Context Flashcards
1
Q
what is j&h about?
A
- a respectable doctor, called henry jekyll, who transforms into the evil edward hyde as a product of his experiments
- reflects the strict values of Victorian society in which people were expected to be restrained and appear respectable at all times
2
Q
what is j&h didactic of?
A
- about human nature - everyone has good and evil inside them
- if people explore their dark side, it can lead to problems - but hiding or denying it leads to problems too
3
Q
who was stevenson influenced by as a child?
A
- the strict Christian beliefs of his nanny, Alison Cunningham
4
Q
what was stevenson fascinated by as an adult?
A
- the behaviour of Victorian gentlemen - the way they maintained an outwardly respectable appearance, but secretly indulged in immoral behaviour
- fascinated by the life of Deacon Brodie, a respectable cabinet maker who led a secret life as a robber
5
Q
when was ‘the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde’ published?
A
- 1886
6
Q
when did stevenson die?
A
- 1894, aged 44
7
Q
victorian gentlemen
A
- an important figure in Victorian society
- a man’s social class was one part of being a gentleman - from the upper class
- gentleman’s profession was also important- army officers, church ministers, doctors and lawyers might all be counted as gentlemen
- gentlemen were expected to have strong morals and be kind, particularly towards poorer people
- brought benefits - gave you a chance to enter well-paid professions like medicine and law, and gain the respect of rich clients
8
Q
reputation
A
- gentlemen were determined to maintain their reputations - without a good reputation, a man couldn’t be considered a gentleman at all
- they would often walk through public places, such as Hyde park in London (Utterson and Enfield go on these walks regularly)
- expected to keep their emotions under strict control and forced them to hide their desires for things like sex and alcohol
- many gentlemen were publicly snobbish about disreputable places like public houses and brothels whilst visiting them secretly at night - stevenson hints at this hypocrisy in the novel
- were prepared to pay large sums of money to keep activities like these private, which made the vulnerable to blackmail. utterson assumes that jekyll is beng blackmailed about something in his past - even hyde- who doesn’t need to protect his reputation is prepared to pay money, partly to avoid a public scandal
9
Q
working-class london
A
- middle and upper classes lived in richly furnished houses such as jekyll’s but this wasn’t true for everyone
- industrial revolution meant that many working-class people migrated to large towns and cities to live and work
- housing had to be built rapidly to accommodate workers and their families - large areas of slums sprang up in london’s east end
- slum housing was generally of a poor quality - was built so quickly and whole families could live in one or two rooms
- streets in slums were narrow and poorly lit - victorian london was known for its smoke, caused by burning coal on a large scale
10
Q
unrespectable london
A
- there were some parts of london where most respectable men wouldn’t want to be seen, such as the working-class slums and they also wouldn’t want to be seen visiting brothels or public houses
- hyde is associated with these less-respectable parts of the city - his house is in a ‘dismal quarter of soho’ where ‘ragged children’ huddled in doorways
- the two sides of the city did overlap when some gentlemen would deliberately travel to the ‘dismal’ areas of london where there was less chance of being recognised to satisfy the desires they hid in public
- jekyll also sets up a house for hyde in soho, and furnishes it in ‘luxury and good taste’ which ties him, a reputable gentleman, to a disreputable part of the city.
11
Q
religious victorian society
A
- pious society - sundays everyone went to church
- christianity had a strong influence on many areas of everyday life in victorian england. one particularly influential branch of christianity was called evangelicalism
- the evangelicals taught that all people are naturally sinful, and that it is up to individuals to seek forgiveness from god
- they should do this by living according to a strict moral and religious code- with an emphasis on total morality and avoiding sin
12
Q
darwin’s theory of evolution
A
- early 1800s, christianity taught that god created every species to be perfectly adapted to its environment
- the book of genesis also taught that humans were made in god’s image, different from all other animals and ruling over them
- in contrast, some scientists argued that species evolved gradually over time and there were many different theories of how this process occurred
- darwin put forward his theory in ‘the origin of species’ which was published in 1859 which claimed that all creatures evolved from common ancestors through a process called natural selection
- darwin’s writings went against the christian idea that man’s nature was different from other animals
- an unsettling idea that there may be an animalistic side to everyone, capable of uncivilised acts and violent crimes
13
Q
crimes
A
- a time when bodies were dug up in the night for medical purposes - used cadavers
- many medical breakthroughs such as penecillin, anaesthetics and chloroform
14
Q
physiognomy
A
- victorian society was fascinated by the idea of physiognomy and people who looked different
- ‘congress of freaks’ -> circus
- PT Barrum - freak show
- were fearful of divergent traits and features of people
15
Q
lombroso’s theory of atavism
A
- the idea that if all humans evolved from primitive forms, then we could all potentially return to this basic state and behave like immoral animals and succumb to primitive urges
- atavistic behaviour was associated with criminality as it represented transgression such as violence and murder which shattered the class-conditioned moral framework governing the Victorian standards of behaviour
- a deformed appearance could reflect primitive urges and criminal tendencies - those who were less evolved were more likely to commit to immoral and primitive urges
- unconventional appearances and abnormal facial features could illustrate criminal tendencies and primitive urges
