duality quotes Flashcards
about three o clock of a winter morning
the blurred boundary between Jekyll’s respectable persona and his hidden immoral desires.
The liminal timing neither fully night nor day mirrors the unsettling coexistence of good and evil within him, suggesting that morality is not absolute but fluid.
The winter setting, often associated with death and barrenness, reflects the moral decay lurking beneath Victorian society’s polished exterior, reinforcing the idea that beneath social order, chaos thrives.
three o’clock, often referred to as the devil’s hour, heightens the supernatural and transgressive nature of Hyde’s actions, positioning him as a force beyond mere human depravity.
suggests that the reference to time also exposes the illusion of Jekyll’s self-controlHyde does not operate at random but follows a predictable pattern, implying that Jekyll’s darker self is not a separate entity but an inevitable part of his nature. Additionally, the emptiness of the streets** mirrors Jekyll’s growing isolation, suggesting that his attempts to suppress his urges have not freed him but rather left him alienated from both his moral and immoral selves. By setting Hyde’s crime in a cold, lifeless, and liminal space, Stevenson presents duality as an inescapable truth, where evil is not confined to the night but is ever-present, lurking beneath the surface of civilization.
