Dr Henry Jekyll and Mr Hyde - quotes and analysis

"A large, well made, smooth faced man of fifty

-Stevenson uses triplets to reflect Jekyll's perfect, unflawed and ideal appearance, inextricably fitting the victorian conventions of a gentleman. This role is performative and "smooth faced" suggest a mask he enforces to hide his true self and conceal his primal self; Hyde. Hyde is the true jekyll, with this mask ripped away and no constraints of expectations nor repression.

-Hyde is not a sudden creation, but the result of years of internal self denial.

-The compound adjective "well-made" is particularly revealing: it suggests not natural goodness but a crafted, artificial identity — as if Jekyll has spent years engineering himself to conform to Victorian ideals.

-Through this refined exterior, Stevenson explores the damaging effects of social repression: Jekyll's identity has been curated to the point of falsity.

"My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring"

- Reference to Jekyll's inner desires. which manifested to produce Hyde. The notion of "devil" through religious allusion elucidates a stark contrast with Christian ideas of morality.

- The personal pronoun "my" reflects how Hyde is infallibly a part of Jekyll therefore he contradicts himself as despite his previous statements in which he declared "The moment i choose, I can be rid of Mr Hyde" you cant get rid of something that is a part of you and will always be. - Raises questions as to whether we can we trust Jekyll's narrations?

-The verb "roaring" has animalistic connotations as Stevenson uses zoomorphism when describing the character of Hyde - he is a primal being, less developed but also less socially conditioned.

"I felt younger, lighter, happier in body"

-Stevenson utilises the rule of three to display the damaging effects repression has had on Jekyll as whilst attempting to maintain and uphold the expectations of the bourgeoise, he had been unhappy and unfulfilled even whilst living to the ripe age of "fifty".

-The comparative displays to the audience how burdensome the restraints of societal expectations are on Jekyll and how relieving it must have been to transform to Hyde who is the epitome of liberty

"I concealed my pleasures"

-The verb "concealed" illustrates how the pressure enforced upon Jekyll to keep his indulgences private within a contemporary society has led to the manifestation/creation of Hyde; a product of repression

-Jekyll contained his sinful and abhorred side in order to maintain social respect, however Jekyll PATHOLOGISES HUMAN PLEASURE, whereby he creates something far more monstrous.

- By doing this, Stevenson warns his audience on the consequences of repressing natural human tendencies as not fully expressing oneself could lead to the development of something worse, alike to hyde.

-Stevenson presents Hyde as a CAUTIONARY SYMBOL, warning readers against the dangers of enforcing a conformist society that suppresses individuality. Through Hyde's emergence, Stevenson CRITIQUES a culture that conditions people to think and behave according to rigid, ARBITRARY moral codes — exposing how such repression breeds inner corruption rather than true VIRTUE.

"The masked thing like a monkey jumped from among the chemicals"

-Similie - reference to Darwins theory which reinforces Hyde's primitive nature. Hyde is degenerate and different from other characters

-The euphamism within “masked thing” reflects how Hyde is not human nor mammal, he is something unnatural and inhumane. The notion “masked” reflects how despite being in his liberated form, he is still not his true self as Jekyll is still an intrinsic part of him who is holding back in shame, limiting Hyde.

-The noun "chemicals" displays the unnatural nature in which Hyde was created and would instil fear within the audience as they were heavily christian and science stood to challenge this.

-Jekyll therefore is a blasphemous character as he had created a damned being, almost emulating God which calls for punishment, foreshadowing his later downfall within the novella.

"Something troglodytic"

"He gives a strong feeling of deformity"

"Ape like fury"

- Hydes phsyiognomy reflects his flawed character, acting as a symbolic extension of his morally flawed character.

"troglodytic" - displays Hyde's recessive nature, evoking darwinian fears and how his physical appearance leads to complete revulsion.

-Links to Hyde's bestial actions, such as his "ape-like fury," which strip him of rationality and associate him with raw, instinctive violence. These animalistic descriptions reflect his complete lack of conscience, restraint, or empathy — characteristics that define civilised man.

-Hyde is the antithesis of Jekyll, yet also an extension of him — embodying the dual, and ultimately hypocritical, nature of man

“man is not truly one, but truly two”

The use of antithesis suggests that Jekyll perceives human nature as inherently divided. His experiments don't necessarily create his darker impulses from nothing; rather, they allow him to externalise and indulge aspects of himself that he has previously concealed. This could interpret the fact that hyde symbolises human capacity to commit evil, however victorian society teaches a repressive way to hide these desires in which overtime leads to the fabrication of another identity. Stevenson portrays Jekyll as morally corrupt, as his excessive repression of his darker desires proves a unsustainable lifestyle, ultimately allowing Hyde to dominate his identity.Stevenson may therefore intend to warn his readers of the destructive consequences of attempting to compartmentalise human nature, as Jekyll's inability to control Hyde demonstrates how repression can ultimately lead to moral corruption. Furthermore, through Hyde's destructive influence on society, Stevenson criticises the hypocrisy of Victorian society, suggesting that its obsession with maintaining respectability may inadvertently encourage the very immorality it seeks to suppress. It also shows how hyde was a temporary means of escape, but instead evolved into something much worse, that not only shocked jekyll but those around him aswell

“unsicentific boulderdash”

Lanyon uses colloquial language in reference to jekylls scientific research to reflect the absurdity of his work. This also foreshadows jekylls immense downfall, as Lanyon doubts jekylls scientific knowlege and the formation of hyde could reflect Jekylls insecurity of self acceptance and validation that he yearns for. You could also argue that Lanyon's rejection foreshadows Jekyll's downfall because Jekyll's desire to pursue his experiments despite their rejection reflects his determination to validate his own ideas, ultimately at the expense of his moral integrity and safety.

THEORIES! - scientific hubris

SCIENTIFIC HUBRIS- Like frankenstein, Jekyll tries to master nature by playing God through science. Stevenson warns against unchecked experimentation: the pursuit of knowledge without restraint leads to self-destruction

THEORIES! -Lombrosos theory

-Lombroso's theory teaches that criminals can be recognized by their physical appearance, Hyde's appearance is unconventional and differs from the typical gentleman, therefore he is assumed to be a criminal.

-This reflects the belief that evil is visible.

-Stevenson critiques this deterministic view but also plays into it to reflect Victorian fears.

Christian morality - The original sin

- The christian belief that everyone is born with the original sin, therefore humans are inclined to commit evil

-Jekyll tries to purify himself by removing sin, but fails — showing that evil is an inseparable part of human nature, not something that can be cut out.

-Therefore Stevenson could be communicating to his widely christian audience that sin and perfection can't be obtained due to the original sin, therefore we shouldnt punish others for their mistakes. Hyde is within everyone, as everyone commits evil.