:44.029 --> 00:14:45.809 not have a physical handicap in the traditional 00:14:45.809 --> 00:14:49.129 sense. His deformity is entirely moral. Moral 00:14:49.129 --> 00:14:51.389 deformity. Yes. To understand why people feel 00:14:51.389 --> 00:14:53.309 physically ill around him, why they get a sinking 00:14:53.309 --> 00:14:56.289 of the pulse, an icy pang in their blood, we 00:14:56.289 --> 00:14:58.529 have to look at Stevenson's view of human nature. 00:14:58.710 --> 00:15:00.970 Okay, lay it on me. Normal human beings are a 00:15:00.970 --> 00:15:03.470 complex mixture of good and evil. We all have 00:15:03.470 --> 00:15:05.870 duality. We are composites. Therefore, we are 00:15:05.870 --> 00:15:08.289 used to interacting with composite souls. But 00:15:08.289 --> 00:15:12.110 Edward Hyde is not a composite. He is pure, unalloyed 00:15:12.110 --> 00:15:15.269 evil. There is absolutely no good in him to soften 00:15:15.269 --> 00:15:18.409 the impact of his presence. The human soul when 00:15:18.409 --> 00:15:21.710 confronted with pure unadulterated evil, instinctively 00:15:21.710 --> 00:15:25.379 recoils. The physical disgust that Utterson, 00:15:25.419 --> 00:15:28.639 the doctor, and the women feel is their own soul's 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:31.279 allergic reaction to a being that should not 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:33.259 naturally exist. That makes so much sense. It's 00:15:33.259 --> 00:15:35.500 like an evolutionary terror, like a visceral 00:15:35.500 --> 00:15:38.340 warning system. Exactly. And we learn later from 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:41.519 Jekyll's confession exactly why Hyde is physically 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:43.980 smaller and younger than Jekyll, because Jekyll 00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:46.559 had spent 90 % of his life engaged in effort, 00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:49.860 virtue, and control. His evil side, his selfish 00:15:49.860 --> 00:15:52.990 side, was, as he puts it, less robust and less 00:15:52.990 --> 00:15:55.190 developed. It's an underdeveloped muscle. Right. 00:15:55.470 --> 00:15:58.250 So when that evil is finally isolated and given 00:15:58.250 --> 00:16:01.230 physical form by the potion, it literally manifests 00:16:01.230 --> 00:16:04.009 as a smaller, younger entity. It hasn't had the 00:16:04.009 --> 00:16:06.250 decades of exercise that his virtuous side has. 00:16:06.370 --> 00:16:08.789 It's a brilliant physicalization of a moral state. 00:16:09.490 --> 00:16:11.980 But while Hyde might be smaller, The danger of 00:16:11.980 --> 00:16:15.200 this pure, unchecked evil becomes undeniable 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:17.820 nearly a year later. The escalation is terrifying. 00:16:18.019 --> 00:16:20.259 It really is. Yeah. And it escalates from trampling 00:16:20.259 --> 00:16:23.519 a child to a horrific headline -making atrocity, 00:16:23.860 --> 00:16:26.620 the Karoo murder case. Yes. The scene is so brutal 00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:28.799 it shatters the whole illusion that Hyde can 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:31.940 be managed. It's October. Nearly a year has passed 00:16:31.940 --> 00:16:35.019 since the trampling. The perspective shifts entirely 00:16:35.019 --> 00:16:37.720 to a maidservant who lives alone in a house not 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:39.899 far from the river. A very cinematic shift. It 00:16:39.899 --> 00:16:42.679 is. She's sitting at her window on a cloudless, 00:16:43.100 --> 00:16:45.779 brilliantly lit moonlit night. The text says 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:47.879 she was romantically given, feeling at peace 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:50.980 with the world. She sees an aged, beautiful gentleman 00:16:50.980 --> 00:16:54.159 with white hair, who we later learn is Sir Danvers 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:56.620 Carew, a member of parliament walking down the 00:16:56.620 --> 00:16:59.059 lane. Notice how deliberately Stevenson sets 00:16:59.059 --> 00:17:02.460 this stage. It is serene, romantic, and peaceful. 00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:05.180 The moonlight, the beautiful old man, the romantic 00:17:05.180 --> 00:17:08.039 maid, he is maximizing the contrast to amplify 00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:10.019 the shock of the violence that is about to occur. 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:13.099 It's the calm before the storm. Exactly. So Carew 00:17:13.099 --> 00:17:15.579 meets a very small gentleman lane whom the maid 00:17:15.579 --> 00:17:18.539 recognizes from previous encounters as Mr. Hyde. 00:17:18.859 --> 00:17:21.099 Karoo bows and asks a polite question, and then 00:17:21.099 --> 00:17:22.980 without any warning, without any provocation 00:17:22.980 --> 00:17:25.880 whatsoever, Hyde explodes. The text says, Hyde 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:28.319 broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:30.859 his foot, brandishing his heavy cane like a madman. 00:17:31.420 --> 00:17:33.720 When Karoo takes a step back in sheer surprise, 00:17:34.140 --> 00:17:37.200 Hyde breaks out of all bounds. He clubs the old 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:40.380 man to the earth. Just horrifying. And the language 00:17:40.380 --> 00:17:43.960 here is incredibly violent. With ape -like fury, 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.500 he was trampling his victim underfoot and hailing 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:49.400 down a storm of blows under which the bones were 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:51.579 audibly shattered and the body jumped upon the 00:17:51.579 --> 00:17:54.400 roadway. I mean, the maid actually faints from 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.359 the horror of watching it. The sheer brutality 00:17:56.359 --> 00:17:59.420 is staggering. Yeah. But what is absolutely vital 00:17:59.420 --> 00:18:01.980 to understand about this murder... is the complete 00:18:01.980 --> 00:18:04.519 lack of a logical motive. Right, he doesn't gain 00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:06.660 anything from it. Exactly. Yeah. If you think 00:18:06.660 --> 00:18:08.519 about typical true crime, you look for motive. 00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:12.519 Money, jealousy, revenge. Hyde doesn't rob Karoo. 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:15.099 He leaves his purse and his gold watch right 00:18:15.099 --> 00:18:17.779 on the body. He destroys Karoo simply because 00:18:17.779 --> 00:18:20.460 of a furious propensity to ill. Just violence 00:18:20.460 --> 00:18:23.940 for the sake of violence. Yes. As Jekyll later 00:18:23.940 --> 00:18:26.380 explains in his confession, Hyde strikes in the 00:18:26.380 --> 00:18:28.779 spirit in which a sick child might break a plaything. 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:32.220 Evil, in its purest form, doesn't need a reason. 00:18:32.380 --> 00:18:35.640 Its very nature is to destroy what is good, innocent, 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:38.519 and beautiful simply because it exists. It's 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:41.019 so unsettling. And in a terrifying twist for 00:18:41.019 --> 00:18:44.079 Mr. Utterson, the cane that Hyde used to beat 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:46.720 the man to death, which actually snapped in half 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:49.339 from the sheer force of the blows, is recognized. 00:18:49.420 --> 00:18:51.700 The physical evidence. Right. The police bring 00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:54.460 the broken half to Utterson and he knows it immediately. 00:18:54.819 --> 00:18:57.680 It's a rare heavy wood stick that Utterson himself 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:00.700 had gifted to Dr. Jekyll years ago. And this 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:03.619 physical piece of evidence The broken stick forces 00:19:03.619 --> 00:19:06.720 Utters's hand. He can no longer passively observe. 00:19:07.339 --> 00:19:09.579 It moves the mystery out of the dark alleyways 00:19:09.579 --> 00:19:12.359 and into the realm of paper trails, logic, and 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:14.940 what we will soon see is Jekyll's incredibly 00:19:14.940 --> 00:19:17.180 dangerous illusion of control. Utterson realizes 00:19:17.180 --> 00:19:19.680 his friend is inextricably linked to a high -profile 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:22.079 murder. So he has to confront him. So Utterson 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.789 goes directly to Jekyll's house. And Jekyll looks 00:19:24.789 --> 00:19:27.890 deathly sick. He's feverish. He swears to God 00:19:27.890 --> 00:19:30.710 he will never set eyes on Hyde again. He claims 00:19:30.710 --> 00:19:32.849 he's done with him, that Hyde is safe and will 00:19:32.849 --> 00:19:35.769 never be heard of again. And to prove it, Jekyll 00:19:35.769 --> 00:19:38.670 produces a letter. Yes. Jekyll hands Edison a 00:19:38.670 --> 00:19:42.029 letter written in an odd, upright hand and signed 00:19:42.029 --> 00:19:44.650 by Edward Hyde. The letter essentially states 00:19:44.650 --> 00:19:47.529 that Jekyll, his benefactor, need not be alarmed 00:19:47.529 --> 00:19:50.589 for his safety because Hyde has sure means of 00:19:50.589 --> 00:19:53.539 escape. Which seems convenient. Right. Utterson 00:19:53.539 --> 00:19:55.859 asks how the letter arrived. Jekyll claims it 00:19:55.859 --> 00:19:58.380 was handed in by a messenger. But when Utterson 00:19:58.380 --> 00:20:01.259 questions Poole, the butler, Poole insists absolutely 00:20:01.259 --> 00:20:03.500 nothing was handed in except by the regular post. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:06.740 So Utterson, who is thoroughly confused, takes 00:20:06.740 --> 00:20:09.099 this letter back to his office. And he sits down 00:20:09.099 --> 00:20:12.079 with Mr. Guest, his head clerk. Now Guest isn't 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:14.019 just a clerk. He's a great student and critic 00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:15.980 of handwriting. He's an amateur graphologist. 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:18.589 He loves analyzing writing. He does, and I love 00:20:18.589 --> 00:20:21.190 the atmospheric detail here. They are sitting 00:20:21.190 --> 00:20:23.710 by the fire, drinking a particular old wine that 00:20:23.710 --> 00:20:26.150 has long dwelt unsung in the foundations of the 00:20:26.150 --> 00:20:29.529 house. It's this cozy, safe, hyper -rational 00:20:29.529 --> 00:20:32.049 environment where men solve problems with logic. 00:20:32.809 --> 00:20:35.450 Utterson shows Guest the letter, calling it a 00:20:35.450 --> 00:20:37.869 murderer's autograph, asking for his professional 00:20:37.869 --> 00:20:40.630 opinion. And Guest studies it with immense passion. 00:20:41.009 --> 00:20:44.390 He notes it's an odd hand. And then, by pure 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:47.759 coincidence or perhaps narrative fate, a servant 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:50.420 enters with a dinner invitation from Dr. Jekyll. 00:20:50.460 --> 00:20:53.200 Oh man, the timing. Guest looks at the invitation, 00:20:53.579 --> 00:20:55.059 then he looks at the murderer's letter. He puts 00:20:55.059 --> 00:20:57.660 them side by side. He sedulously compares them. 00:20:57.779 --> 00:20:59.500 Here's where it gets really interesting. Guest 00:20:59.500 --> 00:21:01.880 says to Utterson, there is a rather singular 00:21:01.880 --> 00:21:03.920 resemblance. The two hands are in many points 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.289 identical, only differently sloped. It is a massive 00:21:07.289 --> 00:21:10.029 turning point. It is the exact moment the physical 00:21:10.029 --> 00:21:12.069 evidence breaks the boundary between the two 00:21:12.069 --> 00:21:14.150 supposed individuals. But Utterson gets it wrong 00:21:14.150 --> 00:21:16.849 again. Utterson, because he is so locked into 00:21:16.849 --> 00:21:20.410 his rigid Victorian worldview, draws the completely 00:21:20.410 --> 00:21:23.569 wrong conclusion. He thinks Henry Jekyll forged 00:21:23.569 --> 00:21:26.910 for a murderer. His blood runs cold. He thinks 00:21:26.910 --> 00:21:29.450 his friend is covering up a crime by forging 00:21:29.450 --> 00:21:32.390 a letter from the killer. He thinks it's a mundane 00:21:32.390 --> 00:21:34.680 legal cover up. He's still trying to put it in 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:36.940 a neat legal box. But the truth is much more 00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:39.259 profound. The identical handwriting proves a 00:21:39.259 --> 00:21:41.539 terrifying philosophical point. You can change 00:21:41.539 --> 00:21:43.400 your clothes, you can change your stature, you 00:21:43.400 --> 00:21:45.759 can even chemically change your face, but you 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:48.220 cannot completely sever the underlying identity. 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:51.240 The foundation remains the same. The muscle memory 00:21:51.240 --> 00:21:54.119 of the soul is still there. Precisely. And it 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:56.759 spectacularly exposes Jekyll's intense hubris. 00:21:57.539 --> 00:22:00.440 Earlier in the story, Jekyll told Utterson, the 00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:03.630 moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde. Famous 00:22:03.630 --> 00:22:30.150 last words. He thought of everything. I really 00:22:30.150 --> 00:22:33.140 want - you, the listener, to pause and think 00:22:33.140 --> 00:22:35.359 about that. Think about your own separate accounts. 00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:38.759 Today, we obviously might not have a bubbling 00:22:38.759 --> 00:22:41.480 red potion that physically changes our bone structure, 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:44.859 but we absolutely, constantly curate different 00:22:44.859 --> 00:22:46.960 personas. Oh, without a doubt. Think about it. 00:22:47.220 --> 00:22:49.579 You have your highly professional polished work 00:22:49.579 --> 00:22:52.420 self. You have your family self. And then maybe 00:22:52.420 --> 00:22:54.940 you have your anonymous internet self, the burner 00:22:54.940 --> 00:22:57.900 account. The modern high. Exactly. You log into 00:22:57.900 --> 00:23:00.319 a forum or Reddit or Twitter without your real 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:03.400 name. You feel a chemical rush of freedom because 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:06.140 the consequences are stripped away. You might 00:23:06.140 --> 00:23:09.500 say something cruel or controversial or unhinged, 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:11.839 because it's not you saying it. It's the avatar. 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:14.460 It's disconnected from your main identity. Right. 00:23:14.779 --> 00:23:17.339 We think we've built firewalls between these 00:23:17.339 --> 00:23:20.440 identities. We think the VPN, or the fake name, 00:23:20.579 --> 00:23:23.460 is the potion. But what happens when those worlds 00:23:23.460 --> 00:23:26.339 accidentally bleed into one another? What happens 00:23:26.339 --> 00:23:28.660 when you leave the tab open, or someone doxes 00:23:28.660 --> 00:23:31.220 the account? When the handwriting matches up, 00:23:31.420 --> 00:23:34.480 the collapse is devastating. The fallout is catastrophic 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:37.079 because you can't actually partition your soul. 00:23:37.559 --> 00:23:39.680 The actions you take in the dark still belong 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:43.329 to you. It is a total delusion of control. Jekyll 00:23:43.329 --> 00:23:46.349 believed the firewall was impermeable, and Utterson's 00:23:46.349 --> 00:23:48.670 rational mind desperately tries to protect that 00:23:48.670 --> 00:23:51.670 same delusion by assuming forgery and blackmail, 00:23:51.970 --> 00:23:53.990 because dealing with a forged letter is easier 00:23:53.990 --> 00:23:55.950 than dealing with a fractured soul. He'd rather 00:23:55.950 --> 00:23:59.150 deal with a felony than a monster. Exactly. But 00:23:59.150 --> 00:24:01.289 the narrative is about to violently break those 00:24:01.289 --> 00:24:04.170 boundaries of rationality, and it starts by destroying 00:24:04.170 --> 00:24:07.049 the story's most scientific empirical mind. Yes, 00:24:07.049 --> 00:24:09.509 and that brings us to the sudden shocking tragedy 00:24:09.509 --> 00:24:12.769 of Dr. Lanyon. So after the Karoo murder, Hyde 00:24:12.769 --> 00:24:15.930 completely disappears. And for two months, Jekyll 00:24:15.930 --> 00:24:17.990 actually comes out of seclusion. He's back to 00:24:17.990 --> 00:24:20.210 his old self doing charities, entertaining friends. 00:24:20.529 --> 00:24:22.890 He seems at peace. He's on his best behavior. 00:24:23.009 --> 00:24:25.230 It's like he's sober. But then on the 12th of 00:24:25.230 --> 00:24:28.009 January, his door is suddenly shut to Utterson 00:24:28.009 --> 00:24:30.769 again. And it stays shut. So Utterson goes to 00:24:30.769 --> 00:24:32.690 visit their mutual friend Dr. Lanyon to see if 00:24:32.690 --> 00:24:34.569 he knows what's going on. The physical change 00:24:34.569 --> 00:24:37.619 in Lanyon is horrifying. As we noted earlier, 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:40.400 Lanyon was a hearty, healthy, dapper, red -faced 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:43.839 gentleman. He was full of life. But now Utterson 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:46.380 observes he has his death warrant written legibly 00:24:46.380 --> 00:24:49.180 upon his face. He looks like a ghost. His flesh 00:24:49.180 --> 00:24:52.259 has fallen away. He looks visibly older and balder. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:55.380 But it's not physical decay that is most striking. 00:24:55.779 --> 00:24:58.759 It is a deep -seated, vibrating terror of the 00:24:58.759 --> 00:25:02.220 mind. Lanyon says to Utterson, I have had a shock, 00:25:02.380 --> 00:25:04.809 and I shall never recover. Utterson naturally 00:25:04.809 --> 00:25:06.930 mentions Jekyll, hoping they can all reconcile, 00:25:07.329 --> 00:25:09.170 and Lanyon just holds up a trembling hand and 00:25:09.170 --> 00:25:12.130 says, I wish to see or hear no more of Dr. Jekyll. 00:25:12.230 --> 00:25:14.650 I'm quite done with that person, and I beg that 00:25:14.650 --> 00:25:16.890 you will spare me any allusion to one whom I 00:25:16.890 --> 00:25:19.390 regard as dead. He completely cuts him off. A 00:25:19.390 --> 00:25:21.609 week later, Lanyon takes to his bed, and less 00:25:21.609 --> 00:25:23.970 than a fortnight later, he is literally dead. 00:25:24.269 --> 00:25:25.910 We have to pause here and have a fundamental 00:25:25.910 --> 00:25:29.920 question. What kills Dr. Lanyon? He doesn't die 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:32.599 from a physical attack by Hyde. He doesn't catch 00:25:32.599 --> 00:25:35.859 a Victorian disease. He dies from a profound 00:25:35.859 --> 00:25:39.279 ontological shock. His reality just breaks. His 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:41.579 entire perception of reality is utterly shattered. 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:45.420 Remember who Lanyon is. He represents rigid empirical 00:25:45.420 --> 00:25:48.539 establishment Victorian science. He had previously 00:25:48.539 --> 00:25:51.400 dismissed Jekyll's theoretical metaphysical work 00:25:51.400 --> 00:25:54.460 as unscientific balderdash. He's the ultimate 00:25:54.460 --> 00:25:57.420 skeptic. He believes only in what he can measure 00:25:57.420 --> 00:26:00.059 and quantify. But when he is forced to witness 00:26:00.059 --> 00:26:02.420 the impossible, which we later learn in a sealed 00:26:02.420 --> 00:26:05.059 letter, is the moment he watches Hyde drink the 00:26:05.059 --> 00:26:07.119 potion and transform back into Henry Jekyll right 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:09.460 in front of his eyes, his mind literally cannot 00:26:09.460 --> 00:26:11.720 process the data. It's too much for him to handle. 00:26:11.880 --> 00:26:14.099 He writes in his final letter, My life is shaken 00:26:14.099 --> 00:26:16.539 to its roots. Sleep has left me. The deadliest 00:26:16.539 --> 00:26:18.599 terror sits by me at all hours of the day and 00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:22.420 night. He dies because his reality breaks. He 00:26:22.420 --> 00:26:24.180 cannot live in a universe where such a thing 00:26:24.180 --> 00:26:27.700 is possible. It's terrifying. He basically dies 00:26:27.700 --> 00:26:30.279 of an existential panic attack that never ends. 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:33.339 And shortly after Lanyon's death, Utterson and 00:26:33.339 --> 00:26:35.819 Enfield are on another one of their silent Sunday 00:26:35.819 --> 00:26:39.259 walks. They step into the court outside Jekyll's 00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:41.940 laboratory. It's full of premature twilight. 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:44.980 Very gloomy. Setting the mood again. And there, 00:26:45.180 --> 00:26:47.779 sitting close beside a half -open window, taking 00:26:47.779 --> 00:26:50.720 the air with an infinite sadness of mean, like 00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:53.559 some disconsolate prisoner, is Dr. Jekyll. This 00:26:53.559 --> 00:26:56.779 is the famous incident at the window. Utterson, 00:26:56.880 --> 00:26:59.059 trying to be a good friend, suggests Jekyll come 00:26:59.059 --> 00:27:01.920 out for a walk to whip up his circulation. Jekyll 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:04.400 sighs and says it's quite impossible he dare 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:06.759 not, but he agrees to talk with them from the 00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:08.960 window. And then it all goes wrong. And then, 00:27:08.980 --> 00:27:11.490 as they are chatting, the text says, The words 00:27:11.490 --> 00:27:13.869 were hardly uttered before the smile was struck 00:27:13.869 --> 00:27:16.150 out of his face and succeeded by an expression 00:27:16.150 --> 00:27:19.109 of such abject terror and despair as froze the 00:27:19.109 --> 00:27:21.589 very blood of the two gentlemen below. The window 00:27:21.589 --> 00:27:24.710 is instantly thrust down with a bang. Utterson 00:27:24.710 --> 00:27:26.690 and Enfield are left standing in the courtyard, 00:27:27.190 --> 00:27:29.630 pale, with an answering horror in their eyes. 00:27:30.089 --> 00:27:33.130 Utterson just repeats, God forgive us, God forgive 00:27:33.130 --> 00:27:36.769 us, and they turn and walk on in silence. What 00:27:36.769 --> 00:27:39.329 they witnessed, though. They couldn't fully comprehend 00:27:39.329 --> 00:27:42.190 the mechanics of it was the moment the internal 00:27:42.190 --> 00:27:45.410 struggle became externally visible. Jekyll was 00:27:45.410 --> 00:27:47.450 not choosing to change and to hide anymore. He 00:27:47.450 --> 00:27:50.470 wasn't taking a potion. He was being violently, 00:27:51.069 --> 00:27:53.650 involuntarily overthrown from within in mid -sentence. 00:27:53.750 --> 00:27:56.089 If the firewall completely collapsed, the separation 00:27:56.089 --> 00:27:58.700 he thought he controlled was just gone. I do 00:27:58.700 --> 00:28:00.779 have a question about all this, though. A point 00:28:00.779 --> 00:28:03.400 to push back on regarding Jekyll's choices. We 00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:05.440 know from Lanyon's letter that when Jekyll was 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:07.819 in a desperate bind, he had transformed into 00:28:07.819 --> 00:28:09.900 Hyde in public and couldn't get back into his 00:28:09.900 --> 00:28:12.480 own house to get his potion. He sent a letter 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:14.759 to Lanyon for help. Yes, the letter with the 00:28:14.759 --> 00:28:17.259 specific instructions. He told Lanyon to break 00:28:17.259 --> 00:28:19.759 into his cabinet, take a specific drawer of chemicals, 00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:23.930 and wait for a messenger. Why Lanyon? Why send 00:28:23.930 --> 00:28:26.609 your darkest, most monstrous, unbelievable secret 00:28:26.609 --> 00:28:29.269 to the very man who openly mocked your scientific 00:28:29.269 --> 00:28:33.029 theories for a decade? Why not send him to Utterson, 00:28:33.309 --> 00:28:36.029 who is notoriously tolerant, who helps men in 00:28:36.029 --> 00:28:38.589 trouble, and who already knew what Hyde looked 00:28:38.589 --> 00:28:42.789 like? That is a profound question. On a purely 00:28:42.789 --> 00:28:46.309 practical, logistical level, Jekyll needed a 00:28:46.309 --> 00:28:49.089 medical man. He needed someone who could plausibly 00:28:49.089 --> 00:28:52.029 break into a doctor's cabinet and retrieve specific 00:28:52.029 --> 00:28:54.650 chemical compounds without alerting the authorities 00:28:54.650 --> 00:28:57.670 or the servants. Lanyon had the medical authority 00:28:57.670 --> 00:28:59.710 and the gravitas to pull that off without drawing 00:28:59.710 --> 00:29:02.150 immediate police suspicion. OK, logistically 00:29:02.150 --> 00:29:03.930 that makes sense, but I think there's much more 00:29:03.930 --> 00:29:05.529 to it psychologically. I think it was partly 00:29:05.529 --> 00:29:07.890 desperation, sure, but I also wonder if it was 00:29:07.890 --> 00:29:10.990 a subconscious, incredibly cruel desire by Hyde 00:29:10.990 --> 00:29:14.130 to prove his superiority. Oh, absolutely. Lanyon 00:29:14.130 --> 00:29:16.849 doubted Jekyll's genius. He called it Balderdash. 00:29:17.630 --> 00:29:20.509 Hyde, acting on Jekyll's deep -seated, repressed 00:29:20.509 --> 00:29:23.109 resentment, goes to Lanyon to show them exactly 00:29:23.109 --> 00:29:25.990 how real the Balderdash is. It's like a magician 00:29:25.990 --> 00:29:28.890 forcing a hardcore, arrogant skeptic to watch 00:29:28.890 --> 00:29:31.450 a real, undeniable miracle, knowing full well 00:29:31.450 --> 00:29:34.130 it will break their brain. It's an act of intellectual 00:29:34.130 --> 00:29:36.970 revenge. You said I was crazy. Watch this. I 00:29:36.970 --> 00:29:39.690 think that interpretation is spot on. It is a 00:29:39.690 --> 00:29:42.410 punitive display of power. It perfectly demonstrates 00:29:42.410 --> 00:29:44.950 the escalating dominance and cruelty of Hyde. 00:29:45.329 --> 00:29:47.450 He wants to punish the establishment that rejected 00:29:47.450 --> 00:29:50.190 Jekyll. But the horror at the window and the 00:29:50.190 --> 00:29:52.609 terror of Lanyon are just... glimpses. We're 00:29:52.609 --> 00:29:55.769 building to the grand finale. We are. The ultimate 00:29:55.769 --> 00:29:57.970 confrontation requires actually breaking down 00:29:57.970 --> 00:30:00.450 the physical barriers Jekyll has erected to hind 00:30:00.450 --> 00:30:02.990 his failing experiment. This brings us to the 00:30:02.990 --> 00:30:05.789 climax of the outward narrative, the siege of 00:30:05.789 --> 00:30:09.150 the cabinet. Yes, the last night. Mr. Utterson 00:30:09.150 --> 00:30:11.450 is sitting by his fireside after dinner and he 00:30:11.450 --> 00:30:13.990 receives a surprise visit from Poole, Jekyll's 00:30:13.990 --> 00:30:17.170 longtime butler. Poole is absolutely terrified 00:30:17.170 --> 00:30:20.109 he won't even sit down. He says Mr. Utterson 00:30:20.349 --> 00:30:23.390 there is something wrong. He says he's been afraid 00:30:23.390 --> 00:30:25.829 for about a week and can bear it no more. He 00:30:25.829 --> 00:30:28.220 thinks there's been foul play. The atmosphere 00:30:28.220 --> 00:30:30.920 Stevenson builds for this night is incredibly 00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:34.140 evocative. It's a wild, cold, seasonable night 00:30:34.140 --> 00:30:37.440 of March. The wind is howling, making talking 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:40.019 difficult. The streets are unusually bare of 00:30:40.019 --> 00:30:42.119 passengers. It's almost apocalyptic. When they 00:30:42.119 --> 00:30:44.400 finally arrive at Jekyll's house, the entire 00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:46.779 staff of servants, men and women, are huddled 00:30:46.779 --> 00:30:48.680 together about the hearth in the hall like a 00:30:48.680 --> 00:30:51.480 flock of sheep. The housemaid breaks into hysterical 00:30:51.480 --> 00:30:53.940 whimpering when she sees Utterson. The terror 00:30:53.940 --> 00:30:56.420 in the house is palpable. It's a mutiny born 00:30:56.420 --> 00:30:59.440 of absolute dread. Poole leads Utterson out to 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:01.339 the back garden, to the door of the laboratory 00:31:01.339 --> 00:31:03.599 cabinet. He knocks and says Utterson is asking 00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:06.900 to see him. A voice from within answers, tell 00:31:06.900 --> 00:31:09.140 him I cannot see anyone. And Poole looks at Utterson 00:31:09.140 --> 00:31:11.640 and asks, was that my master's voice? Utterson 00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:14.599 has to admit it. He admits it seems much changed. 00:31:15.099 --> 00:31:18.750 And Poole says, changed? No, sir. Masters made 00:31:18.750 --> 00:31:21.150 away with, he was made away with eight days ago 00:31:21.150 --> 00:31:23.029 when we heard him cry out upon the name of God. 00:31:23.549 --> 00:31:26.089 Let's break down the agonizing reality of this 00:31:26.089 --> 00:31:28.849 final week that Poole describes. Poole explains 00:31:28.849 --> 00:31:31.069 that the entity locked in the cabinet has been 00:31:31.069 --> 00:31:33.609 crying night and day for some sort of medicine. 00:31:34.230 --> 00:31:36.430 It writes orders on slips of paper and throws 00:31:36.430 --> 00:31:39.210 them on the stairs. Just desperate notes. Poole 00:31:39.210 --> 00:31:41.190 has been sent flying to all the wholesale chemists 00:31:41.190 --> 00:31:43.690 in town. Every single time he brings the drug 00:31:43.690 --> 00:31:45.950 back, there's another paper telling him to return 00:31:45.950 --> 00:31:48.839 it because it is not pure. We actually get to 00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:50.960 read one of these notes. It starts out composed 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:54.099 trying to maintain the Victorian facade. Dr. 00:31:54.279 --> 00:31:56.339 Jekyll presents his compliments to Messers Mall. 00:31:56.720 --> 00:31:59.319 He assures them that their last sample is impure 00:31:59.319 --> 00:32:01.859 and quite useless. But then the panic and the 00:32:01.859 --> 00:32:04.079 emotion break loose and the handwriting deteriorates 00:32:04.079 --> 00:32:06.200 and he scribbles, for God's sake, find me some 00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:08.859 of the old. And Poole reveals he actually saw 00:32:08.859 --> 00:32:11.240 the creature. He came suddenly into the theater 00:32:11.240 --> 00:32:13.799 and saw the figure digging among the crates, 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:16.660 searching for the drug. Poole says the hair stood 00:32:16.660 --> 00:32:19.039 upon his head like quills. It cried out like 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:21.960 a rat and whipped upstairs. Poole insists it 00:32:21.960 --> 00:32:25.460 was not his master. It was a dwarf. It was Hyde. 00:32:25.660 --> 00:32:28.220 And the piecing. Yes. Furthermore, Poole tells 00:32:28.220 --> 00:32:30.579 Utterson that he heard the creature pacing the 00:32:30.579 --> 00:32:33.759 floor all night. And once he heard it weeping. 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:38.230 Weeping like a woman or a lost soul. That specific 00:32:38.230 --> 00:32:40.990 detail weeping like a lost soul is so haunting. 00:32:41.349 --> 00:32:43.930 It completely strips away the terrifying, powerful 00:32:43.930 --> 00:32:46.549 juggernaut image of Hyde and leaves us with a 00:32:46.549 --> 00:32:48.670 pathetic, cornered animal. It's the end of the 00:32:48.670 --> 00:32:50.829 line. Utterson and Poole realize they have to 00:32:50.829 --> 00:32:52.990 break down the door. They grab an axe and a kitchen 00:32:52.990 --> 00:32:55.869 poker. Utterson gives fair warning, I must and 00:32:55.869 --> 00:32:57.869 shall see you. If not of your consent, then by 00:32:57.869 --> 00:33:00.150 brute force. And the voice from inside cries 00:33:00.150 --> 00:33:03.289 out, Utterson, for God's sake, have mercy. Utterson 00:33:03.289 --> 00:33:05.750 recognizes the voice as Hyde's. Poole swings 00:33:05.750 --> 00:33:08.369 the axe. It takes five heavy blows to burst the 00:33:08.369 --> 00:33:11.049 lock. They peer inside and the scene they find 00:33:11.049 --> 00:33:13.730 is eerily domestic, which makes it even creepier. 00:33:14.009 --> 00:33:17.150 A nice fire going. A good fire glowing, the kettle 00:33:17.150 --> 00:33:20.269 singing, things laid out for tea. But right in 00:33:20.269 --> 00:33:22.210 the middle of the floor lies the body of a man, 00:33:22.569 --> 00:33:25.670 sorely contorted and still twitching. It's Edward 00:33:25.670 --> 00:33:28.369 Hyde. He's dressed in clothes far too large for 00:33:28.369 --> 00:33:30.799 him. He's just drowning in Dr. Jekyll's clothes. 00:33:31.140 --> 00:33:34.039 He has a crushed glass file in his hand, and 00:33:34.039 --> 00:33:36.079 there's a strong smell of kernels hanging in 00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:38.619 the air. Utterson knows immediately he's looking 00:33:38.619 --> 00:33:41.359 at the body of the self -destroyer. Hide committed 00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:44.140 suicide rather than face the gallows. They search 00:33:44.140 --> 00:33:46.279 everywhere for the body of Dr. Jekyll, expecting 00:33:46.279 --> 00:33:48.279 to find him murdered and hidden in a closet, 00:33:48.359 --> 00:33:51.240 but there's no trace of him. What they do find 00:33:51.240 --> 00:33:54.039 on the business table is a large envelope addressed 00:33:54.039 --> 00:33:56.900 to Utterson. the final puzzle pieces. Inside 00:33:56.900 --> 00:33:59.259 is a new will, leaving everything to Utterson 00:33:59.259 --> 00:34:01.880 instead of Hyde. A brief note from Jekyll telling 00:34:01.880 --> 00:34:04.319 Utterson to go home and read Lanyon's narrative 00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:07.140 and a sealed packet containing Jekyll's full 00:34:07.140 --> 00:34:09.739 final confession. But before we get to that confession, 00:34:09.820 --> 00:34:11.960 we have to talk about the physical evidence they 00:34:11.960 --> 00:34:14.960 find on the tables, because this is the key to 00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:17.539 the whole tragedy. They find various measured 00:34:17.539 --> 00:34:21.239 heaps of white salt on glass saucers. Poole looks 00:34:21.239 --> 00:34:23.639 at it and says, that is the same drug that I 00:34:23.639 --> 00:34:26.510 was always bringing him. This reveals the ultimate 00:34:26.510 --> 00:34:30.210 cosmic tragedy of the impure salt. Yes. This 00:34:30.210 --> 00:34:32.389 is perhaps the most brilliant philosophical twist 00:34:32.389 --> 00:34:35.389 in the entire book. Jekyll's entire experiment, 00:34:35.710 --> 00:34:37.789 his entire catastrophic escape from morality, 00:34:38.289 --> 00:34:41.550 was based on a fluke. A total accident. In his 00:34:41.550 --> 00:34:43.809 confession, Jekyll explains that his original 00:34:43.809 --> 00:34:46.389 provision of the salt began to run low. He sent 00:34:46.389 --> 00:34:48.909 out for a fresh supply, mixed the draft, drank 00:34:48.909 --> 00:34:51.650 it, and it was entirely without efficiency. It 00:34:51.650 --> 00:34:53.869 didn't work. He realizes then that his first 00:34:53.869 --> 00:34:56.369 supply was impure. It was an unknown impurity, 00:34:56.550 --> 00:34:58.530 a mistake at the chemical factory, which lent 00:34:58.530 --> 00:35:00.969 efficacy to the drag. The pure stuff was useless. 00:35:01.250 --> 00:35:04.110 As he scoured all of London for more, every new 00:35:04.110 --> 00:35:06.550 mathematically perfect pure batch failed him. 00:35:06.809 --> 00:35:08.769 It's an incredible irony. I mean, think about 00:35:08.769 --> 00:35:11.650 his goal. Jekyll sought to completely separate 00:35:11.650 --> 00:35:14.489 his identity. He wanted to distill human nature 00:35:14.489 --> 00:35:17.829 into its absolute pure forms, pure good and pure 00:35:17.829 --> 00:35:22.219 evil. He wanted to unmix the soul. The only thing 00:35:22.219 --> 00:35:24.280 that actually allowed him to perform this act 00:35:24.280 --> 00:35:27.300 of ultimate purification was a literal impurity 00:35:27.300 --> 00:35:29.719 in the chemical compound. It's poetic justice. 00:35:29.880 --> 00:35:32.199 It's almost as if the universe or the laws of 00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:34.820 nature actively rejected his attempt at perfect 00:35:34.820 --> 00:35:37.719 moral purity. Nature requires the mixture. It 00:35:37.719 --> 00:35:40.500 requires the gray area. You cannot exist as a 00:35:40.500 --> 00:35:43.039 pure absolute. That is a profound observation. 00:35:43.320 --> 00:35:45.699 The universe itself denies the absolute separation 00:35:45.699 --> 00:35:48.619 he desires. The flaw in the salt mirrors the 00:35:48.619 --> 00:35:51.159 unavoidable flaw in his philosophy. With the 00:35:51.159 --> 00:35:53.000 physical mystery finally solved by the broken 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:55.159 door of the dead body and the useless white salt, 00:35:55.719 --> 00:35:58.019 Utterson goes home to finally open that last 00:35:58.019 --> 00:36:00.079 letter. The moment of truth. And this brings 00:36:00.079 --> 00:36:02.300 us to the internal psychological mechanics of 00:36:02.300 --> 00:36:04.840 how it came to this. We are finally let inside 00:36:04.840 --> 00:36:07.199 the mind of the monster. This final document 00:36:07.199 --> 00:36:10.199 changes everything. Jekyll starts by explaining 00:36:10.199 --> 00:36:12.690 his core philosophy. He says that because of 00:36:12.690 --> 00:36:15.570 his dual nature, his intense desire to be a respected, 00:36:16.090 --> 00:36:18.789 grave public figure, and his equally intense 00:36:18.789 --> 00:36:21.469 secret desire for undignified pleasures, he was 00:36:21.469 --> 00:36:23.989 driven to reflect deeply on the hard law of life. 00:36:24.630 --> 00:36:26.590 And he comes to this realization, which is the 00:36:26.590 --> 00:36:29.289 thesis of the book, man is not truly one, but 00:36:29.289 --> 00:36:32.730 truly two. He theorizes that man is ultimately 00:36:32.730 --> 00:36:36.030 a polity of multifarious, incongruous, and independent 00:36:36.030 --> 00:36:38.650 denizens, meaning we are made up of many different 00:36:38.650 --> 00:36:41.690 selves. But in his own life, he focused solely 00:36:41.690 --> 00:36:43.929 on the duality of good and evil. He wanted to 00:36:43.929 --> 00:36:45.820 split them up. He'd grumped of housing these 00:36:45.820 --> 00:36:48.480 elements in separate identities. He thought if 00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:50.639 the unjust could go his way delivered from the 00:36:50.639 --> 00:36:52.840 aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin 00:36:52.840 --> 00:36:55.420 and the just could walk steadfastly doing good 00:36:55.420 --> 00:36:57.440 things without being exposed to disgrace by the 00:36:57.440 --> 00:36:59.760 evil twin, life would be relieved of all that 00:36:59.760 --> 00:37:02.179 was unbearable. It's the ultimate fantasy of 00:37:02.179 --> 00:37:04.900 having your cake and eating it too. So he compounds 00:37:04.900 --> 00:37:07.500 the drug and his description of the very first 00:37:07.500 --> 00:37:10.769 transformation is brutal. He talks about racking 00:37:10.769 --> 00:37:13.809 pangs, a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, 00:37:14.070 --> 00:37:16.309 and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded 00:37:16.309 --> 00:37:18.789 at the hour of birth or death. It's a violent 00:37:18.789 --> 00:37:21.610 birth. But then as the agony subsides, he feels 00:37:21.610 --> 00:37:24.150 something incredibly sweet. He says he feels 00:37:24.150 --> 00:37:27.280 younger, lighter, happier in body. He feels a 00:37:27.280 --> 00:37:30.039 heady recklessness, an unknown but not an innocent 00:37:30.039 --> 00:37:33.079 freedom of the soul. He knows instantly, looking 00:37:33.079 --> 00:37:35.699 in the mirror, that he is tenfold more wicked, 00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:39.239 sold a slave to his original evil. And the terrifying 00:37:39.239 --> 00:37:42.260 part, the thought delights him like wine. If 00:37:42.260 --> 00:37:44.360 we connect this to the bigger picture, this entire 00:37:44.360 --> 00:37:47.079 final confession reads as a terrifyingly accurate 00:37:47.079 --> 00:37:49.380 modern clinical description of substance abuse 00:37:49.380 --> 00:37:52.059 and addiction. Stevenson outlines the pathology 00:37:52.059 --> 00:37:54.300 of addiction perfectly, decades before it was 00:37:54.300 --> 00:37:56.599 commonly understood in this way. Oh, absolutely. 00:37:56.860 --> 00:37:58.820 So what does this all mean for Jekyll? Let's 00:37:58.820 --> 00:38:00.860 trace the steps because it matches the cycle 00:38:00.860 --> 00:38:03.500 of addiction perfectly. It starts as an experiment 00:38:03.500 --> 00:38:06.679 in the laboratory. The first dose is taken with 00:38:06.679 --> 00:38:09.179 a strong glow of courage, pushing a boundary. 00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:12.639 Exactly. The experiment phase. Then it moves 00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:15.280 to recreational use. He talks about how he would 00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:17.760 drink the cup doff the body of the noted professor 00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:21.039 and assume the thick cloak of Edward Hyde. He 00:38:21.039 --> 00:38:23.960 smiled at the notion. He found it humorous. He 00:38:23.960 --> 00:38:26.719 sets up the house in Soho. He establishes the 00:38:26.719 --> 00:38:29.000 illusion of control. He's compartmentalizing. 00:38:29.099 --> 00:38:31.760 He says, I did not even exist. Whatever he had 00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:34.019 done, Edward Hyde would pass away like the stain 00:38:34.019 --> 00:38:36.320 of breath upon a mirror. He literally says the 00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:38.400 addict's mantra, I can stop whenever I want. 00:38:38.599 --> 00:38:40.840 He thinks he has total immunity from consequences. 00:38:41.079 --> 00:38:43.699 But then the biological tolerance builds. He 00:38:43.699 --> 00:38:46.340 says the power of the drug began to waver once 00:38:46.340 --> 00:38:48.920 it failed him entirely and he had to double and 00:38:48.920 --> 00:38:51.960 once treble the amount. He requires increasing 00:38:51.960 --> 00:38:54.500 dosages to achieve the same high. And then come 00:38:54.500 --> 00:38:56.820 the blackouts and the total loss of baseline 00:38:56.820 --> 00:38:59.940 control. Two months before the Karoo murder, 00:39:00.300 --> 00:39:02.719 he goes to bed as Henry Jekyll, feeling fine. 00:39:03.420 --> 00:39:06.400 But he wakes up with odd sensations. He looks 00:39:06.400 --> 00:39:09.360 at his hand resting on the sheets. Jekyll's hand 00:39:09.360 --> 00:39:12.360 is large, firm, white, and professional. But 00:39:12.360 --> 00:39:14.679 it's not his hand. But the hand he sees on the 00:39:14.679 --> 00:39:17.960 bedclothes is lean, corded, knuckly, of a dusky 00:39:17.960 --> 00:39:20.800 pallor. He had awakened as Edward Hyde without 00:39:20.800 --> 00:39:23.539 taking the drug. The balance of his nature was 00:39:23.539 --> 00:39:26.460 being permanently overthrown. His body was defaulting 00:39:26.460 --> 00:39:29.269 to the addiction. He realizes he has to choose. 00:39:29.909 --> 00:39:31.789 To cast his lot with Jekyll means giving up those 00:39:31.789 --> 00:39:34.110 secret pleasures forever. To cast it with Hyde 00:39:34.110 --> 00:39:36.690 means becoming friendless and despised. So he 00:39:36.690 --> 00:39:39.510 makes desperate vows of sobriety. For two months 00:39:39.510 --> 00:39:41.929 he lives a life of extreme severity. He does 00:39:41.929 --> 00:39:44.349 good works. He enjoys an approving conscience. 00:39:44.610 --> 00:39:47.130 He is dry. The inevitable honeymoon phase of 00:39:47.130 --> 00:39:50.280 sudden sobriety. But, as he notes, time obliterates 00:39:50.280 --> 00:39:52.860 the freshness of his alarm. He begins to be tortured 00:39:52.860 --> 00:39:55.239 with throws and longings, as of Hyde struggling 00:39:55.239 --> 00:39:57.940 after freedom. And in an hour of moral weakness, 00:39:58.159 --> 00:40:02.460 he relapses. He compounds and swallows the transforming 00:40:02.460 --> 00:40:05.420 draft. And because he had been repressing it 00:40:05.420 --> 00:40:08.619 so hard for months, he says, my devil had been 00:40:08.619 --> 00:40:13.670 long caged. He came out roaring. The relapse 00:40:13.670 --> 00:40:16.409 is catastrophic. The pent -up energy explodes. 00:40:16.809 --> 00:40:19.730 He commits an unspeakable crime. He flees back 00:40:19.730 --> 00:40:22.610 to his lab, terrified of the gallows. He vows 00:40:22.610 --> 00:40:25.190 never to transform again, locks the door to his 00:40:25.190 --> 00:40:27.969 laboratory, and physically grinds the key under 00:40:27.969 --> 00:40:30.769 his heel. He labors to relieve suffering for 00:40:30.769 --> 00:40:33.449 months. He is the model citizen again, terrified 00:40:33.449 --> 00:40:35.889 straight. But the dependency is no longer just 00:40:35.889 --> 00:40:38.880 chemical. It is deeply psychological. And this 00:40:38.880 --> 00:40:41.159 leads to the most crucial, terrifying moment 00:40:41.159 --> 00:40:43.699 in the entire narrative, the incident in Regent's 00:40:43.699 --> 00:40:46.059 Park. Yes. This is the moment that completely 00:40:46.059 --> 00:40:47.980 blew my mind when rereading it. He's sitting 00:40:47.980 --> 00:40:50.380 on a bench in the sun in January. He isn't planning 00:40:50.380 --> 00:40:52.320 to take the drug. He hasn't touched it in months. 00:40:52.599 --> 00:40:55.119 But his animal within is licking the chops of 00:40:55.119 --> 00:40:57.199 memory. He's fantasizing. He starts comparing 00:40:57.199 --> 00:40:59.880 himself to other men. He compares his active 00:40:59.880 --> 00:41:02.199 goodwill and charity with the lazy cruelty of 00:41:02.199 --> 00:41:04.519 their neglect. He has a vainglorious thought 00:41:04.519 --> 00:41:07.460 about how great he is. He smiles at his own superiority. 00:41:07.769 --> 00:41:10.570 And at the very moment of that arrogant, proud 00:41:10.570 --> 00:41:14.789 thought, a qualm comes over him, a horrid nausea. 00:41:14.849 --> 00:41:17.269 And when it passes, he looks down and his clothes 00:41:17.269 --> 00:41:20.250 are hanging formlessly on shrunken limbs. He 00:41:20.250 --> 00:41:23.269 has become Edward Hyde in broad daylight, in 00:41:23.269 --> 00:41:26.389 a public park, completely involuntarily. He doesn't 00:41:26.389 --> 00:41:28.710 transform because he takes the potion. He transforms 00:41:28.710 --> 00:41:31.210 because he has an arrogant thought. The pride 00:41:31.210 --> 00:41:33.570 is the trigger. The drug is no longer needed 00:41:33.570 --> 00:41:36.380 at all. The chemical is irrelevant now. The moral 00:41:36.380 --> 00:41:38.980 failing itself, the hypocrisy of thinking he 00:41:38.980 --> 00:41:41.380 is better than everyone else while secretly harboring 00:41:41.380 --> 00:41:43.780 these dark memories is what physically brings 00:41:43.780 --> 00:41:46.519 out the monster. His soul is so corrupted that 00:41:46.519 --> 00:41:48.880 a single bad thought alters his biology. It is 00:41:48.880 --> 00:41:51.639 the ultimate consequence of his dual life. The 00:41:51.639 --> 00:41:54.230 evil has become self -sustaining. Jekyll notes 00:41:54.230 --> 00:41:56.230 that the hatred between the two identities becomes 00:41:56.230 --> 00:41:59.190 absolute. Jekyll hates Hyde because Hyde is a 00:41:59.190 --> 00:42:01.349 hellish inorganic horror that is usurping his 00:42:01.349 --> 00:42:04.469 life. But Hyde's hatred for Jekyll is different. 00:42:04.670 --> 00:42:06.869 Yeah, Jekyll says Hyde cares nothing for him. 00:42:07.090 --> 00:42:09.309 Hyde remembers Jekyll only as a mountain bandit 00:42:09.309 --> 00:42:11.449 remembers the cavern in which he conceals himself 00:42:11.449 --> 00:42:14.769 from pursuit. That is such a vivid, devastating 00:42:14.769 --> 00:42:18.110 image. It's completely parasitic. Evil is entirely 00:42:18.110 --> 00:42:20.789 parasitic. It doesn't love the host. It only 00:42:20.789 --> 00:42:23.699 uses the host for survival, for money. and for 00:42:23.699 --> 00:42:27.420 shelter from the law. Hyde resents Jekyll's despondency. 00:42:28.119 --> 00:42:31.059 He plays ape -like tricks on him, scrawling blasphemies 00:42:31.059 --> 00:42:33.019 in his books, burning his father's portrait. 00:42:33.440 --> 00:42:35.920 He tortures the host body. Hyde is terrified 00:42:35.920 --> 00:42:38.079 of the gallows, which is the only reason he doesn't 00:42:38.079 --> 00:42:40.639 destroy Jekyll completely. His love of life is 00:42:40.639 --> 00:42:43.460 incredibly strong. But as the impure salt runs 00:42:43.460 --> 00:42:46.539 out, the transformations become constant. Jekyll 00:42:46.539 --> 00:42:49.219 can only maintain his true form under the immediate 00:42:49.219 --> 00:42:51.280 stimulation of the drug. He can't even sleep. 00:42:51.480 --> 00:42:54.260 Whenever he falls asleep, he wakes as Hyde. He 00:42:54.260 --> 00:42:56.320 becomes a creature eaten up and emptied by fever, 00:42:56.739 --> 00:42:58.599 occupied by one single thought, the horror of 00:42:58.599 --> 00:43:01.159 his other self. And it ends with him hurriedly 00:43:01.159 --> 00:43:03.260 writing this confession, knowing that in half 00:43:03.260 --> 00:43:05.360 an hour, the last dose will wear off and he will 00:43:05.360 --> 00:43:07.900 permanently become Hyde. He doesn't know if Hyde 00:43:07.900 --> 00:43:10.099 will die on the scaffold or find the courage 00:43:10.099 --> 00:43:12.900 to commit suicide, but he lays down his pen, 00:43:12.980 --> 00:43:15.340 bringing the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll 00:43:15.340 --> 00:43:19.719 to an end. Wow, just wow. It is a devastating, 00:43:20.119 --> 00:43:23.900 relentless conclusion. If we synthesize the takeaways 00:43:23.900 --> 00:43:26.920 from this journey, from Mr. Utterson's silent 00:43:26.920 --> 00:43:29.019 repressed walks in the gloomy London streets 00:43:29.019 --> 00:43:31.480 all the way to the shattered bay's door of the 00:43:31.480 --> 00:43:34.260 cabinet, we see that Stevenson isn't just writing 00:43:34.260 --> 00:43:36.639 a spooky story about a monster. It's a massive 00:43:36.639 --> 00:43:39.440 warning. He is writing a profound warning about 00:43:39.440 --> 00:43:41.599 the danger of extreme repression and the fallacy 00:43:41.599 --> 00:43:44.710 of control. He's entirely dismantling the illusion 00:43:44.710 --> 00:43:47.570 that we can cleanly separate our dark impulses 00:43:47.570 --> 00:43:50.469 from our daily lives without consequence. You 00:43:50.469 --> 00:43:52.829 can't just put your sins in a separate box, bury 00:43:52.829 --> 00:43:54.650 it in the backyard, and expect the box to hold 00:43:54.650 --> 00:43:57.429 forever. Eventually, the box rots, and what's 00:43:57.429 --> 00:44:00.210 inside gets out. And for you, the listener, the 00:44:00.210 --> 00:44:03.329 application to modern life is inescapable. We 00:44:03.329 --> 00:44:05.590 may not have a bubbling red potion, but we have 00:44:05.590 --> 00:44:07.809 endless avenues to create secret identities. 00:44:07.929 --> 00:44:10.630 The internet, mostly. The internet, as we discussed. 00:44:10.889 --> 00:44:14.050 offers a profound anonymity that functions very 00:44:14.050 --> 00:44:16.829 much like Jekyll's potion. It offers a holiday 00:44:16.829 --> 00:44:19.590 from morality, a way to step out of your reputation 00:44:19.590 --> 00:44:22.989 and indulge impulses without consequence. But 00:44:22.989 --> 00:44:25.070 Stevenson warns us that the character we cultivate 00:44:25.070 --> 00:44:27.369 in the dark, the impulses we feed in secret, 00:44:27.929 --> 00:44:30.130 will eventually demand to walk in the daylight. 00:44:30.889 --> 00:44:41.219 You become what you practice. Think about the 00:44:41.219 --> 00:44:44.059 very ending of the book. Jekyll runs out of that 00:44:44.059 --> 00:44:46.539 original batch of impure salt. He knows the end 00:44:46.539 --> 00:44:48.619 is coming because he can't replicate the specific 00:44:48.619 --> 00:44:51.340 flaw in the chemistry. But what if he had found 00:44:51.340 --> 00:44:53.880 the right salt? What if he had an endless supply? 00:44:54.199 --> 00:44:56.300 Exactly. What if he had accidentally discovered 00:44:56.300 --> 00:44:58.800 exactly what that impurity was and he could have 00:44:58.800 --> 00:45:01.579 kept synthesizing the drug flawlessly forever 00:45:01.579 --> 00:45:04.679 with an unlimited supply? It's a terrifying hypothetical. 00:45:05.059 --> 00:45:08.469 Right. Would Jekyll have eventually lived happily 00:45:08.469 --> 00:45:11.409 in his hypocrisy? Would he have just continued 00:45:11.409 --> 00:45:14.530 being a beloved charitable saint by day and a 00:45:14.530 --> 00:45:16.889 murderous unchecked monster by night until he 00:45:16.889 --> 00:45:19.489 died of old age with zero consequences? Or does 00:45:19.489 --> 00:45:21.730 the very nature of the human soul guarantee that 00:45:21.730 --> 00:45:23.989 a house divided against itself cannot stand? 00:45:24.190 --> 00:45:26.269 That the balance would tip anyway. Even with 00:45:26.269 --> 00:45:28.730 an infinite supply of the potion, would the monster 00:45:28.730 --> 00:45:30.570 in the mirror have eventually reached it out 00:45:30.570 --> 00:45:32.789 and shattered the glass anyway? A question that 00:45:32.789 --> 00:45:35.710 remains is chilling today. as it was in 1886. 00:45:36.289 --> 00:45:38.269 Until next time, keep an eye on your reflections.