Naoki Aoyama
English 1C
29 April 2012

Friend or Foe? England saw much change as the British Industrial Revolution changed nearly every aspect of British society throughout the 19th Century. During the same period, at the peak of the revolution was the Victorian Era, which brought forth much change; politically, socially, and artistically. One of the novels during this period was Robert Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. To better understand the protagonist and his alter antagonist, we can use the ethical critical approach along with the behavioral function: mental instability. The protagonist, Dr. Jekyll, has his own manifestation of an evil alter ego, which is a by-product of the gaping schism between the working class and the bourgeoisie, and an absolutely testament to his mental instability; which later begins to heavily affect his ethical decisions. The ethical critical approach supplements us as we study the behaviors and decisions of Jekyll and Hyde. A reason for Dr. Jekyll turning into the bête noire, or Hyde, could be explained as the adverse of everything he has ever had. It is that mental instability that affects his unethical decision to not tell anybody about his situation. Though to Jekyll, it may have seemed like a well-guarded secret, his close friend Utterson noticed his rather abnormal behavior. When confronted; in the novel, Jekyll was described as “The large handsome face of Dr. Jekyll grew pale to the very lips, and there came blackness about his eyes” (Stevenson 20). Jekyll is attempting to keep control, so that he does not transform into the hideously disfigured Hyde. When asked if Jekyll knows anything about Hyde, he becomes flush, and his pupils dilate because he is in fear that his secret will be discovered. At this point in the novel, Jekyll has very little control over Hyde, and cowers in fear that his good