Duality Of Human Nature

One of the most predominant themes in literature is the duality of human nature. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, dualism is a view of human beings as constituted of two irreducible elements. Many pieces of literature concentrate on how every human possesses an animalistic and barbarous nature. In the novel The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde byRobert Louis Stevenson, the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, and the short story William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe, the idea of duality is explored deeply and is one of the main themes of these works.

In The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, Dr. Jekyll is a well–respected scientist in London. This novel takes place in the Victorian Era, or in the mid–1800s to...show more content...

Jekyll used Edward Hyde as a way to satisfy his secret pleasures without feeling guilty about whatever Hyde has done. Another way duality is explored in the novel is the fact that if the balance of good and evil is uneven, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde cannot coexist peacefully. "Hence, although I had now two characters as well as two appearances, one was wholly evil, and the other was still the old Henry Jekyll..."(Stevenson 51) This is why near the end of the novel when Hyde's evilness takes over Dr. Jekyll, its causes their relationship to implode. "This, then, is the last time, short of a miracle, that Henry Jekyll can think his own thoughts or see his own face..."(Stevenson 61) When Dr. Jekyll allowed Hyde to be exposed to the world too much, Hyde began to have more control over Dr. Jekyll. This caused Jekyll to eventually give in to Hyde. Like in Jekyll and Hyde, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare shows multiple examples of duality. For example, "In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will;". In this quote, Friar Laurence compares people to plants in the sense that both man and plants can be good and evil, and how some herbs can be used for medicine but can also be poisonous. The author also uses double entendres to display duality. For example, when Juliet is speaking to her mother about

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Human nature is loosely defined as the ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that that tend to come naturally. Our human nature is a mixture of our own personal beliefs and views as well as the perceptions of our surrounding environment and the society we reside in. It affects the way we interpret and present knowledge without realizing it, including our thoughts and actions. Since writing is just a collection of our thoughts and the way in which we interpret the world, our human nature inevitably seeps into our writing. This paper will argue that the Hesiod's writings, in particular the creation story of Pandora in both Theogony and Works and Days, are heavily influenced by the misogynistic views held by the Greek patriarchal society at the time. The influence of society's misogynistic views on the portrayal of characters and roles are fully exemplified when comparing the creation story of Pandora to that of her male counterpart and Eve.

The portrayal of Pandora in Hesiod's Works and Days is filled with the philosophy and viewpoints that men held towards women, greatly influencing her creation. Many of the characteristics possessed by Pandora mirror the viewpoints that men, and in particular Hesiod, had towards women. The mere creation of women, by Zeus, was an idea set around the punishment of man for the acts of Prometheus: "To set against the fire I shall give them an affliction to which they will all delight as they embrace their own misfortune" (W&D 57–59).

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