(My thoughts on his duality and whether the concoction was a placebo or not) I think it’s likely that Jekyll and Hyde were much closer and similar to the concept of “one mind two bodies” at the very beginning of the whole ‘transformation.’ This concept is very well represented in TGS, but I must only assume that as Jekyll began to use the transformation potion like it was a switch, he gradually created a harsher line between him and Hyde. Tbh I don’t think that was a good idea and probably just adding it may have even created the corruption of his soul. (aka his soul being “morally depraved” according to dictionaries) It also likely that Jekyll’s attempt to split what wasn’t even something one could split in the first place led to the ‘cracks’ and leaks of his souls and the like, as well as possibly even Jekyll being the true facade/empty shell. Well isn’t that nice. On a more positive note with a negative edge, I feel that Jekyll and Hyde have grown well into their own characters. Great for storytelling! —but not for your soul… As a fan of the musical and in hopes to actually play Jekyll/Hyde myself one day soon, I can’t help but not fully support the idea of the ‘transformation potion’ (probably better titled ‘the freeing potion’ or something—) being a placebo. If it was, uhm then it’s probably incredibly unsafe and the narrator is lying to us. Although, I say, it could be probable that the concoction simply broke him with pain into a state where his inhibitions/restraints or his morals were taken away. *shrugs* Don’t look at me, I haven’t read the book yet. In my personal opinion Jekyll needs a stronger motivation and clearer explanation on his skill and madness, but I’m just going to assume it’s gonna come soon. In a rather hasty conclusion, Jekyll really needs to stop trying to compartmentalize everything—In fact, that’s even a line mentioned in the story! ——— Why’d I write this? Because I always write a short piece on my new fandom hyper fixations that happen to have depth psychologically. EDIT: Now that I’ve added the thumbnail (two panels from page 13 of chapter(?) III) I realize that the narrator for this part where I took the majority of my writing into for backstory, is being told by an ENTIRELY unreliable narrator. *face palm* idk guys, idk EDIT: after reading The Search for Henry Jekyll, and erm….. I guess literally all of my theories are correct?( But yet again, we still don’t know what Henry’s original motivation was) *cackling wildly* I"VE GUESSED IT ALLLLL- And yet again an adaptation based on the same source material followed similar patterns, perhaps through this lens I may truly figure out the nature of the book before I read it myself? Is it possible-?
