Essay Plan for each Theme/Character- J+H Flashcards
Good and Evil/Duality of man
Stevenson displays ideas of good and evil through the ambiguous nature of the two throughout the novella, he does this by not clearly defining them as antithetical concepts.
In order to highlight this point Stevenson focuses on the threat that science poses to Christian belief, the fear of crime and Victorian hypocrisy.
Hyde is also described as “pure evil”
Para 1: Victorian Hypocrisy
“Braced and delighted me like wine”
“Mortify a taste of vintages”
- The pressures of a Middle/upper class Victorian man lead to secrete indulgences, which shows how good and evil isn’t always clear.
The gentlemen in the novella look down on immoral activities in public and then do them anyway. Stevenson explains that this behaviour can have terrible consequences- With Jekyll’s fate being an example
“I incline to Cain’s heresy,” he used to say quaintly: “I let my brother go to the devil in his
own way.”
Stevenson criticises Victorian morality, showing Utterson as a man who observes sin but
refuses to intervene, reflecting the period’s hypocrisy.
The biblical reference to Cain, who murdered his brother, foreshadows the consequences of
unchecked evil, linking to the novel’s Christian message. This implies Utterson may also be evil as he is presented as a respectable member of the community but surrounds himself with other sinful people.
How the dual nature of the city mirrors stevenson’s message of the dual nature of man
“Chocolate coloured pall lowered over heaven”
- Mirrors how Victorian gentlemen are happy to live in sin as long as they are presented as respectable
“Chocolate”-desriable
“Pall”- sin and death
Para 2: It is hard to separate good and evil
Describes characters in an asyndetic list with a paradoxical element- “lean long dusty dreary yet somehow loveable”- it is natural for everyone to be a culmination of good and evil. However the Victorian obsession with respectability leads to grave consequences, such as death-(Danvers Carew) By describing characters with a paradoxical element, it is possible that Stevenson is criticizing Christian ideals. By hiding one’s inner desires and putting a mask over yourself through reputation- it is impossible to know what someone is actually like. Christianity discourages heavily Hyde’s behaviour and giving into these secret desires, christianity encourages men to be more like Jekyll, so whilst following this will lead to religous morality, it has consequences of psychological conflict. This is an example of how Stevenson, who is an atheist subtly undermines Christian ideals, despite the central plot of the novella being about Jekyll dying as a consequence of his sins.
Para 3:
Stevenson leaves us with the prospect that our evil instincts could overpower our better selves
- Stevenson uses pathetic fallacy throughout the novel to show the battle for dominance between Jekyll and Hyde.
Created in the “black of night”- causing the reader to associate him with dark and supernatural themes.
Hyde overpowers him while asleep and eventually this culminates in his changing in midday in a
public place, symbolising his complete overthrow of Jekyll.
Threat science poses to victorian and christian beliefs
- “Devolution”
- Survival of the fittest
-Challenges Christian ideas
- How the dual nature of the city mirrors stevenson’s message of the dual nature of man
Stevenson is exploring the duality of London and Victorian England which is threatened by a rise in
crime
