The Jekyll Error: The Myth of a Clean Split
Intro
Most of us know how to present our best self.
We show the version of ourselves we’re proud of. The composed version. The version that feels acceptable. Meanwhile, we quietly tuck away the parts we’re embarrassed by. The impulses we don’t like. The thoughts we wish we didn’t have.
It’s not usually malicious. It feels practical. Polite, even. We’re just curating what we reveal and what we keep private.
But there’s a subtle temptation hiding in that habit.
What if you could separate those parts completely?
What if you could be the “good” version of yourself in public, while letting the darker impulses exist somewhere else, untouched by consequence?
That fantasy sits at the heart of what I think of as the Jekyll Error.
What Jekyll Really Wanted
Robert Louis Stevenson is often remembered for grand adventure stories, but Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde explores something far more unsettling.
Jekyll didn’t truly want to remove darkness from himself. He wanted to remove his responsibility for it.
The goal was control. Control over when the darker impulses appeared. Control over how they acted. Control over the consequences that followed.
That is darker than simple temptation. It is corruption. It is the desire to indulge without ownership.
Jekyll didn’t eliminate the darker side of himself. He isolated it. And by isolating it, he removed the one thing that ever kept it in check.
The Clean Split Myth
The idea that we can divide ourselves into clean categories is comforting.
Good self here. Bad self there.
If the bad parts are “somewhere else,” we can preserve our self-image. We can tell ourselves that our mistakes weren’t really us. That the ugly parts don’t belong to our true identity.
But elimination doesn’t work. You can’t remove parts of yourself. You can hide them. Suppress them. Deny them.
All of those moves create the same problem. They leave darkness alone with itself.
Why Darkness Grows in the Dark
When we try to segment our nature the way Jekyll did, we create a strange moral loophole.
If the darker impulses are hidden, and no one sees them, it becomes easier to pretend they don’t exist. Ignorance feels like innocence. Plausible deniability feels like moral cover.
“It wasn’t me. It was Mr. Hyde.”
That separation creates freedom for the darkness to grow. Without the presence of responsibility, restraint weakens. Temptation meets opportunity without accountability.
Darkness doesn’t shrink when ignored. It expands.
Integrity vs Control
At its core, Jekyll’s experiment is a confusion between control and integrity.
Control is the belief that if we manage appearances well enough, we can shape outcomes. Integrity is the willingness to take responsibility for the whole of who we are, including the parts we’d rather deny.
Control tries to curate the self.
Integrity confronts the self.
Someone under control can commit an evil act just as easily as someone in chaos can act with goodness. The difference isn’t the emotional state. The difference is ownership.
Integrity is not pretending the darkness isn’t there. It is acknowledging it and choosing not to let it rule.
Light Does Not Come From Denial
Across cultures, religions, and traditions, the same idea appears in different language.
Darkness is not cured by pretending it doesn’t exist. It is confronted by bringing it into the light.
We all act on impulse at times. We all say things we regret. We all carry parts of ourselves we’re not proud of.
The question isn’t whether darkness exists. The question is whether we take responsibility for it.
Jekyll’s failure was not having a darker side. His failure was trying to avoid being accountable for it.
Why This Story Is a Warning
This is why I read Jekyll’s story as cautionary, not merely tragic.
If you believe Jekyll truly wanted to remove darkness, the story feels sad. If you believe, even subconsciously, that what he wanted was plausible deniability, the story becomes a warning.
Success didn’t save him. It empowered the part of himself he refused to own.
Why This Story Matters
Jekyll’s mistake connects to the same human tension explored in other dark classics.
Bartleby, the Scrivener shows what happens when someone steps out of the moral struggle entirely. Young Goodman Brown shows what happens when someone begins to see darkness everywhere except within himself.
Three different failures. One shared human problem.
Read the Story in Context
If this idea hit a nerve, it’s worth reading the story again or for the first time if you haven’t already.
You can read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for free in the public domain on Project Gutenberg if you want to experience the original text firsthand.
In my curated Shadow Self: Dark Fiction Collection, Jekyll sits alongside Bartleby, the Scrivener and Young Goodman Brown, three short classics that circle the same uncomfortable question from different angles.
If you want the full trio in one place, with an introduction that ties the themes together, you can grab Shadow Self: Dark Fiction Collection on Amazon.
