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blackness (inner evil)
a blackness came about his eye
the colour black connotes corruption and evil and could be viewed as a physical glimpse of Hyde, as throughout the novel while in Jekyll form as Hyde grows more powerful we see glimpses of him
The evil being in Jekyll’s eyes could be interpreted as ….
grew pale (inner evil)
his face grew pale to the very lips
the adjective ‘pale’ presents Jekyll as sick and malnourished, which could be viewed as Hyde sucking out the health and liveliness out of Jekyll as he grows more powerful
the verb ‘grew’ expresses how Hyde is slowly infecting and tainting Jekyll from within
seized (inner evil)
seized with a qualm of faintness
the violent verb ‘seized’ displays how Hyde is aggressively taking control of Jekyll and is much more obvious than earlier on in the novel where there was just ‘a blackness about his eye’
dark purple, watery green (transgressive science)
compound changed to dark purple, which faded again to watery green
purple is associated with not only evil but also Royalty, which could present the power and ambition of Jekyll’s transgressive science
green is associated with evil and disease and so portrays how transgressive science is plaguing to people and infects their minds and bodies
blood (transgressive science)
blood red liquor
the mention of blood could be a reference to the unethical/harmful side of transgressive science
deadliest terror (transgressive science)
the deadliest terror sits by me
the adjective ‘deadliest’ highlights how dangerous and harmful transgressive science can be, and that as a whole transgressive science is not helpful and will not progress the science of the 19th century in a good/moral way
grew pale → deathly sick (loss of control)
his face grew pale to the very lips → Jekyll looked deathly sick
the growing illness of Jekyll could be interpreted as Hyde draining the life out of Jekyll like a parasite
the growing sickness of Jekyll could also be interpreted as a physical showing of Jekyll’s mental distress and that his mental issues are now visible
choose → prisoner (loss of control)
the moment I choose I can be rid of Mr. Hyde → like some disconsolate prisoner
at the start of the novel Jekyll had full control over Hyde and he was the dominant one, but near the end of the novel there has been a role reversal and now Jekyll feels more like a prisoner/slave, and with that has lost control and happiness
bed (loss of control)
I had gone to bed Henry Jekyll, I had awakened Edward Hyde
the action of going to bed could be an interpretation of Jekyll becoming dormant and now losing the dominant role in his body
the verb ‘awakened’ could be viewed as Hyde now being in control
morbid sense of shame (reputation)
I hid them with a morbid sense of shame
shows how as a Victorian Gentlemen, Jekyll has to constantly repress and hide parts of him, afraid that his precious reputation could be devalued and that if he doesn’t it’s very shameful
masking house/door quote
innocent (reputation/freedom)
an innocent freedom of the soul
the adjective ‘innocent’ creates sympathy for Jekyll and portrays him as an innocent victim to Hyde’s terror
tortured (repression)
I was tortured by longongs
my devil (repression)
my devil had been long caged, he came out roaring
references his inner devil ‘Hyde’, which is a manifestation of Jekyll’s deepest desires
The noun ‘devil’ connotes Christianity and beliefs about morality, and so calling Hyde the ‘devil’ presents him as immoral and unethical
the animalistic verb ‘roaring’ has connotations of beastly, uncontrollable, and deadly which correctly represent the elements of Hyde
the imagery of a cage portrays Hyde as a confined dangerous animal, that has been long repressed inside of Jekyll, and as a result is now bursting out violently
spirit of hell (repression)
the spirit of hell awoke in me and raged
the noun ‘spirit’ connotes the holy spirit from Christianity and presents an omnipotent being
the violent verb ‘raged’ portrays Hyde as barbaric/uncivilized and full of hatred
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