JEKYLL AND HYDE

“like a man restored from death there stood henry jekyll”

• simile of “like a man restored from death” is used by Stevenson because of its striking similarities to a religious resurrection. This would have been terrifying for the victorian readership, as the only entity able to change forms is christ, so to see jekyll exercise such God-like power so cruelly, would have been terrifying

“my devil had been long caged and came out roaring”

• this metaphor demonstrates the dangers of repression, as for Jekyll it resulted in his Satanic and evil side bursting with ferocity.

• Furthermore, the use of the possessive pronoun “my” to describe his evil nature, is used to demonstrate how this evil nature belonged to Jekyll. It was not separate to him, it was a part of him.

“such unscientific balderdash”

• derogatory language used to describe Jekyll’s work is used by Stevenson to mirror the sentiment of Victorian society towards scientific discovery, which was that it was blasphemous and dangerous.

• furthermore, the supernatural is presented as a plausible result of scientific discovery to play on the fears of the victorian readership, who were sceptical of such fast scientific advancements

“trampled calmly over the child”

• juxtaposition of “trampled” and “calmly” serve to highlight the severity of Hyde’s actions, and his utter lack of remorse, therefore demonstrating his utterly abhorrent character

“every mark of capacity and kindess”

• jekyll is presented as a harmless member of respectable victorian society, which makes his abhorrent counterpart Hyde even more shocking

• However whilst Jekyll and Hyde are described as separate entities, they are the reflections of one human psyche. Stevenson presents them as separate entities in order to highlight the extreme disparity of human nature.

“labyrinths of a lamp lighted city”

• juxtaposition of the clarity light presents, and the confusion of a labyrinth mirror the dual nature of the city

“like a district of some city in a nightmare”

• soho is a geographical expression of Hyde withing Jekyll. It is an enclave of poverty within the salubrious West End of London.

“which wore a great air of wealth”

• this metaphor is significant, as even Jekyll’s house is not presented as genuinely respectable but rather “wears” it’s reputation. Ingenuine house to house an ingenuine person.

“all humans are commingled out of good and evil”

• evil is present and inextricably present in every human. it is an inescapable fact of being human.

• idea that would have disturbed the victorian audience, and pushes the limits of the conventional gothic genre.

“austere with himself”

utterson repression

“about 3 oclock of a black winter morning”

enfields suspicious and possible disreputable actions

“ordinary secret sinner”

• this oxymoronic phrase highlights the realities of victorian society. no one was purely what they seemed, and evil was