Jekyll and Hyde - Themes Flashcards Preview

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1
Q

What did Victorian Society expect gentleman to have?

A

Victorian society expected gentleman to have a good reputation.

2
Q

What is very important to gentlemen in the novel?

A

+Reputation is very important to gentlemen in the novel

+Immoral activities and uncontrolled emotions would damage a gentleman’s reputation.

+If this happened, they may no longer be seen as a gentleman at all, which would mean losing many social advantages.

+This means that the gentlemen in Jekyll and Hyde value their reputations above all else.

3
Q

Who is wary of gossip?

A

+Utterson is wary of gossip, in case it reflects badly on him or his friends.

+He and Enfield agree never to talk about Hyde, and believe in not asking questions if something “looks like Queer Street”.

4
Q

Who is more concerned about preserving Jekyll’s reputation?

A

+Utterson is more concerned about preserving Jekyll’s reputation than bringing Hyde to trial.

+After Carew’s murder, he says to Jekyll, “If it came to a trial, your name might appear.”

5
Q

What is Stevenson’s message about reputation?

A

+Stevenson’s message is that reputations cannot be trusted because they are based on appearances.

+They are the version of person that he or she wants the world to see.

6
Q

What happens when a society values reputation as highly as the Victorians did?

A

+When a society values reputation as highly as the Victorians did, it makes it difficult to know what people are really like.

+This is what causes Utterson problems - he cannot fully understand Jekyll’s situation because he only sees Jekyll’s repuation as important.

+This means that he holds onto the idea of blackmail until the very last moment - he finds it hard to look beyond his concern for reputation.

7
Q

Who is more worried about his reputation than his sins?

A

Jekyll is more worried about his reputation than his sins

8
Q

Who has to hide his sins to protect his reputation?

A

+Jekyll has to hide his sins to protect his reputation.

+He struggles with this, so he creates Hyde to rid himself of the “disgrace” of sin.

9
Q

Give quotes which show Jekyll’s feelings about reputation.

A
  • “a load of genial respectability” - Jekyll still wants a gentlemanly reputation.
  • “like a schoolboy” - This simile makes Jekyll seem quite childish and irresponsible
  • “spring headlong into the sea of liberty” - He associates Hyde with freedom.
  • “the safety was complete” - Jekyll thinks his reputation is safe.
  • “I did not even exist!” - He sees Hyde as a different person because it makes him feel better.

+This quote shows how concerned Jekyll is with his reputation - he thinks more about hiding his sins than dealing with them.

+He feels free as Hyde because he can conceal his sins perfectly.

10
Q

Who gets a little carried away?

A

+“I had been safe of all men’s respect”

+Jekyll gets a little carried away with his ‘goodie by day, baddie by night’ arrangement.

+He can prowl around in the dark causing death and destruction, whilst his reputation remains intact.

+Ideal - Until he goes wrong

11
Q

What does Jekyll believe?

A

Jekyll believes there are two sides to every individual

12
Q

How does Jekyll feel before he creates Hyde?

A

+Before he creates Hyde, Jekyll feels that he is leading a double life:

  • Jekyll is an established gentleman, with “the respect of the wise and good” in society.
  • On the other hand, he is guilty of “irregularities” - sins and desires that he keeps hidden.
13
Q

Who does Jekyll decide his duality applies to?

A

+Jekyll decides that this duality applies to all of humanity: “man is not truly one, but truly two.”

+Jekyll states this as a fact, because he’s so convinced he’s right.

+This leads him to risk everything.

14
Q

Who is more self-aware than other characters?

A

+Jekyll is more self-aware than the other characters.

+He feels like the good and evil sides of his personality are struggling against one another, and decides to take action by separating them.

+However, he fails to fully separate his two sides because he is “radically both”.

15
Q

How does Stevenson use the language of a battle to describe the struggle between Jekyll’s good and bad emotions?

A

+Writer’s Techniques - Language: Stevenson uses the language of a battle to describe the struggle.

+There’s a “war” within Jekyll, and the “two natures that contended in the field” of his mind sound like two forces meeting on a battlefield.

16
Q

What does Jekyll underestimate?

A

+Jekyll underestimates how closely the good and bad sides of his personality are bound together.

+He also underestimates the power and attraction of his purely evil side - in the end, Hyde and the bad part of Jekyll outweigh the good part of Jekyll.

17
Q

What can the two sides be seen as?

A

The two sides can be seen as sinful and virtuous

18
Q

How does Jekyll live without Hyde?

A

+Without Hyde, Jekyll lives a virtuous life and is “distinguished for religion” and charity.

+But he is also an “ordinary secret sinner”.

+All people, including Jekyll, are a mixture of sin and virtue.

19
Q

How is Hyde in contrast to Jekyll?

A

+In contrast, Hyde is the purely satanic side of Jekyll.

+He writes all over Jekyll’s religious text with “startling blasphemies”.

+Jekyll calls Hyde “My devil”, and Utterson thinks that “Satan’s signature” is written on Hyde’s face.

20
Q

Why is Hyde created?

A

+Hyde is created because of Jekyll’s desire to rid himself of sin, rather than deal with it.

+Jekyll says that Hyde could have been created as “an angel instead of a fiend”, if only the experiment had been done with more “pious” intentions [ie. for God’s glory, not his own].

21
Q

How does the novel show complex attitudes to sin?

A

+Although Stevenson shows the dangers of letting this sinful side take over, the novel also shows complex attitudes to sin:

  • it’s tempting - Jekyll feels “younger, lighter, happier” as Hyde.
  • it’s powerful - Hyde takes over in the end
  • it’s unavoidable - as Hyde, Jekyll gives in to “original evil”
22
Q

What branch of Christianity was around when the novel was written?

A

+Backgrund and Context - Religion: In this period, a branch of Christianity called Evangelicalism taught that all mankind are inevitably sinful, because Adam and Eve sinned.

+Stevenson frightens his readers by taking this further - the sinful side isn’t only inevitable, it can also be stronger.

23
Q

What can be seen as civilised and uncivilised?

A

The two sides can be seen as civilised and uncivilised

24
Q

Who isn’t just the sinful side of Jekyll?

A

+Hyde isn’t just the sinful side of Jekyll - he’s also the uncivilised side.

+He disrupts the ordered, civilised world that Jekyll and his friends live in.

25
Q

What did some upper-class Victorians think about people who committed crimes?

A

+Some upper-class Victorians thought that people who committed crimes, or disrupted the social order, were less evolved.

+They tried to use Darwin’s theory of evolution to back this up.

26
Q

What did Darwin argue?

A

+Darwin argued that humans shared a common ancestor with apes.

+Some upper-class Victorians accepted his theory of evolution, but interpreted it in a different way - they felt evolution would eventually lead to the creation of a ‘perfect’ creature [and on this basis, they saw themselves as more highly evolved than the rest of society].

27
Q

What does Stevenson force his readers to consider?

A

+Stevenson forces his readers to consider the possibility that there’s a savage within all people, even if they seemed civilised.

+Hyde behaves “like a madman” and is “ape-like”, but he’s a part of Jekyll.

+This suggests that it is the civilised side of Jekyll’s personality the excercises restraint - without it, all that is left is the pure evil of Hyde.

+Character - Poole: This also applies to other characters to a certain extent - Poole is a loyal, “well-dressed” servant, but he shouts at another servant with “ferocity”.

28
Q

What does Stevenson use man’s dual nature to comment on?

A

+Stevenson uses man’s dual nature to comment on society

29
Q

What does Stevenson use the idea of duality to criticise?

A

+Stevenson uses the idea of duality to criticise respectable society.

+He suggests that the gap between appearance and reality in the people and places of Victorian London is hypocritical.

30
Q

What is hypocrisy?

A

+Hypocrisy is the act of pretending to have standards or beliefs, but not actually living by them.

31
Q

How does Jekyll appear?

A

+Jekyll appears respectable, until he puts on the “thick cloak” of Hyde.

+This is mirrored in Jekyll’s house - it “wore a great air of wealth and comfort” from the front, but it is secretly connected to the shabby door to the laboratory.

+Stevenson uses imagery of clothing to show how people and places can put forward a misleading appearance to the world.

32
Q

Who are proud of their reputations?

A

+Characters are proud of their reputations, so they priortise the appearance of respectability over honesty.

+The gentlemanly characters look down on immoral activities in public, and then do them anyway [most obviously in Jekyll’s case].

+Stevenson shows that this behaviour can have terrible consequences - Jekyll’s fate is a warning about trying to hide who you are.

33
Q

What moral values did Victorian society have?

A

+Background and Context: Victorian society had a particularly rigid set of moral values.

+To maintain a good reputation, gentlemen had to repress many of their true feelings and desires in public.

34
Q

How is Hyde’s evil nature shown clearly in contrast?

A

+In contrast, Hyde’s evil nature is shown clearly in his “displeasing smile” and “extraordinary appearance”.

+He is the only one who doesn’t hide behind appearances - Stevenson may be suggesting that appearances can only conceal too much.

35
Q

What does Jekyll struggle to reconcile?

A

+“I learned…the thorough and primitive duality of man”

+Jekyll struggles to reconcile the good and evil sides of himself, so he creates Hyde to get rid of the evil bit.

+Hyde’s kind of like that little voice in your head that says, “Eat the biscuits. Eat them. Eat them all.”

36
Q

Who is interested in Science and Religion?

A

The characters are interested in science and religion

37
Q

Who are scientists?

A

+Jekyll and Lanyon are scientists - their profession relies on rational methods and hard evidence.

38
Q

What society do Lanyon and Jekyll live in?

A

+They live in a Christian society - Jekyll is fond of religious texts, and often calls on God to help him.

39
Q

Who have very different approaches to science and religion?

A

+Lanyon and Jekyll have very different approaches to science and religion.

40
Q

What is Lanyon’s approach to science and religion?

A

+Lanyon keeps science and religion separate

  • Lanyon deals with the science of the material world.
  • He cannot cope with Jekyll using scientific research to experiment with spiritual matters.
41
Q

What is Jekyll’s approach to science and religion?

A

+Jekyll combines science and religion

  • Jekyll’s scientific work leads “wholly towards the mystic and the transcendental”.
  • He uses science to deal with “that hard law of life, which lies at the root of religion”.
    • The “hard law” is the idea that all humans are sinful.
42
Q

What was a source of conflict in Victorian society?

A

+The tension between science and religion was a source of conflict in Victorian society.

43
Q

What did most people believe at the start of the nineteenth century?

A

+At the start of the nineteenth century most people believed the explanation from the Bible that the earth was created by God.

+However, throughout the nineteenth century, scientists began to disprove this theory - they believed that the world was created by a process of evolution.

+Many Victorians thought this view was dangerous because it suggested that science had the power to create life - it challenged their religious view of the world.

44
Q

What was a social issue as well as a personal one?

A

Religion is a social issue as well as a personal one

45
Q

What does Christianity teach?

A

+Christianity teaches that everyone is sinful - Hyde was created because Jekyll was so troubled by his sins, even though they weren’t actually that bad.

+When he was younger, he “regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense of shame.”

46
Q

What is another sign of respectability?

A

+Being seen to do good or charitable deeds, on the other hand, is another sign of respectability.

+After Hyde murders Carew, Jekyll becomes “distinguished for religion” for a few months - he’s known for doing good deeds.

47
Q

What does Stevenson criticise regarding religion and sin?

A

+Stevenson criticises the act of being religious in public and sinful in private, by presenting Jekyll’s actions as hypocritical.

+Character - Jekyll: Jekyll finds it easy to put on a show of doing good deeds, but doesn’t deal with his guilty conscience [because he thinks it’s “Hyde alone, that was guilty”]. - This allows Hyde to gain in strength, and in the end Jekyll is destroyed.

+Writer’s Techniques - Language: Stevenson reminds the reader that Jekyll’s actions are sinful by using religious language - Eg. Jekyll is a “secret sinner” and Hyde is “the spirit of hell”.

48
Q

What is sometimes portrayed as unsettling?

A

Science is sometimes portrayed as unsettling

49
Q

How does Stevenson present Jekyll’s scientific work?

A

+Stevenson presents Jekyll’s scientific work as mysterious and disturbing.

50
Q

Describe the transformation of Hyde to Jekyll?

A

+The transformation of Hyde to Jekyll is hideous.

+Lanyon finds it sickening, and Jekyll describes his first transformation as provoking “racking pangs”, “deadly nausea” and “a horror of the spirit”.

51
Q

What is Jekyll’s cabinet full of?

A

+Jekyll’s cabinet is full of curious objects that Utterson and Poole don’t understand.

+There are “traces” of chemicals, “various” measures of “some white salt”, and they decide the cheval glass has seen “some strange things”.

+Stevenson uses this vague language to present science as mysterious.

52
Q

What is shown to be powerful?

A

Science is shown to be powerful

53
Q

What does Jekyll’s science cause?

A

+Jekyll’s science causes death and destruction - this shows how powerful science can be when it’s used to upset the conventional order of Victorian life.

54
Q

What does Jekyll say about the details of his experiment?

A

+Jekyll says that the details of his experiment cannot be shared for two reasons:

  • Jekyll says he won’t “deeply” describe his experiment because it caused his evil side to return with a “more awful pressure.”
    • This acts as a warning about the power of science.
  • His experiment was also “incomplete.” - Even Jekyll, a respected scientist, failed to achieve his aims, and he couldn’t control the power of the evil he unleashed.
55
Q

What did Jekyll’s drugs do?

A

+Writer’s Techniques - Language: Jekyll’s drugs “shook the doors of the prisonhouse of [his] disposition”.

+This strong language shows that Jekyll feels the sinful side of his personality was trapped by the more respectable side.

56
Q

Whose science goes against religious beliefs?

A

Jekyll’s science goes against religious beliefs.

57
Q

What motivates Jekyll to create Hyde?

A

+It is the “temptation of a discovery so singular and profound” that motivates Jekyll to create Hyde.

+He tries to change human nature, which Christians see as God’s creation.

[Christianity was an important part of Victorian society]

58
Q

What does Jekyll meddle with?

A

+Jekyll meddles with human nature for his own selfish reasons.

+He doesn’t have good intentions - this means that Jekyll creates an evil, rather than good, alter ego.

59
Q

Who made a scientific breakthrough even though it was for selfish and evil reasons?

A

+Despite this, Jekyll has still made a scientific breakthrough - He repeats the phrase “I was the first…”, showing how proud he is of himself.

+He starts to think he is “beyond the reach of fate.”

+But this is not the case - By the end, Jekyll is the “chief of sufferers”, and experiences “torments” as Hyde grows in strength.

+Background and Context - Religion: The language of torment that Jekyll uses links to the Christian idea of Hell - a place in the afterlife of constant suffering.

60
Q

Show that you understant that Jekyll’s experiment failed…

A

+Instead of one good and one evil side, Jekyll just creates an evil side, and he stays a mix of both.

+Don’t write ‘Jekyll = good, Hyde = evil’.

+Science is a powerful thing that even Jekyll can’t master.

61
Q

Who are a pretty secretive bunch?

A

+The gentlemen in Jekyll and Hyde are a pretty secretive bunch, even though they’re supposed to be friends.

62
Q

What is there lots of in the novel?

A

There are lots of secrets in the novel

63
Q

What does the whole plot of Jekyll and Hyde revolve around?

A

+The whole plot of Jekyll and Hyde revolves around Jekyll’s secret alter ego, but other characters also have secrets:

  • Utterson has done “many ill things” in his past, but he doesn’t say what these are - this makes his actions appear shameful, even though his past is “fairly blameless”.
  • It’s never explained where Enfield was returning from at three o’clock in the morning - this makes the reader more likely to assume that he was somewhere scandalous.
64
Q

What are left unsaid?

A

Many things are left unsaid

65
Q

Who often decides not to speak?

A

+The gentlemen characters often decide not to speak about unpleasant things so they can pretend they’re not happening [Eg. Utterson and Enfield agree never to talk about Hyde again].

+Character - Jekyll: Jekyll can’t speak about Hyde, perhaps because he can’t admit to his origin as part of Jekyll.

+He asks Utterson to “respect” his silence, and says he “cannot share” what he knows.

66
Q

How do the characters also downplay shocking events?

A

+They also downplay shocking events.

+For example, Enfield describes the trampled girl as “a bad story”, and when Lanyon says he regards Jekyll as dead, Utterson’s only reply is “Tut-tut”.

+This understatement shows that the gentlemen are determined to pretend that everything is normal.

67
Q

Which two characters chooses to write about their experiences?

A

+Both Lanyon and Jekyll choose to write about their experiences, rather than speak about them.

+These letters are left unread until the end of the novel, which adds to the secrecy and suspense.

68
Q

Who uses locked doors as symbols?

A

Stevenson uses locked doors as symbols

69
Q

How many locked doors and windows are there in the novel?

A

+There are many closed doors and windows in the novel:

  • The back door to Jekyll’s house has “neither bell nor knocker” and it’s associated with Hyde.
  • Jekyll slams the window shut on Utterson and Enfield, and later locks himself in the cabinet.
  • Important items, like letters and Jekyll’s ingredients, are kept securely locked in drawers and safes.

+These closed doors and windows represent people’s desire to hide their secrets, so smashing the cabinet door is a symbolic moment - It represents the breakdown of Jekyll’s walls of secrecy.

70
Q

Write about the different ways that Stevenson creates secrecy…

A

+Show the examiner that you understand Stevenson’s techniques - he creates secrecy using gaps in the narrative, the gentlemen’s language, and the settings.