Context Flashcards
Class- ‘no-go’
Rich made ‘no-go areas’ due to a large amount of poor moving into London for work.
Class- ‘shilling shockers’
Written by and intended for the upper class, stories about atrocities committed by the poor in the East End and Soho, to shock, entertain and appall.
Class- ‘Jekyll and Hyde’
Caused a stir on release, people were frightened by the idea of a gentleman having a bad, secret side.
People recognised the moral behind it.
There is no one of lower class in the book however (Hyde could be said to be of lower class.)
Medical discoveries- Surgeons
Time of medical enhancements. Famous surgeons dissecting bodies.
John Hunter conducted the first transplant around this time, also conducted “mad scientist” experiments like grafting a tooth onto a chicken to see if it would grow. Often were shocking and became secret
Medical discoveries- Self-experimentation
Jekyll and Hyde brings mad scientist themes, with self experimentation (Hunter may have done this), until Jekyll is in a position he can’t handle.
Medical discoveries- Common fear
A common Victorian fear was to discover something so shocking and uncontrollable, that It would overpower and destroy us (e.g. Frankenstein)
Jekyll and Hyde took this further to suggest the monster is within
Psychoanalysis- Stevenson
Stevenson read many reports, mainly from France, on psycho and dream analysis. Stevenson was obsessed with their meaning and the subconscious
Psychoanalysis- Sigmund Freud
Freud had theories on Duality, published around the same time as J&H. Also talked about how he could access the subconscious with dialogue and find illnesses through that.
Psychoanalysis- Richard Von Krafft-Ebing
Psychopathia Sexualis- Book on sexual behaviour of people- appalled the Victorians, and is a main theme in J&H
