Exploded Quotes Flashcards
“O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend”
- Juxtaposition of “Satan” and “Friend” and the informal tone of “Oh my poor old Harry (not Henry)” shows Utterson’s ignorance to the mysterious relationship between Jekyll and Hyde
- Presents Hyde, “Satan’s signature” - Seal of Devil’s approval, as villainous which deepens the reader’s hatred of his character, contrasting to “Smooth faced” Dr Jekyll
- Pluralistic Narration creates mystery and ambiguity, we hear about Hyde through the narration of Enfield and now Utterson
“I incline to Cain’s heresy,” he used to say quaintly: “I let my brother go to the Devil in his own way”
Cain murders his brother Abel as he is jealous that God prefers the sacrifices Abel makes to please God. Cain is therefore the origin of greed and evil. The comparison to the two brothers, one good and one evil, is symbolic of the duality found within Jekyll and Hyde.
This quote also shows how Utterson does not like to get himself involved in other people’s business. The quote also shows forebodes how Utterson blindly lets Jekyll bring about his own downfall.
“I felt younger, lighter, happier in body”
Demonstrates Jekyll’s addiction and craving to sin. This quote comments on human nature to have awful thoughts but to have a moral compass to prevent them from becoming actions. Jekyll feels constrained by the moral compass, so he creates Hyde to feel a sense of Freedom. The use of three adjectives enforces Jekyll’s joy and the mention of ‘in body’ shows even Jekyll struggles to view Hyde as a human being.
This quote also shows the duality of man. Jekyll, a “smooth faced man” with property with “warmth and comfort” who is presented to be the typical Victorian Gentleman, still has some thoughts and “hellish” intentions of a primitive male which are expressed through Mr Hyde. Jekyll being able to express these intentions without the societal pressure of being a ‘Gentleman’ gives him joy
“If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also”
Similar to many other 19th century novels e.g Frankenstein, a message of not messing with the creations of God is conveyed. Jekyll creates another human body, therefore competing with God. Jekyll suffers as a consequence.
Jekyll tries to take away from the wrong he has done by stressing the harm he has suffered, trying to create pity for himself in order to justify his actions the “also” at the end shows his determination to enforce the fact he is suffering to Utterson. He struggles to accept his responsibility for Hyde’s deeds, and is unwilling to give up his good opinion of himself.
“I sat in the sun on a bench; the animal within me licking the chops of memory”
The pathetic fallacy shows Jekyll’s positive feeling at wanting to be Hyde again. Jekyll referring to Hyde as an “animal” signifies how Jekyll himself is appalled by the actions of Hyde and refuses to acknowledge him as human and more as a primitive being. This is developed through the animalistic language of “licking the chops”.
The primitive and animalistic language used to describe Hyde is important as in 1886, there was societal fear over the Darwinian Theory of Evolution that humans descended from apes meaning there were ape traits within humans. There was also a fear that humans could regress back into apes. Stevenson therefore exploits the fear in the Victorian society to present Hyde as hateful through primitive language.
“All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil”
The adjective “alone” emphasises how and isolated Hyde was. Hyde is described as “pure evil.” The adjective emphasises that Hyde is nothing except “evil,” suggesting something that has only previously existed as the Devil himself – an almost religious idea. It’s not just that he does wrong, he is evil in its purest form.
Evil can be given free rein if not kept in check by conscience and discipline, whilst no person can be wholly good. Perhaps the reason is that goodness is demonstrated by rejecting evil, so goodness without evil is impossible. Duality is also shown through “commingled” where Stevenson has joined together “combined” and “mingled” to represent the dual nature of man.
“The street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood, like a fire in a forest”
Shows the duality of the setting, the strong class divide of 1886. Perhaps this is a criticism of the Victorian society. This links to the idea of the novella being a metaphor for the division in Stevenson’s Edinburgh. The sibilance used in “street shone” implies that the presence of the duality poses as an underlying threat.
‘With ape-like fury he was trampling his victim underfoot and hailing down a storm of blows in which the bones were audibly shattered’
‘With ape-like fury’ - the use of the simile shows Hyde’s animalistic inhumane behaviour. ‘Audibly shattered’ - this is another example of onomatopoeia.
The murder of Sir Danvers Carew, an MP, symbolises Hyde’s disregard for conventional authority.
The primitive and animalistic language used to describe Hyde is important as in 1886, there was societal fear over the Darwinian Theory of Evolution that humans descended from apes meaning there were ape traits within humans. There was also a fear that humans could regress back into apes. Stevenson therefore exploits the fear in the Victorian society to present Hyde as hateful through primitive language.
“The man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground, it sounds nothing to hear but it was hellish to see”
It is demonstrated through “calmly” that Hyde had no compulsions over harming the child, which represents and connotes innocence, and contrast between this and and “screaming” emphasises how callous he was.
Stevenson’s use of semantics of the Devil to describe Hyde show him to be the antithesis of a good Victorian gentleman, making him hated and also adding mystery to his relationship with Dr Jekyll.
“I swear to God I will never set eyes on him again. I bid my honour to you that I am done with him in this world. It is all at an end … mark my words, he will never more be heard of”
Jekyll’s desperation to dissociate himself from Hyde is shown through the short and simple sentences that have their meanings repeated about Hyde never being seen again. Whilst in his inner core, Jekyll felt dark pleasure through being Hyde and murdering Sir Danvers Carew, his desperation to dissociate himself from Hyde is possibly to save his reputation, which was vital to a Victorian gentleman. Therefore Stevenson may be subtly criticising the Victorian society for valuing Reputation over Morals.
