Context- jekyll and hyde Flashcards
The victorian ‘gentleman’
the gentleman was an important reputational figure in victorian society, a mans social class was on part of being a gentleman
-expected to have good morals, and be kind and respectable especially towards the poorer
-offered many social benefits- gave entry to well payed professions and gained respect from clients
reputation
-gentlemen were obsessed with maintaining their reputations, often walked through public areas to reinforce public view of them
-expected to keep emotions under strict control- hid desires eg. sex, alcohol
-many were publicly snobbish about disreputable places whilst secretly visiting them
-prepared to pay large sums to keep their actions secret- vulnerable to blackmail
victorian london
-working class london was extremely overcrowded
-middle and upper classes lived in richly furnished houses
-industrial revolution meant working class people moved to city centre, housing was built quickly to keep up- large areas of slums appeared
-slum streets were narrow and poorly lit- ideal for crime
-high levels pf pollution
-“dismal quarter of soho”
-“ragged children”
-gentlemen often travelled to more “dismal” parts of city to satisfy desires
religion + science
-victorian society was very religious, Christianity had a high level of influence on lifestyle
-emphasises that all are naturally sinful- up to individuals to seek forgiveness from god- total morality and avoidance of sin
-jekyll is critical of his own sinfulness- thinks of sin as the “doom and burden of our lives” he creates hyde as an attempt to rid himself of “extraneous evil”
Darwins theory of evolution
-religion vs science
-darwin published in 1859
-unsettling idea in society that there may be an animalistic side to everyone, capable of uncivilised acts and violent crimes
-hyde is described as animalistic
-victorian fear of regression
