Gothic in j&h Flashcards
hyde as a gothic thesis
It is a gothic trope for the author to create a threatening and new villain whom scares the reader especially in a fin de siecle era where the unknwon was scary, however often it would be an isolated and unrealistic evil- here stevenson subverts the gothic trope by creating an antagonist whos both villainised and unknwon but also very human and inside all of us as our own freudian id
hyde as a gothic villain paragraph
‘my devil was long caged, he came out roaring’ his devil refers to the freudian id and the need to unleash mans primal instincts, devil is extremist voacbs with links to biblical evil he warns against the repression of ones id as it will becomes increasingly tempting as age progresses due to its preserved naivity and youth, roaring is animalistic and lionesque
- indeed the idea that ones id due to repression throguh society can become ‘smaller, slighter, younger’ accentuates the temptation of evil particularly with age, drawing connotations to the devils temptation, the tricolon highlights just how intruiging indorsing ones primal aspects is- scary as it shows how evil is present among us instead of isolated
- ‘some dammed juggeraunt’ contextually a juggernaut was something dragged in a hindu sacrifice that was famsouly unstoppable and would phsyically crush anything in its way, much like hyde upon introduction
on a deeper level it was a way of sacrifice and could be symbolic of how jekyll has sacrificed HIMSELF in order to become this utterly destructive figure. the unhaltable nature of the juggernaut shows hydes impulsive and non conformist attitude. dammed biblically means he is cursed upon,a juggernaut is also a pagan god, which is located outside of the conformist western world and so others hyde and implies barbarianism
- ‘child of hell’ this oxymoron is used by his own counterpart jekyll, it is a shock as children are biblically pure and uncorrupted whilst hell is the depths of evil, shocks the auiednce how hyde is able to completely subvert all societal standarsds and morality
hyde is youthful as he has been untouched by jekylls need to conform
- ‘foul soul’ in genesis god breathes life into adam through his nostrils providing him with a soul, he is defying god and hence siding with satan
- its important to see how the relationship between jekyll and hyde is semi permiable and though they have dif tratits they are symbolically one man, the temptation of evil is not as a gothic trope a singular superntual individual but a real fear in all of our lives
- ‘troglodytic’ shows the humanity in hyde as a juxtaposition to the many satanic and aminalsitic meaphors, shows how he comes from early man and we all have inherited a piece of hyde
setting as gothic thesis
stevenson uses setting throughout the novella but particully in times of heightneed tension to follow the gothic trope of creating an atmosphere of mystery and suspense that foreshadows the mental conflict of jekyll
setting as gothic paragraph
- used throughout a very popular gothic trope that would be readily recogniseable to the reader, creates tension and emphasieses the prescence of the supernatural as it is as if they are dictating the entire surroudnings, also frequently used as foreshadowing
- at the violent climax of the novella in chapter four, the murder of carrew, stevenson uses pathetic fallacy multiple times to show the overturn of evil as hyde the freudian id unleases the extent of mans primal evil on someone so deeply unsuspecting. The maid, one of the few woman and so a symbol of purity, views the commenecing evening as peaceful and cloudless reflective of her innocence and the lack of curruption present. However upon hydes arrival it appears a ‘fog rolled over the city’ which is a very common gothic trope for the concealment of truth. Utterson struggles to visit hyde after the event as the fog is so thick and dark, this highlights the climax of the novel as the amount of secrecy and uncertainess from the narrator creates a clear sense of fear in the reader. The street lamp cannot show way through the fog symbolic of how hydes primal evil has enveloped london
- Pathetic fallacy is further used i the novella when he states how a ‘great chocolate covered pall lowered over heaven’ this is a particularly graphic use of pathetic fallacy that utilises the gothic convention, mentioned as utterson struggles to journey to hydes quarters post murder of carrew so continuing the fog motif. a pall can both mean a huge cloud but also a cover for a casket in a funeral, symbolic of how hydes primative evil has envoked the death of safetey in the city, a pall was known to victorians and so would be unsettling. The idea that it is chocolate is unnvering as the chocllate feels out of place as it draws connotations to sweetness and nostalgia, the fact that it is brown is confusing and symolises the opacity of the weather that makes it more adapt to conceal secrets. Heaven envokes biblical connotations but is also offputting as hes insinuating heaven has been blocked off reconing london as a place of intense immorality
Third paragraph
Stevenson uses the internal struggle of Henry Jekyll to explore typical gothic themes of the internal struggle of man and an insight into the complex and sinister human psyche
Third paragraph quotes
- ‘my devil had been long caged, he came out roaring’
- ‘my clothes hung formlessly on my shrunken limbs’
- ‘smaller, slighter and younger’ ‘sweeter’
- ‘man is not truly one but truly two’
