dr jekyll Flashcards
brief overview of the character of dr jekyll
A well-respected doctor,
Jekyll is a member of the upper-class with a very large secret to hide. His secret is Mr Hyde, who was created as a result of his experimentation.
kind and generous, but shocks Utterson when he decides to change his will to leave everything he owns to Mr Hyde.
He develops a concoction which separates the positive and negative characteristics of himself and creates Hyde, a seemingly separate person which allows him to act in a way disapproved by society, to fulfil his pleasures.
As the story unfolds, Jekyll loses control leading to Hyde appearing uninvited: this is perhaps commenting on the increasing lack of control individuals can have over their behaviour after giving into temptation. It could be argued that Jekyll and Hyde are not separate characters but should be considered as one entity, and it is this conjunction of personalities which creates the drama in the novel and the relationships which provides the text’s power.
explain how jekyll is shown as erratic
‘i sat in the sun on a bench: the animal within me licking the chops of memory; the spiritual side a little drowsed’
‘i sat in the sun on a bench: the animal within me licking the chops of memory; the spiritual side a little drowsed’
sun-pathetic fallacy, broad daylight, no more resistance, he feels enlightened by the dominancy of hyde, his desires are evident in the broad light
religious imagery: intertwined with his sinful desires before the light, light is considered holy, God himself is light
licking the chops of memory= verb licking= eager anticipation, desire,urgency, pleasure, satisfaction (vices?) evn though it is immoral he cannot hold himself back,. ‘chops’ - alludes to ideas of meat, flesh, immoral nature,animalistic, wild turbulent
appear in Jekyll’s confession, near the end of Chapter 10,Jekyll begins to transform into his darker self spontaneously, without the aid of his potion, and while wide awake. In the particular instance described in the passage, it only takes a single prideful thought to effect the transformation—although that thought comes on the heels of a Jekyll’s dip into his old, pre-Hyde debauchery.
jekyll lies to keep hyde alive, he is a slave to his desires, evil is enticing him
Jekyll becomes increasingly erratic as the novel progresses, as he is faced with hiding the existence of Hyde from the rest of the characters.
‘i felt younger, lighter, happier in body’
jekylls conflict with religion
“My devil had long been caged, he came out roaring. I was conscious, even when I took the draught, of a more unbridled, a more furious propensity to ill”
“My devil had long been caged, he came out roaring. I was conscious, even when I took the draught, of a more unbridled, a more furious propensity to ill”
● This quote references the inner “devil”, which is a manifestation of Jekyll’s deepest desires in the form of Hyde. The notion of “devil” through religious allusion denotes a stark contrast with Christian ideas of morality.
● Furthermore, the verb “roaring” has connotations of an animalistic, uncontrolled, agitated and deadly expression of his repressed elements in Hyde, and the phrase “Propensity to ill” indicates a deeper, now natural tendency and inclination to immorality.
jekyll is constantly declining whilst he his on his pursuit for freedom and happiness.Dr Jekyll has failed in splitting the good and the bad - rather he has enabled the evil to thrive and to subsume his underlying purity and innocence; he can no longer return to society.
Dr Jekyll is portrayed as having a turbulent relationship with religion. ○ The text suggests he has completed religious work and study - “he was now no less distinguished for religion.” ○ He turns to God for redemption after realising his mistakes - “had fallen upon his knees and lifted his clasped hands to God.”
duality of man
man is not truly one but truly two
Man is not truly one but truly two” ● Jekyll risks death to test his hypothesis that the human psyche can be split, and the quote’s syntactic parallelism emphasises the view that man cannot be pure as he is constantly in equilibrium between good and evil
Jekyll recognises the duality of human nature and recognises that this will ultimately destroy him.
Jekyll’s experiment is at the heart of this theme. He seeks to separate these sides of human nature and rid himself of the evil one. Dr Jekyll comes to represent the good side of human nature while Mr Hyde represents the evil side.
The tipping point of the story comes when Hyde murders Sir Danvers Carew. Evil triumphs over good and Jekyll loses control over the opposing sides of his nature. As the novel progresses Stevenson shows us that Jekyll’s idea will not work and that these opposing sides are dependant on each other to some extent.
This duality is also shown in his portrayal of London. Victorian London is portrayed as a world split into two halves with bright and grand squares contrasting with seedy back streets. This is best shown in Dr Jekyll’s house which has a grand façade but a neglected and grubby back door.
Freud’s structural theory of the mind: Dr Jekyll can be viewed as symbolising the ego - a balance between man’s basal instincts and moral thought.
The power imbalance and increasing control Hyde has over Jekyll appears to propel the narrative of the novel forwards. The boundary between them becomes increasingly fluid and uncontrollable as the plot progresses, it is almost as if two is becoming one again.
contrast between jekyll’s class and status and his desires
‘i felt younger, lighter, happier in body’
Marxism: Dr Jekyll is a member of the bourgeoisie and, by extension, Hyde could also considered a member.
‘i felt younger ,lighter, happier in body’
The violent actions that take place due to Jekyll’s creation of Hyde could be shown as Stevenson’s commentary on the behaviour of those with high status in society ○ The violent trampling of the girl could be Stevenson commenting on the bourgeoisie’s behaviour towards the lower classes.
The murder of Carew, a fellow member of the bourgeoisie, could be used by Stevenson to show the selfishness and lack of loyalty shown by people in those circles.
Jekyll participates in charity-work and is community-minded, although it is implied that he engaged in some questionable behaviour when he was younger.
This increases the shock experienced by the reader as it is revealed at the end of the novel the true nature of Jekyll and Hyde’s relationship. It could also be argued that his original aim was to create a drug that could separate out the good parts of his personality to make himself a better person so he did in fact have good intentions. He is also very social and friendly, demonstrated by his tendency to hold dinner parties for his friends and acquaintances, however is also quite self-involved, contrasting Utterson’s outward focus.
● INVENTIVE - Jekyll is highly intelligent with a curious mind, and decides to experiment with separating the ‘evil’ side of himself and housing it in the body of Mr Hyde. The character of Jekyll symbolises the encroachment of science on religious thought during the Victorian era
