Jekyll and Hyde Key theme quotes

M i n t o b t t

Man is not truly one but truly

In the final chapter, Jekyll considers the duality of man

Jekyll’s sinister desires and his outward respectable persona are in conflict with each other

Stevenson highlights how everyone is capable of good and evil deeds

M d h b l c, h c o r

My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring

Last chapter

Semantic field of Hell and Satan with Jekyll repeatedly referring to him as ‘my devil’ 

He invokes terror in other characters, suggesting Stevenson’s interest in the idea that all people possess an inner capacity for evil 

A h b a c o o g a e 

All human beings are commingled out of good and evil 

Jekyll reveals the duality of good and evil in all human beings 

Jekyll believes it is the ‘curse of mankind’ that good and evil are bound together within him and they are in direct conflict with one another 

T h e t t, U h n c t d o o f y 

Though he enjoyed the theatre, Utterson had not crossed the doors of one for twenty years 

Utterson is deeply moral and self disciplined, in line with Victorian expectations 

He is ‘austere with himself’, and he can be seen as restricting his pleasures due to the poor reputation 

Theatres were linked with looser morals, so his abstention is an example of his concerns in maintaining respectability 

S e h b f h e 

Something eminently human beaconed from his eye 

Utterson has an approved tolerance for others and Stevenson shows his amiable nature

He is presented as rational and calm through his objective perspective, reader can judge eveidence alongside him 

W a l f h w t h v u f

With ape-lime fury, he was trampling his victim underfoot

‘Ape’ shows Hydes animalistic and troglodytic nature as well as his aggression 

Stevenson deliberately paints him as an animal to separate him from human society 

Stevenson’s descriptions of Hyde are ambigous and they hint towards his supernatural element 

M l i s t t r 

I a m i i b i, a i c a