Jekyll and Hyde

Jekyll and Hyde

Author: Robert Lewis Stevenson

Published: 1886

Duality+ Quote

Duality of Human Nature

• Jekyll reveals that “man is not truly one, but truly two.”

• His experiment splits only the evil side (Hyde), not a corresponding “angel.”

• Suggests humans may be fundamentally primitive impulses restrained by society.

• Hyde is animalistic yet takes pleasure in crime and thrives in the city, showing civilization’s dark underside.

“Man is not truly one, but truly two”

“He broke out in a great flame of anger…like a madman”

Temptation+ Quote

Temptation of Curiosity

• Characters struggle between social restraint and curiosity about the unknown.

• Jekyll’s scientific curiosity + secret desires create Hyde.

• Reflects Victorian fears of new science.

• Utterson battles imagination vs. logic; Lanyon’s curiosity kills him after witnessing the transformation.

• Even the “civilized” cannot resist forbidden knowledge.

”my power tempted me until I fell in slavery”

Reputation+ Society Quote

Importance of Reputation

• Characters protect respectability above truth.

• Utterson avoids gossip and shields Jekyll’s reputation despite suspicions.

• Victorian focus on appearances hides moral corruption beneath the surface.

“I feel very strongly about putting questions; it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgement”

“The more it looks like Queer Street the less I ask”

Repression + Quote

Repression

• Jekyll lived a double life even before Hyde, hiding “pleasures” society wouldn’t accept.

• Reputation forces characters to suppress desires and information.

• Utterson represses curiosity (e.g., Lanyon’s letter) but grows desperate to uncover Jekyll’s secret

“The cancer of some concealed disgrace”

“Concealed my pleasures”