Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde key themes and charactors Flashcards
dr jekyll
Is a well respected doctor, well established in his community. Since his youth however he has always known he has a darker side it is in the novel that you see him as he tries to bring out his other side showing his dual personality.
mr hyde
Is the result of Jekyll’s scientific experiments and is basically an evil side of Jekyll which violent and cruel. He becomes stronger throughout the novel and soon Jekyll is finding it impossible to surpress him. This then ends with Jekyll dying.
Mr Utterson
A proper victorian gentleman who does not participate in idle gossip. He is quite reserved and slightly tedious, lacking alot of imagination. Throughout the novel Utterson acts as a detective as he tries to discover what is going on.
Dr Lanyon
Also a well respected doctor, Lanyon does not think that Jekyll is doing the right thing when he starts messing around with science as he has a ‘fear of the unknown’ but he agrees to help when Jekyll sends a letter asking for him.
Mr Enfield
A distant cousin and a lifelong friend of Mr. Utterson. Like Utterson is reserved and scornful of gossip. They also enjoy going on long evening walks together although most times they barely speak.
poole
Is Jekyll’s butler and has worked with him for roughly 20 years and gets extremely worried when Jekyll confines himself to his room.
Sir Danvers Carew
An MP (member of parliment) also a client of Uttersons. He is a kind and noble man who is murdered by an angry Mr. Hyde, a young maid witnesses the murder from a window and reports to the police that it was indeed Hyde who killed Carew.
good vs evil
Jekyll is seen as a good character but who has an evil side, Hyde, his alter-ego. He spends his whole life trying to surpress this darker side but he decides to see if he can split himself into good and evil but the evil side ends up been more dominant destroying Jekyll in the process.
Religion vs science
In the novel Lanyon did not agree with the way in which Jekyll was dabbling with science and questioning religion. In reality a scientist named Darwin was also questioning religion when he investigated if maybe the world formed in a different way (evolution) than religion told.
Appearance
In this novel it shows in great detail that back in the victorian era, what was on the exterior was all that mattered, everyone keeps up a facade. Jekyll has to try and surpress his inner dark side as he has expectations that he must keep up, been a doctor from a wealthy family. Also on the outside of Jekyll’s house out the front there is a neat, grand entrance. Whilst at the back it’s a dark and dingy doorway which is the entrance that Hyde uses.
The supernatural
Believed when Jekyll turns into Hyde he’s that animalistic he’s not human (supernatural). Or when characters don’t want to speak out could mean with language they physically can’t say it linking to supernatural.
reputation
Jekyll splits his personality because he doesn’t want the Dr to have a bad reputation. Victorian gentleman didn’t want a bad facade. Utterson and Enfield never wanted to gossip.
Responsibility and guilt
Jekyll feels guilt for all the negative things he’s done so he decides to make two characters one to do the bad things one to do the good. Hyde is a release.
