Trumpet & Jekyll and Hyde Comparison

TERM: Thesis – Connection between Trumpet and Jekyll & Hyde
- DEFINITION: Both novels explore hidden identities, social fear of difference, and the divide between public and private selves.
- Stevenson portrays the concealed self as dangerous, while Kay shows hidden identity as authentic and oppressed by society.

TERM: Identity in Jekyll & Hyde
- DEFINITION: Identity is literally split between Jekyll and Hyde, representing repressed desires and Victorian anxieties.
TERM: Identity in Trumpet
- DEFINITION: Joss Moody’s identity is unified and authentic, despite society perceiving him as deceptive because he is trans.
TERM: Connection – Identity
- DEFINITION: Both novels show identity as multiple and socially misunderstood; Stevenson treats duality as destructive, while Kay treats it as human and real.
TERM: Quote – Jekyll on transformation
- DEFINITION: “I felt younger, lighter, happier in body.”
TERM: Quote – Millie on Joss
- DEFINITION: “He was the most beautiful man I had ever known.”
TERM: Quote – Colman’s confusion
- DEFINITION: “I was living a lie too.”

TERM: Society’s fear in Jekyll & Hyde
- DEFINITION: Hyde inspires instinctive disgust (“detestable”), symbolising Victorian fear of deviance.
TERM: Society’s fear in Trumpet
- DEFINITION: After Joss’s death, the media and medical system treat his body as abnormal or scandalous.
TERM: Connection – Fear of Difference
- DEFINITION: Both novels show how society punishes people who do not fit norms, viewing difference as threat.
TERM: Quote – Enfield on Hyde
- DEFINITION: “Something displeasing, something downright detestable.”
TERM: Quote – Doctor on Joss
- DEFINITION: “The body belongs to science now.”
TERM: Quote – Journalist’s exploitation
- DEFINITION: “A story like this doesn’t come along every day.”

TERM: Public/private in Jekyll & Hyde
- DEFINITION: Jekyll hides his desires behind a mask of respectability; Hyde embodies secret impulses.
TERM: Public/private in Trumpet
- DEFINITION: Joss’s gender identity is respected privately within his marriage, but scrutinised publicly after death.
TERM: Connection – Public/Private
- DEFINITION: Both novels highlight how intimate identity differs from public perception, and how society intrudes on privacy.
TERM: Quote – Jekyll on repression
- DEFINITION: “I concealed my pleasures.”
TERM: Quote – Millie’s certainty
- DEFINITION: “I knew my husband.”
TERM: Quote – Home as truth
- DEFINITION: “Inside our house, he was Joss, nothing more or less.”

TERM: Body in Jekyll & Hyde
- DEFINITION: Hyde’s corpse changing into Jekyll represents Victorian horror of unstable bodies.
TERM: Body in Trumpet
- DEFINITION: Joss’s anatomy becomes a public spectacle, but Kay challenges the idea that the body should define identity.
TERM: Connection – Bodily Revelation
- DEFINITION: Both use the body to reveal society’s anxieties, but Kay reframes the “horror” as prejudice rather than truth.
TERM: Quote – Hyde’s corpse
- DEFINITION: “There lay the body of a man sorely contorted.”
TERM: Quote – Doctor’s objectification
- DEFINITION: “The doctor stared… as though the body were a puzzle.”
TERM: Quote – Millie seeing Joss
- DEFINITION: “He looked like himself. He always looked like himself.”

TERM: Narrative in Jekyll & Hyde
- DEFINITION: Fragmented through testimonies, letters, and shifting points of view; truth revealed gradually.
TERM: Narrative in Trumpet
- DEFINITION: Polyphonic structure with multiple narrators (Millie, Colman, doctor, reporter); identity shown from many perspectives.
TERM: Connection – Fragmented Narratives
- DEFINITION: Both novels show that identity cannot be captured from a single viewpoint; it is constructed through others’ perceptions.

TERM: Secrecy in Jekyll & Hyde
- DEFINITION: Concealing identity leads to Jekyll losing control and eventually dying.
TERM: Secrecy in Trumpet
- DEFINITION: Joss’s secrecy protects him; harm comes from society, not from his hidden past.
TERM: Connection – Consequences of Secrecy
- DEFINITION: Stevenson sees secrecy as self-destructive; Kay sees secrecy as survival in an intolerant world.

TERM: Difference 1 – Moral framing
- DEFINITION: Stevenson frames hidden identity as dangerous; Kay frames it as natural and oppressed.
TERM: Difference 2 – Ending
- DEFINITION: Jekyll & Hyde ends with collapse and death; Trumpet ends with continuity, memory, and enduring love.
TERM: Difference 3 – Purpose of doubling
- DEFINITION: For Stevenson, doubling = Gothic horror. For Kay, “doubling” is a misperception imposed by society.

TERM: Quick Summary – How the novels connect
- DEFINITION: Both novels examine hidden identities, social judgement, bodily revelation, and the gap between public and private selves. Stevenson presents hidden identity as monstrous; Kay portrays it as human and misinterpreted by society.
TERM: Quick Summary – Core contrast
- DEFINITION: Stevenson blames the divided self; Kay blames society.