Context Flashcards
Victorian London
Was highly hypocritical as it was plagued with restrictive social norms drugs we’re rampant
- Stevenson presents London as a place of duality where the respectable facade of the city hides its sordid underbelly, much like Jekyll conceals Hyde. Soho, where Hyde resides, symbolises moral corruption, while Jekyll’s grand house represents social respectability.
Hydes residence in Soho reflects his degeneracy contrasting with Jekyll‘s prestigious home a reputable area Addison’s discomfort and Soho highlight Victorian anxieties about the lower parts of society
London was the epicentre of the British Empire and the industrial revolution the city is played with stock social contrasts with the morrow to Kate Soho and the Cavendish Square
Victorian gentleman
Obsessed with the idea of the ‘Victorian gentleman’ which attempted to separate the general (semi respectable) upper class men from impolite life class man
Jekyll initially embodies the ideal Victorian gentleman, wealthy, educated and reputable however his creation of Hyde reveals the pressure of the pressure of Victorian men to press their darker impulses with heights existence, exposing the rarity of the gentlemanly image struggles to maintain his gentleman status well some represents that ideal lawyer irrational and discreet gentleman who avoid scandal hides with his own comfort behaviour is the antithesis of a Victorian gentleman in Victorian society. Social interactions were inherently performative governed by rigid expectations of class and respectability idea all human interactions was theatrical toys the novel was broad of themes of duality and deception. Jekyll elderly embodies ideal gentleman while secretly indulging in his darker impulses.
Victorian physiognomy (belief in the way you look indicates what type of person you are)
Stevenson plays into the physiognomy by making he physically repugnant reinforce in the idea that his external form reflexes morality however he also criticises the theory by showing that Jekyll who appears respectable is equally capable of evil.
He is described as a deformed and repellent which suggests he is inherently evil Landon’s death following the encounter with height emphasises the extremity of his hideous appearance by implying the sight is potentially fatal
Closely linked to the physiognomy, phrenology with a theory that an individual skull shaped determined by their personality intelligence and propensity for crime hides default appearance place into this pseudoscientific belief reinforcement idea that moral corruption is mate is physically manifest.
Religion
Victorian period morality was rooted in religion with the idea of evil being tied to the fall of man in the book of Genesis where admin Eve connect the originals waiting for from the tree of knowledge
The novel explores Christian morality with Jekyll scientific overreach mirroring Adamada and ears temptation pursuit of knowledge aligning with his explorations with the fall of man Jekyll‘s transformation into Hyde can be linked to his original sin his desire to break free from restrictions Lee his downfall Addison’s concern with reputation reflects Victorian religious anxiety about sin and public morality. Jekyll serves as an archetypal strategic scientist whose pursuit of knowledge needs to his downfall much like other scientific fiction figures such as Frankenstein and Mary Shelley’s novel is over each parallel is the fall of man his third fifth of biddenknowledge result in a catastrophic consequences.
Presbyterianism
Stevenson Gura in a Presbyterian household which was a branch of Christianity that pollute God had already pre-selected who he will save and who he will damned
Darwinism
Darwin wrote the original the origin of species in 1859 which outline the humans shared a common ancestor with apes. This thesis undermined the threatened Christian ideas that God created the universe outlined in the book of Genesis.
First time people started to see through religion and started to question authority
Primitive state
Height is described in zoomorphic terms he moves he moves with ape like Fury and is hardly human Jekyll there is transformation and bodies. The fear that civilisation is only a thin Façades that masks are more primitive instincts and I go oh no do do do do
