Through the complex character of Jekyll, Stevenson explores Victorian anxieties around human nature and identity. Stevenson highlights the vulnerabilities within the suppressive system they once thought they skilfully constructed. This reveals how it instead produces morally ruined men who were enslaved by their dark desires. Initially Jekyll is portrayed as a reputable Victorian gentleman who conforms to societal expectations at the time. Jekyll is described as ‘a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty’. The adjective ’well-made’ connotes physical and moral stability, everything Victorian men were expected to be. The adjective ‘smooth-faced’ presents him as someone who has no flaws and any trace of physical corruption. However, the positive imagery creates an uncanny feeling as no human is without flaw, which could imply that something deeper and menacing is bubbling under his controlled exterior. Jekyll is described as a man with ‘every mark of capacity and kindness’. The quantifier ‘every’ feels exaggerated as his kindness is presented as absolute. The abstract nouns ‘capacity’ and ‘kindness’ reflect his intelligence and moral goodness. However, this is seen through Utterson’s perspective, a man who highly honoured Jekyll. Therefore it cannot be a true determinant of Jekyll’s true character as it is relayed through the perception of others. Stevenson critiques how Victorian society judge people based of appearance rather than truth. However, Jekyll’s descent into madness and the creation of the fiend Hyde reveal a conflicted and morally ambiguous character. Jekyll’s sympathy reduces greatly as Hyde was infamous for his inherently evil nature but Jekyll still harboured him. Hyde was described as ‘pure evil’. The adjective ‘pure’ suggests it is complete and undiluted. Paired with the abstract noun evil, it shows how Hyde is not mixed. He is unable to retain human compassion making him Jekyll’s sin without restraint. Additionally, Hyde tramples over his victim with ‘ape-like fury’. The animalistic imagery conveyed by the adjective ’ape-like’ reveals his degeneration, acting as a direct reference to the contemporary audiences fears on ‘devolution’, a result of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Hyde represents society’s primitive and savage instincts that they desperately try to shelter under a perfect exterior. Toward the end of the Novella, Jekyll confesses his burning passion to separate good from evil. The tragic consequences of his once noble pursuit expose the dangers of addiction and repression. Jekyll states in his letter to Utterson that ‘I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self’. The adverb ‘slowly’ suggests a gradual decline, hinting at a potential addiction. The phrase ‘losing hold’ reveals how he was unable to control Hyde anymore. Jekyll is aware of his decay but cannot stop it. This suggests how immoral habits can completely disfigure one’s identity over time. His ‘better self’ reflects the Victorian Gentleman he was supposed to be. Stevenson is telling us that morality is not fixed but must be actively maintained. To conclude, Jekyll can be seen as a partially sympathetic character as on one hand he is a victim to the Victorian society’s extreme expectations but, instead of finding healthier alternatives, he chooses to thrive in Hyde. While fulfilling his upmost desires is a commendable cause, these actions came at the expense of others which places him in an ungradable position. Ultimately, from Jekyll’s duality, we can accept the fact that identity is complex and forever changing as man is not truly one but truly two.