Victorian gentlemen

Jekyll and Hyde is about a group of gentlemen

• The ‘gentlemen’ was an important figure in Victorian society

• A man’s social class was one part of being a gentlemen- they were from upper classes in Victorian society

• His profession was also important- army officers, church ministers, doctors and lawyers would all be counted as gentlemen. Some middle-class men(such as bankers and successful merchants) also aspired to be gentlemen

• Gentlemen were expected to have strong morals and be kind, particularly towards poorer people, but many saw this as a less important aspect

• Being a gentlemen brought benefits, as it gave you the chance to enter well-paid professions and gain the respect of rich clients

• It was also important for your children as the girls would get someone to marry and the boys would get jobs

Gentlemen were obsessed with their reputation

• Without a good reputation, a man wasn’t considered a gentlemen

• Gentlemen would walk through public places, like Hyde park, to keep up appearance

• They were expected to keep their emotions under strict control. Forced them to hide their desires for things like sex and alcohol

• Many were publicly snobbish about disreputable places, like brothels, whilst visiting them secretly, Stevenson at the hypocrisy throughout the novel

• They often payed large amounts of money to keep activities private, which made them vulnerable to blackmail. Even Hyde will pay money.

Theme: Dual nature of man

Jekyll struggles with the social pressure to be respectable. He ‘concealed’ his ‘pleasures’ , but this made him feel like a ‘double dealer’, even before he created Hyde.

Theme:Reputation

Utterson wants to discover the truth about Hyde, but he is worried that it might damage Jekyll’s reputation. This slows him down when he is trying to solve the mystery