Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - Key Themes & Quotes

Question 1

How does Darwin’s theory link to Jekyll & Hyde.

Answer 1

This would have been very unsettling and a nightmarish notion for many Victorians. Stevenson aims to horrify the Victorian reader by engineering the themes of his novella to evoke their deep-seated fears.

Question 2

What is the quote Mr Hyde is described as that links to Darwin’s theory?
Explain the quote.

Answer 2

Mr Hyde is described as looking “hardly human…troglodytic”.
This presents him as a criminal and someone who does not fit in with the rest of society. He is a physical manifestation of the pre-human animal.
The idea that such an animal could hide behind the façade of a well-represented member of the community would have been a shocking possibility for the Victorian reader, especially in a society where the external appearances were of a high value.

Question 3

What quotes present Hyde as a Primitive/Non-Human being?

Answer 3

“A dismal screech, as of mere animal terror, rang from the cabinet”
“Snarled aloud into a savage laugh”
“Clubbed him to the earth…with ape-like fury”
“Satan’s signature upon a face”
“That masked thing like a monkey jumped from among the chemicals” 7

Question 4

How does Stevenson use the theme of science?

Answer 4

Stevenson explores ideas of death and destruction and going against God through the theme of science.

Question 5

Explain Symbolism of Jekyll’s experiments.

Answer 5

Jekyll’s experiments cause destruction and death of the people around him, and this shows the potential of science to destroy the order of society and disrupt the rigid Victorian expectations.

Question 6

What are Jekyll’s drugs described as?

Explain quote further.

Answer 6

Jekyll’s drugs are described as intrusive objects, “some white salt” and “some strange things” - this vague language is deliberately used to create ambiguity and mystery around his medicines, and evoke anxiety and fear in the reader.

Question 7

Explain how creation of life is showed in the book.

Answer 7

Victorians thought that the earth was created by god - and scientists, like Darwin, contradicted this theory.

The idea that science could create life was seen as dangerous, and Jekyll’s failed experiment leaves him as “chief of sinners”.

Question 8

What happens to Jekyll in the final chapter?

Answer 8

By the final chapter, Jekyll is caught in a state of “suffering” where there is a “brute that slept” within him, and he is “tortured with throes and longings” to turn into Hyde. The language of agony that Jekyll uses links to the Christian notion of hell - his selfish motivations for the experiment leave him trapped in limbo.
Shows his punishment for the sins he’s created.

Question 9

Explain the effect of Victorian repression.

Answer 9

The novella depicts the struggle of one man trying to live a good life, while wrestling with desires frowned on by his society. Victorians had to repress their true feelings and desires in public, and this is why Jekyll thinks he is leading a double life.

Question 10

Describe Jekyll the Victorian gentleman.

Answer 10

Jekyll is a well-respected gentleman, so he has to keep his sins and desires well-hidden and secret from the rest of society.
The repressive society Jekyll lives in was likely to convince him that “man is not truly one, but truly two”.
Jekyll is convinced that his medical theories are correct, and he tries to prove it by dividing the two states of good and evil.
Jekyll’s struggle with his evil side leads him to creating Hyde, but this experiment does not go to plan and his evil side ends up overriding his good side.

Question 11

Explain how Stevenson uses battle language.

Answer 11

Stevenson uses language associated with battles and wars to illustrate and allude to this internal conflict within Jekyll.
There is a “perennial war among [his] members” and the two sides of nature “contended in the field” of his psyche, like two opposing forces on a battleground.
The fog in Chapter 4 is described as “lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagration”.
The inferno and conflagration in the vapours in the air represents the violent conflict of good and evil.

Question 12

Explain Victorians views of themselves.

Answer 12

Victorians thought of themselves as being more highly evolved than the rest of society, and that criminals or people that disrupted the social order were less evolved and degenerate beings.

Question 13

Explain Man’s savage side

Answer 13

Some used Darwin’s theory of evolution to support this thesis, and so Stevenson addresses the possibility that every human has an uncivilised and “savage” side to them - that is “ape-like” and “mad”.

In Chapter 10, Jekyll writes “my devil had been long caged, he came out roaring” - this shows how the evil creature within him is released in the cathartic (providing relief) act of transforming into his dark side.

Question 14

Why did Stevenson use hypocrisy in his writing?

Answer 14

Stevenson wanted to show how Victorian society was hypocritical - and how there was a void between reality and appearance.
This is why characters take so much pride in their reputation, and why they prioritise appearance over honesty.

Question 15

Explain Hyde’s appearance.

Answer 15

Hyde’s evil nature is shown in his appearance and his actions. He is described as having a “displeasing smile” and a “satanic” face that disgusts the characters, perhaps because Hyde does not hide his appearance.
This may horrify Victorian readers because they are being confronted by an image of their own sins.

Question 16

Explain hiding and disguises.

Answer 16

In Chapter 7, Jekyll is described hiding from other characters and he disguises himself from the outside world.
His transformation is alluded to when Stevenson writes (of Jekyll): “the smile was struck out of his face and succeeded by an expression of… abject terror”.
The word “abject” shows that Jekyll knows his appearance (as Hyde) will be shocking and unfamiliar to Utterson and Enfield.

Question 17

Explain Christianity in Victorian Society.

Answer 17

At the beginning of the 19th century, most people in Victorian society believed that the world was created by God. Christianity taught that everyone was sinful.

Question 18

Explain Christianity in Victorian England.

Answer 18

Christianity had a strong influence on many aspects of Victorian England.
Evangelicals taught that humans were inherently evil - and that people needed to beg for forgiveness from God. To be offered repentance from god, people needed to live by a strict moral code to avoid sinning.

Question 19

Explain religious tendencies in Jekyll and Hyde.

Answer 19

All the characters in the novella demonstrate religious tendencies: Jekyll reads religious texts; Lanyon feels that science and God should be separate; Utterson reads “dry divinities” every night before he goes to bed; Hyde blasphemes Jekyll’s book.
Religion had permeated the lives of the characters, and religion was conventional in Victorian society.

Question 20

Explain religious symbolism in Jekyll & Hyde.

Answer 20

The characters have symbolic meanings.
Utterson represents Evangelicalism and the ideals of focusing on your work and not focusing your attention on your social life.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde symbolise the good and evil, the angel and the devil.
This internal struggle between two conflicting forces alludes to the biblical idea of the eternal struggle of the good and evil within human beings.
In the last chapter, Jekyll confesses that his “original evil” emerged, again alluding to the idea of inherent evil within us.

Question 21

Explain Sins in Jekyll & Hyde.
What does Jekyll do about his sins?
What does Stevenson do?

Answer 21

kyll thinks of sin as the “burden of his life”. He creates Hyde as an attempt to rid himself of this “extraneous evil” that exists within him. But the process of purification and ridding himself of sin is unsuccessful in his experiments.
Stevenson reminds the reader that Jekyll’s actions are sinful by using religious language.
For example, Jekyll is a “secret sinner” and Hyde is the “spirit of hell”.

Question 22

Explain the quote referencing Israeli tabernacle.

Answer 22

“For any drug that so potently controlled and shook the very fortress of identity, might, by the least scruple of an overdose or at the least in opportunity in the moment of exhibition, utterly blot out that immaterial tabernacle which I looked to it to change.”
This is a reference to the Israeli tabernacle, which was said to house God.
Jekyll uses it as reference to his body / soul, and it shows how he wants to use his body for experimentation. In many ways, he is experimenting with God himself.

Question 23

Explain the quote “Captives at Philippi”

Answer 23

After the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, the victors, Antony and Octavius, released the captives. The captives were those who had supported Brutus and Cassius (the defeated), Julius Caesar’s assassins.
Hyde is unexpectedly freed from his prison and causes more trouble.

Question 24

Explain The Babylonian finger quote.

Answer 24

“This inexplicable incident… seemed, like the Babylonian finger on the wall, to be spelling out the letters of my judgment”.
King Belshazzar was a Chaldean King. Because he did not bow to the Israeli (Judeo-Christian) God, a ghostly hand appeared and wrote out his death sentence on a wall with his finger.
The kingdom was invaded that night. Jekyll alludes to this biblical scene because it explains his mental state of conflict, and how he has set himself up against god.
It also foreshadows Jekyll’s death and evokes a feeling of doom.

Question 25

Explain the theme of Violence referencing the young girl.

Answer 25

Hyde gains pleasure from violence.
In Chapter 1, Enfield reports seeing Hyde trample on a young and innocent girl. Hyde “trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming”.
The oxymoron “trampled calmly” indicates how Hyde feels no remorse for his crimes, and how the act of violence is a habitual event that he fulfils without much contemplation.

Question 26

Explain the theme of Violence referencing violence against the innocent.

Answer 26

Hyde commits two crimes of violence against innocent and helpless citizens: first, a little girl, and second, an elderly man.
The violence in the novel centres on Mr Hyde, and raises the question of whether or not violence is an inherent part of man’s nature.
It is shocking how much pleasure Hyde gets from the murder of Carew - he feels “glee” and tasted “delight from every blow” as he attacked him.

Question 27

Explain science and dual personality in Jekyll & Hyde.

Answer 27

The theme of violence ties into the theme of science and dual personality: Hyde is the only violent character, acting with “ape-like fury” and feeling “glee” at his brutality.
In Gothic novels like this one, the idea of ‘doubles’ or ‘two’ characters existing within one entity was common.
The authors let their character personify the unchecked and darker side of the human consciousness and allow them to commit violent and evil acts.

Question 28

Explain Victorian fears.

Answer 28

Acts of violence in the novella are against innocent people and provoke horror in the characters around them.
This would have linked to the context of Victorian crimes in London, and the fear that some invisible force was driving evil into its citizens.
Hyde is described as “Satan’s signature upon a face” - this shows how he is an embodiment of evil and how he epitomises everything that citizens feared at the time.

Question 29

Explain the gentleman figure in Victorian times.

Answer 29

The gentleman was an important figure in Victorian society. Men were expected to behave in a certain way, repress their desires and avoid egotistical behaviours.

Question 30

Explain class and professionalism in Victorian society.

Answer 30

A man’s social class was one part of being a gentleman - gentlemen were from the upper class of Victorian society.

His profession was important - army officers, church ministers, doctors, lawyers could be counted as gentlemen. Some middle-class men e.g bankers aspired to be gentlemen.

Question 31

What were the expectations of gentlemen?

Answer 31

Gentlemen were expected to have strong morals and be king, particularly towards poorer people. But plenty saw this as less important part of being a gentleman.

Question 32

What were the perks of being gentlemen?

Answer 32

Being a gentleman bought many benefits. It gave you a chance to enter well-paid professions like medicine and law, and gain respect of rich clients.

Also, it’s important for your children. A gentleman could use his contracts to arrange marriages for his daughter and well-paid jobs for his sons.

Question 33

How is Gentlemen & Reputation shown in Jekyll & Hyde?

Answer 33

Utterson is more concerned with preserving Jekyll’s reputation than bringing Hyde to trial.
After Carew has been murdered, he says to Jekyll “if it came to trial, your name might appear”
Utterson is wary of gossip, he tries to avoid talking about Hyde to others.

The gentlemanly ideal of repressing one’s innermost thoughts causes Utterson to suffer from nightmares. This suggests Stevenson’s message is that reputations are only based on appearances.
Reputations are now always genuine versions of people - they’re just the facades that people try to uphold and show to society.