The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a literary classic. Dr. Jekyll, wrought with frustration from conforming to society, creates a drug that transforms him into Mr. Hyde, a man of pure evil. What starts out as pure joy and fantasy quickly turns to fear and nightmare for Jekyll. He cannot control Mr. Hyde - the evil has become too strong. What is to become of the pair? Contemplation of suicide have fallen through, yet life cannot continue as it is. While the first half of this novel experiences the pair through the third party of Mr. Utterson, Jekyll's lawyer, the second half provides a first person narrative of the happenings and how things got to be so bad; it is this part in which we can look to discuss the questions of moral decision making.
"Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection, and began to look round me and take stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life...it was on the moral side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man...that in the agonized womb of consciousness, these polar twins should be continuously struggling..."This section of text is found in the beginning of the last chapter (Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case), and lays out Jekyll's revelation of his duplicity of life. Growing up, he was taught to conform to society, to be proper and uphold high standards of living. While this can be seen as "be the best that you can be", it also causes a repression of wants and desires. To be unable to act on these impulses can drive a person mad, even if they don't realize it. You essentially become two different people - the one that everyone sees and the one that you yearn to be.
"I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine...the evil side of my nature, to which I had now transferred the stamping efficacy, was less robust and less developed than the good which I had just deposed. Again, in the course of my life, which had been, after all, nine tenths a life of effort, virtue and control, it had been much less exercised and much less exhausted..."Here we see the mentions of "virtue" and "control". Virtue ethics emphasizes the role of one's character and the virtues that one's character embodies for determining or evaluating ethical behavior. Most virtue ethic theories take their inspiration from Aristotle who declared that a virtuous person is someone who has ideal character traits. These traits derive from natural internal tendencies, but need to be nurtured. Moral character develops over long period of time. People are born with all sorts of tendencies. These natural tendencies can be encouraged and developed or discouraged and thwarted by the influences one is exposed to when growing up. Our natural tendencies, the raw material we are born with, are shaped and developed through a long and gradual process of education and habituation. Jekyll was never fully able to discourage his natural tendencies, his true evil nature; thus he transforms into Hyde.
Throughout the rest of the chapter, and even throughout the rest of the novel, Jekyll struggles with his moral self. He is aware of the atrocities that Hyde has committed, and tries to right the wrong by doing good deeds. He becomes afraid of Hyde, but he still desires the freedom that the evil side offers. When control can longer be maintained, when Hyde has become too strong, Jekyll can't bring himself to commit suicide because he feels pity for the fear Hyde feels about death. In the end, he gives in and let's Hyde take full control, even though he wants to live on being only Jekyll. This constant struggle between virtue, between right and wrong, just keeps Jekyll going in circles. He became addicted to the freedom from virtue and morals, and it became his ultimate demise.
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