Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde - THEMES

Question 1

What is an allegory?

Answer 1

Something that represents a hidden moral or political meaning

Question 2

What are Jekyll + Hyde allegories of?

Answer 2

The conflicting human nature/duality of man

Question 3

What does the duality of man present?

Answer 3

The potential of good and evil

Question 4

What religious language does Jekyll use when explaining his experiment?

Answer 4

• soul
• angel
• fiend
  (He believes they are at war within every human)

Question 5

What is typically evil?

Answer 5

• going back to primitive instincts
• breaking social convention
• breaking rules and unspoken normalities

Question 6

What happened in the late 1800s that made the concept of evil so popular?

Answer 6

1888 - high profile murders - Jack the Ripper (murder and mutilation of 5 women)

Question 7

How does Stevenson imply that that there is no such thing as pure good?

Answer 7

Jekyll splits his two sides - purely evil - Hyde; but Jekyll is not the pure good version

Question 8

What is the duality of man?

Answer 8

Contrasting aspects of people’s characters

Question 9

What is Stevenson trying to warn the reader about and how?

Answer 9

He warns about interest in evil matters - characters involved are punished - darker instincts should be kept in their place

Question 10

What is another interpretation of what Stevenson’s message is?

Answer 10

• the unfair rules in society
• oppressive society
• forced to exercise restraint
  (People can’t do what they want/be who they want to be)

Question 11

What were there advances in, in the 19th century?

Answer 11

• industrialisation
• medicine
• science
  (Change how people saw the world)

Question 12

How did people feel about the developments of science?

Answer 12

Required extreme caution - unsure whether it would help or hinder

Question 13

How is the tension between science (explainable) and supernatural (unexplainable) shown in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?

Answer 13

Lanyon = science
Jekyll = supernatural
Conflict between Jekyll + Lanyon represents tension between science and supernatural

Question 14

What is Stevenson trying to warn the reader about science through the character of Lanyon?

Answer 14

Lanyon remains too reliant upon rationality + science, so he is unable to cope with the unexplained - he dies from shock

Question 15

How does Jekyll disguise his interest in the supernatural?

Answer 15

Darkness of experiments contrasts with wealthy house

Question 16

What is Stevenson’s overall message about the supernatural?

Answer 16

It’s dangerous to pursue (eg. Jekyll), but dangerous to ignore (eg. Lanyon)

Question 17

What were some features of upper class Victorians?

Answer 17

• good appearance
• reputation (maintaining it)
• didn’t matter what you did as much, as long as you had good appearance + reputation and society decided to ignore it

Question 18

How is Hyde’s name deceiving?

Answer 18

He is evil, but Stevenson implies that evil can’t be hidden - Jekyll tries to hide his undesirable behaviours, but doesn’t succeed

Question 19

How does Hyde’s appearance represent his evil?

Answer 19

• shocking, horrific - appearance very important in Victorian era
• small - not fully human

Question 20

How does Hyde bring out other’s evil?

Answer 20

Fear brought to those who see him - many want to kill him

Question 21

What are the main themes in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?

Answer 21

• good vs evil
• the duality of human nature
• science and the supernatural
• appearance vs reality