Dualitity-Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde amd Mary Rielly
...nce the Self from it, thus protecting its identity. Yet, because the 'Other' inevitably originates from the Self, it can only be repressed and never eliminated. It is only within the private, closed spaces, within which certain universal morals are temporarily suspended, that the desires of the 'Other' within the Self are allowed to surface - i.e. in the case of the brothel, within which the sexual mores of society are held in suspension. Put differently, the closed space, the private sphere, is one of safety. What I found to be especially striking were the instances in which the men of the household (Jekyll, Poole and whatshisname, the manservant) would retreat into a room, closing the door firmly against Reilly's (a woman's) curious eyes. Likewise, where Jekyll appears in the dawn, injured, Poole is immediately resentful of Reilly's aiding Jekyll, and communicates his censure when Reilly sees her master shirtless (which could in turn be read as a kind of metaphorical stripping of layers, a defenselessness of the male Self). When threatened, or while attempting to maintain its own identity, the closed space can serve as a refuge for the Self, a place removed from the public sphere and the implicit judgement of the gaze of others. Paradoxically, while the closed space provides the Self with safety, shielding it from the eye of the public sphere, it also serves as a form of safebox for the labelled 'Other' that the Self discovers within itself. The 'Other' is unleashed within the closed space, but it is also contained within it, and not allowed to cross over into the public sphere. Analogous to the act of psychological repression, this is shown by the film to function only with limited success. Inevitably, the barriers that seek to alienate the 'Other' from the Self are penetrated, experience rupture, disintergrate. Hyde breaks free of Jekyll's control, and, similarly and more interestingly, Reilly's past bleeds over into her present, refusing the bonds of temporal order. Time itself could be viewed as a form of closed space - particularly the past. Events and ...