One of the biggest, most eye-catching parallels for Harvey and Two-Face that I’ve caught from watching the Jekyll and Hyde musical yesterday and wanted to comment on is the hypocrisy of the ‘Jekyll’ personality, in claiming himself to be the ‘good’ side, wholly and entirely so, being able to enjoy the ability to do as he pleases vicariously through the ‘Hyde’ personality without actually laying claim to his share of the blame. And, conversely, the ‘Hyde’ personality’s desperate love of life, and deep, intrinsic fear that his other half will deprive him of it through suicide.
The Harvey persona is definitely more morally upright than Two-Face, there’s no denying that, but he’s far from perfect, being the persona in which the whole personality’s fear and self-doubt and hatred are compartmentalized, having a tendency toward self-righteousness and blind, nigh delusional idealism, and he has no self-evident right to deny Two-Face personhood or existence by way of being the ‘better’ personality, when in fact he’s always drawn his iron conviction, ambition, determination, and other desirable traits from an inner source that is more native to Two-Face to begin with. And a big roadblock to his recovery is an inability to come to terms with that fact, to acknowledge himself as no better or worse than his other half, to stop viewing Two-Face as a parasite over whom he stands on the moral high ground, but as the part of himself he was too frightened and short-sighted to accept.
