Repression compared to self-indulgence in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeIn The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , repression seems to be a common theme. Stevenson chose to incorporate this because it was a common Victorian belief. So what is Stevenson trying to say about repression by making Dr. Jekyll secretly lenient? Many people believe that Jekyll takes on the role of Hyde in order to achieve these indulgences that he could not otherwise. Jekyll also chose to repress his urges because Victorian society disapproved of them. This idea is developed in more detail by Masao Miyoshi, in "Dr. Jekyll and the Emergence of Mr. Hyde": For it is a commonplace in our understanding of the era that the Victorian writer wished above all to "remain in contact”. Comparing his situation with that of his immediate predecessors, he recognized that indulgence in self-centered idealism was no longer viable in a society that increasingly insisted on total involvement in one's occupations. The world was waiting to be improved and resolved, and everyone, including poets, had to get busy....