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CONTEXT - Robert Louis Stevenson’s early life
-Born in 1850
-Grew up as an only child in Edinburgh
-Nanny told him Ghost Stories
-RLS lived a ‘bohemian’ life: respectable at the front, gets up to mischief secretly
-Wrote J + H under the influence of drugs
CONTEXT: William Deacon Brodie
-Scottish cabinet maker
-Edinburgh city counsellor
-Secret life as housebreaker for the thrill, to fund his gambling
-Copied clients keys
CONTEXT: Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species
-Work of scientific literature
-’Foundation of evolutionry biology’
-Published on 24 November 1859
CONTEXT: Penny Dreadfuls
-Cheap, popular, serial literature
-Produced in 19th century in UK
-Typically refers to a story published weekly
CONTEXT: Louis Vivet
-One of the first mental health patients to be diagnosed with DID (dissociative identity disorder)
CONTEXT: Victorian London
-Hot, overcrowded, little running water
-FAMILY, RELIGION, REPUTATION
-High Crime levels. Police developed
-’immoral behaviour’ was never discussed
-A time of scientific development. Battle between science and religion.
CONTEXT: Locked room mysteries
Types of plot its an “impossible crime” christie did this very well
Cesare Lombroso and Criminal Psychology
He proposed that criminals were born as such, and that they exhibit both psychological drives and physical features that harken back to what were, in his view, the subhuman beasts of our deep evolutionary past. |
CONTEXT: Sigmund Freud
FREUD CAME AFTER STEVENSON
-Theory of the uncanny
-Theory of repression
-Theory of the superego, ego and id
CONTEXT: Science V Religion
-Religion: fixed ideas of heaven and hell, earth is 6000 years old, God created every living thing
-Science: universe is infinite, earth is millions of years old, species evolve
CONTEXT: J + H Genres
Gothic (sinister settings, supernatural/evil presence, emotional turmoil and fear, death)
Murder Mystery
Science Fiction
CONTEXT: Physiognomy
-The belief that personality traits, like being evil or criminality, were evident in your facial features
-Popularised by Cesare Lombroso
Jekyll and Hyde Structure
-Short novel (novella)
-Epistolary novel (fiction told through non-fiction texts)
-Plot twist
-Gothic dream: flashback/forward
-Chapter 9 & 10 retell story of Lanyon and Jekyll’s perspective
-We never see Utterson’s reaction to reveal
Jekyll and Hyde Motifs
Doors and windows
Devilry
Clothing
Fog
Chapter 6
“He was now no less distinguished for religion”
SCIENCE V RELIGION
-Jekyll’s difficult relationship with religion. He has previously studied religious texts but appears to have rejected it
Chapter 10
“My devil had long been caged, he came out roaring”
GOOD Vs EVIL
DUALITY
-Noun: Jekyll’s inner “devil” = a manifestation of his deeper desires
-Connotations of devil link to DEVILRY MOTIF
-Jekyll’s desires are in direct opposition to contemporary Christian ideology
-Verb ‘came out’ → repressed homosexuality, devil
Chapter 10
“I was driven to reflect deeply and inveterately on that hard law of life which lies at the root of religion"
RELIGION
GOOD VS EVIL
-Inveterately - Jekyll’s thoughts are long standing and ingrained
-Struggle between good and evil
-Jekyll acknowledges that moral laws, often based on religion, are inescapable, reinforcing the tension between science and morality.
Chapter 10
“Late one accursed night, I compounded the elements, watched them boil.. with a strong glow of courage, drank off the potion”
GOOD VS EVIL
-Adjective ‘accursed’ creates darkness, adding seriousness to the scene
-Adjective ‘strong’ and noun ‘glow’ suggest Jekyll is erratic and aware of the risks he was taking
Chapter 1
“strong feeling of deformity”
FEAR + HORROR
-CONTEXT: physiognomy
-Noun ‘deformity’ ugly appearance
Chapter 2
“He had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness”
DUALITY
-Stevenson’s use of antithesis highlights internal conflict present in him - duality. Adds depth to Hyde’s character
-Alliteration → violence comes naturally to Hyde
Chapter 1
“He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable”
FEAR + HORROR
-Hyde is vague in nature, can’t be defined in wiords
-Evokes fear in the other characters and reader
-Reader can imagine worst fears due to ambiguity
-Alliteration ‘d’ reinforces repulsion; anaphoric repetition something - air of intangibility
Chapter 2
“The other snarled aloud into a savage laugh; and the next moment, with an extraordinary quickness, he had unlocked the door and disappeared into the house”
FEAR + HORROR
-“savage”, “snarled” → sense of unrestrained, uncontrollable destruction and freedome
-Hyde is a degenerate
-Sibilance (s sounds) reinforces underlying sinisterness
-”extraordinary quickness” → hyde’s supernatural force
Chapter 2
“the clock of the neighbouring church rang out the hour of twelve, when he would go soberly and gratefully to bed”
SCIENCE V RELIGION
-Religion has a subtle but rigid influence on Utterson’s life
-Hour of 12: could symbolise a turning point, or be associated with secrecy and supernatural
-’Soberly’ - Utterson aligns with typical Victorian gentelman and represses his desires
-’Gratefully’ - relief in routine
Chapter 3
Dr Jekyll: “you could see by his looks that he cherished for Mr. Utterson a sincere and warm affection”
GOOD VS EVIL
-Utterson is trustworthy and loyal
Chapter 2
“if he shall be Mr. Hyde, I shall be Mr. Seek”
GOOD VS EVIL
DUALITY
-Shows Utterson’s innate curiosity → propels the plot forwards
-Emphasises duality and theme of opposites
Chapter 6
“professional honour and faith to his dead friend were stringent obligations; and the pakcet slept in the inmost corner of his private safe”
GOOD VS EVIL
-Friendship valued over curiosity
-Utterson is an EVEN more reliable narrator
Chapter 1
“I am ashamed of my long tongue. Let us make a bargain never to refer to this again”
REPUTATION
-Metonymy “long tongue” → Enfield is comfortable using informal language around Mr Utterson, demonstrating familiarity
-Hyprocrisy - he said he didn’t gossip
Chapter 2
“Jekyll became too fanciful for me”
“He began to go wrong, wrong in mind”
RELIGION V SCIENCE
-Lanyon is traditional: remains rooted in traditional science
-Highlights absurdities in Jekyll’s experimentation
-Lanyon doesn’t approve of Jekyll’s scientific practices
Chapter 9
“I made sure my colleague was insane”
LANYON
-Lanyon only fufills Jekyll’s instructions out of curiosity not care
Chapter 8
“doggedly disregarding the question”
-Poole doesn’t want to tell Utterson about his worries: fears hurting Dr. Jekyll
-Poole is treated well by Jekyll / Scared
Chapter 8
He spoke “with a ferocity of accent that testified to his own jangled nerves”
GOOD vs EVIL
-Rare expression of emotion
-Poole is less restricted due to his lower class
Chapter 8
“master’s made away with”
REPUTATION
-Jekyll referred to as master by Poole: reader reminded of how the two characters are expected to interact
-Poole is able to be sure Jekyll has been replaced with Hyde
Chapter 4
“an aged and beautiful gentleman with white hair”
GOOD VS EVIL
-”white hair” symbol of Sir Carew’s age, distinguishment, purity
-Carew’s presentation as a victim
-description of Carew feminised → females are helpless
Chapter 4
“with the air of one very much surprised and a trifle hurt”
GOOD vs EVIL
-Increases tension surrounding Carew’s death: reader assumed he was unaware of who Hyde was, why he hurt him
-Carew serves as a plot device rather than a 3D character
Chapter 1
“about three o’clock of a black winter morning”
REPUTATION
DUALITY OF MAN
-Enfield engaged in some dubious berhaviour: contrast to his reputable portrayal for the rest of the novella
-Reader questions what he was doing, heightens air of mystery
-Duality
Chapter 4
“she had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy”
DUALITY
GOOD VS EVIL
-Conflict between outside expression, inside voice: this reflects conflict between Jekyll and Hyde
-Duality
Chapter 10
“All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil”
GOOD VS EVIL
DUALITY
-Human nature is not one but two
-Dr Jekyll reflective on his experiment
-Condemning the existence of Hyde as inhuman
Chapter 10
“double dose”, “double dealer”
DUALITY
-Alliteration
-Emphasises theme of duality
Chapter 1
Hyde “a really damnable man; and the person that drew the cheque is the very pink of proprieties”
DUALITY
-Contrast between Jekyll and Hyde
-Reinforced by plosives in 'pink of properties’
-Duality
Chapter 1
“cold, scanty and embarrassed”
REPUTATION
-Traits of a repressed character
-Channels his passions into investigation and profession
Chapter 1
“the man trampled calmly”, “something displeasing”
GOOD vs EVIL
-Reader imagines and embellishes events describes → more vivid and personal experience reading
-Evil nature of violence juxtaposes restrained formal tone it’s described in
-Repression
Chapter 1
“even [Utterson’s'] friendships seemed to be founded in a similar catholicity of good nature”
REPUTATION
-’founded’ → security, reliability, respectability
-religious connotations of “catholicity'“ → many of Utterson’s friendships are based on shared values so his relationship with Jekyll stands out
-Friendship
Chapter 5
“The lawyer listened gloomily; he did not like his friend’s feverish manner”
GOOD VS EVIL
-Fricative alliteration → Utterson’s doubt
-’Friend’ → Utterson cares about Jekyll
-Separate clause to refer to Utterson’s job implies he cares for Jekyll DESPITE their professional relationship, or he cares for him in a personal and professional sense
-Friendship
Chapter 2
“unscientific balderdash”
SCIENCE vs RELIGION
-Highlights difference in scientific study and research that Jekyll and Lanyon undertake
-Lanyon focuses on material, balances experiment with religion
-Jekyll focuses on metaphysical science: shown by sibilance in ‘unscientfic’
Chapter 4, 1, 1
“ape-like fury”, “damned juggernaut”, “stumping along”
GOOD VS EVIL
FEAR + HORROR
-Hyde likened to an ape
-Juggernaut = unstoppable machine
Chapter 2
“it turns me cold to think of this creature stealing like a thief to Harry’s bedside”
REPUTATION AND SECRECY
-Secrecy
-Common interpretation: Utterson assumes that Jekyll and Hyde are in a homosexual relationship
-Metaphor ‘turns me cold’ → severity of implications
-Animalistic connotations of ‘creature’ → criminality of act, need to keep it a secret
Chapter 3
“This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop”
SECRECY
-Urgency to Jekyll’s desire to retain secrecy
Chapter 1
“the fellow had a key”
SECRECY
-Door acts as a barrier to prevent true nature being revealed
-Hyde has a key, able to transcend the boundaries of appearance and reality
Chapter 2
“shady lawyers”
SECRECY
DUALITY
REPUTATION
-Oxymoron
-Ironic: they should be delivering justice but are exploitative criminals
-Utterson defies this stereotype: he is the moral compass of the novella
Chapter 4
“all of a sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his food, brandishing the cane, and carrying on like a madman”
GOOD vs EVIl
-metaphor ‘flame of anger’: Hyde’s ability to change rapidly, relates to field of violence
-Ordered series of clauses contrasts with violent and irrational nature of what Hyde has done
Chapter 1
“A certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street”
FEAR + HORROR
-Plosive alliteration - ‘block of building’ emphasises jarring nature of building (reinforced by the sibilant ‘certain sinister’)
-Active connotations of ‘thrust’ add to violent imagert
Chapter 5
“If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also”
DUALITY
-dual nature ‘sin’ → reward and punishment
-Jekyll and Hyde is a cautionary tale: the rewards do not outweigh the punishment of acting sinfully
Chapter 1
“really like satan”, “if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend”
SCIENCE V RELIGION
-Biblical allusion: these statements have gravitas
Chapter 1
“the man trampled calmly over the child’s body”
GOOD VS EVIL
-like many female characters, she is an object
-violation of innocence
-supernatural: lack of emotive language - Hyde’s unemotional detachment from his actions
Chapter 1
Enfield: “the more it looks like queer street, the less I ask”
REPUTATION
-The more it looks like someone is facing difficulty, the less he will pry
-Use of strange words suggests its very important to Enfield’s character
Chapter 4
“a fog rolled over the city in the small hours“
SECRECY
-pathetic fallacy for Carew’s murder
-Supernatural
Chapter 10
“I concealed my pleasures”
SECRECY
-Jekyll feels repressed by victorian society
Chapter 10
Jekyll thinks that in separating his human nature “Life would be relieved of all that was unbearable”
REPUTATION
-Society dictated repression drives Jekyll to destruction
Chapter 1 Summary
We meet Utterson - a typical Victorian gentleman. His close friend Enfield tells him the story of the door, where an uncanny man called Hyde trampled a child and payed compensation from Jekyll to save his reputation. He goes in through a strange door. |
Chapter 2 summary
We find out that Utterson lives a restricted and restrained life. Jekyll is reputable, educated and wealthy, and he has left everything to Mr Hyde in his will.
We meet Lanyon, a doctor who contrasts Utterson (very logical and reasoning), who says Jekyll has become ‘too experimental’ for his liking. Lanyon also doesn’t know who Hyde is.
Utterson has a gothic nightmare where he dreams of an unknown city becoming a labyrinth (Terror Incognita).
We finally meet Hyde who is very animalistic and quick to anger and doesn’t quite know how to act in front of Utterson. After a quick exchange Hyde shrinks back behind the door.
Utterson goes back round the front to Jekyll’s house, only to find out that he isn’t home. Instead, we meet Poole, Jekyll’s butler. Hyde has keys to Jekyll’s home.
Utterson thinks that Jekyll is being blackmailed and makes a plan to ‘save’ him through blackmailing Hyde.
Chapter 3 summary
Utterson goes to Jekyll’s house for a dinner party. He stays behind and asks Jekyll about his will. J gets quite angry and defensive, assuring Utterson that there is no problems, but he asks Utterson to look after Hyde if he ever disappears.
Chapter 4 summary
Inspector Newcommen finds a letter addressed to Utterson. Utterson has been called to identify a body. Danvers Carew is murdered - we find out it was by Hyde and there are links to Jekyll.
Utterson and a police officer go to Hyde’s house to investigate and find it ransacked (Hyde has not been seen for 2 months by his housekeeper!). They plan to wait for Hyde at the bankC
Chapter 5 summary
Utterson is admitted into the laboratories. He visits Jekyll who is depressed and anxious. he vows to have nothing more to do with Hyde and gives him a letter which is supposedly written by Hyde and states Hyde cannot be caught by the police.
Chapter 6 Summary
For two months, Jekyll returns to his old self, being sociable and renewing his friendship with Lanyon. Jekyll suddenly refuses to see Utterson again, alarming the lawyer. Utterson visits Lanyon and finds him physically changed and clearly disturbed by something terrifying.
We will find out more in chapter 9!!!
Chapter 7 Summary
A year after Chapter 1 - these chapters are mirrored (Enfield and Utterson on their walks). They pass the door that they passed in Chapter 1 and think back on the murder case and notes that they will never see Mr Hyde again.
Enfield knows that the lab is connected to Jekyll’s house. They peer into Jekyll’s windows and surprisingly find Jekyll, who feels ‘very low’ but he refuses the offer of a walk with E + U.
Suddenly a look of terror seizes Jekyll’s face and he slams the window shut.
Chapter 8 Summary
Poole begs Utterson to go with him to Jekyll’s lab
He fears Jekyll is dead
They break the door down and find Hyde dead on the floor by suicide (poision)
Chapter 9 summary
Detailed description of Lanyon’s account of the story. We see Hyde’s transformation using the powder to Jekyll
Change of perspective from third -> first person
Happens in between chapter 5 and 6
Chapter 10 Summary
Jekyll’s full account of the story. Starts BEFORE chapter 1, ends after Chapter 9.
We see how Jekyll becomes Hyde, and how he becomes addicted to this idea of Hyde.
Grade 9 Context
The Victorian Age was marked by a strong religious revival, largely in response to the perceived excesses of the French Revolution and Enlightenment skepticism.
Christianity was deeply embedded in society, with widespread church attendance, missionary efforts, and a belief that morality and success were divinely sanctioned.
However, religious faith faced significant challenges, including the rise of Catholicism, the spread of Nonconformity, and intellectual critiques from figures like David Strauss and Charles Lyell, who questioned biblical literalism.
While many Victorians clung to natural theology and the idea of divine design, the publication of works like Robert Chambers’ Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation and Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species ultimately posed an even greater threat to traditional religious beliefs.
As scientific discoveries gained traction, faith adapted but was increasingly challenged, signaling a shift toward a more secular outlook by the late 19th century.
