The powers of good and evil have existed since the beginning of time.  The two powerful forces continuously clash, battling for supremacy.  Some conflicts between the two powers can be seen as external such as scenarios that involve war and fighting.  Other examples of confliction between the two forces, however, are internal struggles, specifically seen in Robert Louis Stevenson’s, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Throughout the story, the famous doctor, Henry Jekyll, succumbs to his evil side, Edward Hyde, better known as “Mr. Hyde.”  On the other hand, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein’s creature is influenced by its environment as it develops a personality and demeanor.  In this case, society, an external force, plays a crucial role in the development of the monster.  Both Mr. Hyde and the creature have correlations and differences that make them unique individuals.
In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, we witness the creation of a monster by the hands of the profound Doctor, Victor Frankenstein.  Victor’s attempt at creating life with inanimate objects was a success, and the monster was unleashed unto society.  Unfortunately, the creature received no guidance and was forced to learn about the wonders of the world on its own.  The creature was not born with a bloodthirsty, demonic demeanor, clearly seen in the beginning stages of its life.  The creature’s first major encounter includes how he, “found a fire which had been left by some wandering beggars.”  Not knowing what would happen if he touched the flames, the monster curiously inserted his hand into the fire, “but quickly drew it out” because of the pain.  Early on, the monster can be described as a naïve child, as it is clear that he doesn’t know much, especially when he expresses that there were, “no distinct ideas [within] my mind.”
The monster develops a relationship with the De Lacey family, gathering firewood for them, now being seen as a happy and caring individual.  These positive characteristics don’t last very long as the monster is greeted with violence and abuse.  When revealing himself to the family, the monster is viciously attacked by Felix De Lacy, causing the monster to no longer feel gentleness and love he originally received.  As the monster continues his journey, he saves a girl in from drowning in a lake, but is shot by a man.  This is the fatal change in the monster’s demeanor, as he now vows, “eternal hatred and vengeance on all mankind.”
	The monster encounters his creator, asking him to create a female companion that way he can experience love and live happily.  Victor refuses, and now, with sinister intentions, the monster slaughters his creator’s family and friends, becoming an outcast, showing the alteration of his heart and mind.  Ultimately assisting in his creator’s death, the monster is seen as pure evil.  When Victor and his monster reunite on Robert Walton’s ship, the monster understands that his personality and demeanor have transformed, claiming that he knew his, “heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy”, and that he, “cannot believe that [he is] the same creature whose thoughts were once filled with sublime and transcendent visions of the beauty and majesty of goodness.”
	Mr. Hyde, unlike the monster, is an already evil individual, seen as an altered ego of Dr. Jekyll.  As the story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde unfurls, we come across Mr. Utterson and his friend, Enfield, who is currently telling a story of Mr. Hyde, who tramples a young innocent girl.  Since both individuals are against gossip, they mutually agree that the topic is now closed, not to be discussed again.  Strangely, one of Utterson’s clients and perhaps his closest friend, Dr. Jekyll, has written a will that all of his possessions were to pass into the hands of his, “friend and benefactor Edward Hyde,” but in the case of Dr. Jekyll’s, “disappearance or unexplained absence for any period exceeding three calendar months, the said Edward Hyde should step into the said Henry Jekyll’s shoes without further delay.”  We first see Mr. Hyde’s strange personality when Utterson approaches him, touching him on his shoulder.  Hyde, “shrank back with a hissing intake of breath” but willingly gave Utterson his address.  Shocked by the occurrence, Utterson thought to himself, “can he, too, have been thinking about the will!?”
	Hyde is revealed as a, “pale and dwarfish” man who, “gave an impression of deformity without any namable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice.”  The individual isn’t like most others, as he is very quick to end conversation with Utterson, whom says to himself, “the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say?”
	Hyde is considered to be Jekyll’s evil, demonic side.  As revealed later in the story by Jekyll’s letter, he takes potions in an attempt to prevent becoming Mr. Hyde.  Each time the potion is consumed, a larger dosage is needed to prevent the metamorphosis from happening once again.  Hyde proves to be a more powerful force than Jekyll imagined, and this evil persona begins to dominate the pure persona of Jekyll.   Jekyll solidifies the fact that his sinister doppelganger is in fact evil, as he writes in his letter, “Edward Hyde alone, in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.”  Jekyll reveals that he was no longer able to acquire a key ingredient for his potion, and his ability to change back from Hyde into Jekyll slowly deteriorated, ultimately leading to his suicide because he knows the police will catch up to him sooner or later.
	We can clearly see that both of these characters are results of failed experiments.  Although Victor was successful in creating life, he ultimately concluded that his creature was a failure because of its appearance.  Victor betrayed the monster, causing it to act in a way not initially intended.  Mr. Hyde was a form Jekyll took that acted on unspecified urges that would be unseemly for someone of his age.  All of the wrongdoings of Mr. Hyde caused Jekyll to commit suicide for the fact that he no longer wanted his evil persona to lurk upon the Earth, causing pain and difficulties for society.
On the surface, the characters of Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein's monster appear very similar. They are both unnatural creatures, in that they are somewhere between human and demon, neither alive nor dead. They both are murderers of innocent people. However, when one peers beyond the surface, one finds that they really aren't the same at all. Hyde is an evil, demonic creation, with a definite lust for violence and hatred of humans. In contrast, Frankenstein's monster began as an innocent, frightened being, cast away from human society due to its hideous physical appearance.
The monster’s constant lonely suffering and longing for affection made it furious at its creator for making it so different from humans. When Frankenstein refused to make another monster for it as a companion, the creature resolved to show its creator how it felt to be so miserably alone. It murdered Frankenstein's close friends and family, one by one. However, Frankenstein's monster did not enjoy killing these people; in fact, it hated committing these brutal acts of murder. It had a deep admiration for humans, even while envying their physical beauty and companionship with each other. It was only driven to murder by the humans' cruelty.
Mr. Hyde is a clear representation of isolation and identity.  Jekyll did not create a potion to remove the evil parts of his nature. He made a potion that allowed him to express his urges without feeling guilty and without any consequences besmirching his good name. That’s also why he names his alter ego “Hyde,” because Hyde is a disguise, to be worn and discarded like a thick cloak.  It’s imperative to note the differences in the two persona’s names, one bearing the title of “Doctor,” the other being “Mister.” Jekyll is a respected professor. Hyde is a lower class cretin.  Hyde is also much younger than Jekyll.  Both of these facts allow Jekyll to get away with worse behavior as Hyde.  Jekyll is against revealing his identity because he does not want his reputation to become ruined by his misdoings as Hyde.
The creature is a great example of alienation.  The creature, forced to endure life alone, attempts to form bonds with humans.  Meeting with villagers proved to be futile, as the monster described he, “had hardly placed [his] foot within the door before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted.”  The monster being rejected by the De Lacey family because of its appearance caused sorrow and hatred to brew in the monster’s heart.  This situation also shows how the creature longs for a family and direly wants to feel loved and accepted.  He does not want to be isolated but because of his grotesque outer appearance, he is not accepted by society.  The creature contains human features; the desire to be loved and to love, but it is unable to fit into human society.  Due to the creature’s declination by society, he comes across as an evil and twisted individual.  The monster, ironically, becomes a monster because of its observations and experiences with mankind.
It is clear that evil consumed the lives of these two characters in their respective stories.  Both Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein’s monster possess similarities and differences in their personalities that notably intertwined them with the themes of isolation and identity.  Both individuals died because of the actions they had taken throughout their lives.  Perhaps if it was possible for the creature to travel a different path, it would’ve lived a more content life with a more positive and joyous lifestyle.  Perhaps if Jekyll had been a stronger minded individual, he wouldn’t have as easily submitted to his darker, demonic persona, Mr. Hyde.