appearance vs reality in j&h Flashcards
jekyll vs hyde physical thesis
In his novella stevenson subverts contemporary binary victorian views of how ones looks were an honest reflection of their character through the dual nature of jekyll and hyde, proving how jekylls trustworthy appearance is only a facade for the primal evil he conceals.
jekylls appearance vs hydes structure
-‘well made smooth faced man’ jekyll is a juxtaposition to hyde in the way that he completely abides to societal norms and so the reader would find trust and comfort in him from inital description ‘well made’ suggests that he comes from a respectable upper class background, likely old money as the new money and socially mobile were mocked. in a physiogonomy centred world the idea that facially there were no cracks would reflect the fact that morally he is pristine. he also conforms to the ideas that to be seen is to be respected hosting dinner parties and having many friends who were equally respected
even utterson, the vehicle for upper class logical conformism is inexplicably driven to anger
- ‘something trigolodytic, something downright detestable yet i scarce know why’ Hyde completely juxatposes the safe society abiding aspect of jekylls appearance, showing how despite their spiritual onensss as the same man, appearances can completely warp ones opinions upon someone specfiically in the victorian contemparay society- he subverts gothic tropes of a clear villain. Trigolodytic refers to caveman esque eras when man was deeply primal, alighting fears of devolution and lombroscos theory of avatism so giving the audience a clear opposed feeling to him, juxtaposing the completely conformist description of his counterpart in jekyll. the anaphoric repetiton of something shows how his primal evil cannot be summarised even by a reliable anchorsuch as utterson whilst the harsh d plosive gives a spitting sound that mimics the rage hyde alights in people.
- he also depicts how then societal pressures to physically conform to the materialistic values is caging and pressurising- hence why someone like jekyll has such a sporadic outburst, indeed upon transformation the reality of jekylls true self shows he has no place in scoeity- ‘my clothes hung formlessly on my shrunken limbs’ hydes power is fed by evil, the more jekyll indulges in the youthful and freeing pleasure of his id the more he grows and becomes less conformist- hence why his mateiralistic items, a symbol of his upper class place, do not fit. hydes limbs are shrunken as he is an avatistic ugly character, but also becaus ehe is ‘smaller and slighter’ due to the years of repression
bit of a macbeth allusion here, as shakespear consnatly sees macbeaths corruption as a metaphor through his shrunken clothes, steveson is drawing connotations to a popular villain who deemed himself honourable but was harbouring evil
gentlemen appearance vs reality excluding j&H thesis
Moreover, stevenson uses the characteristics of the surrounding gentlemen in his novella to highlight how the crippiling binary standards of victorian society serve as a breeding ground for secrecy and repression that leads to the majority of gentlemen to have dual personas that mask their true characters
gentlemen appearance vs reality excluding j&H thesis
-Utterson represent a rare reliable gentleman in the novel who serves as a good anchor for the narration as he is not interested in sceince nor overcome by emtoions, however even he has a juxtaposing appearane to his character, indeed uppon introdution hes seen as of ‘rugged countenance that was never lightened by a smile’ he is rather plain looking and inspectacular, normalises him and shows how he represents the average and hence trustworthy gentleman. as he never smiles his mind is not thrown off my weak emotions hes very set on logic- whilst it also seems to claim he has a hard fact driven persona, claiming he ‘inclines to caines herasey’ by not becoming focussed by others actions. However pleasently we see that a man so dictated by society that he has no space for joy has a miscondtruding deeper emotion that is deeply loyal and caring, hence why he spends the novel trying to protect those whom have his loyalty.
Utterson also is present in the oxymoron of ‘shady lawyers’ showing how despite their job to retain justice and peace there was a sense of corruption in soceity, something he juxtaposes by being the novellas moral
compass- there is a very strong dual aspect to utterson.
- ‘something downright detestable yet i scarce know why’- rage??
-enfield backs uttersons character and shows how most men have the same victorian values of a need to be seen and respected through their pointless sunday walks
in the way that he represents every conforming man, he also shows how so many victorian men have immoral inner selves; he is prone to heavily gossiping with utterson and runs into hyde on a ‘black winter morning’ at three am- the source of this walk is likely immoral but unclear. Indeed enfield is interesting- he runs into hyde after returning from ‘some place at the end of the world’ sketchy and vague- he proves that even the most conformist and plain of men have a very dual aspect to their personas
