Repression vs. Self-Indulgence in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeNe The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, repression seems to be a common theme. Stevenson chose to incorporate it because it was a common Victorian belief. So what is Stevenson trying to say about repression by making Dr. Jekyll secretly self-indulgent? Many people believe that Jekyll takes on the role of Hyde to achieve these indulgences that he otherwise could not. Jekyll also chose to repress his impulses because Victorian society disapproved of them. This idea is further elaborated by Masao Miyoshi, in “Dr. Jekyll and the Emergence of Mr. Hyde”: Because it is commonplace in our understanding of the period that the Victorian writer wanted above all to “stay in touch.” Comparing his situation with that of his immediate predecessors, he recognized that indulgence in self-centered idealism was no longer practicable in a society that increasingly urged total involvement in its pursuits. The world was waiting to be improved and solved and everyone, including poets, had to get busy...