Hyde Flashcards
“Damned Juggernaut”
A “juggernaut” is a wagon which was used to carry around the image of the Hindu God Krishna. Worshippers would sometimes throw themselves under its wheels and get crushed to death. More generally it means a hugely overwhelming, destructive force. The further theme of sacrifice implied by the word “Juggernaut” may reference the sacrifice Jekyll makes to Hyde in exchange for indulging in dedadent and inappropriate behaviour. This suggests Hyde is controlled solely by impulse.
“A man who was without bowels of mercy”
Hyde is merciless; the alliterative “w” gives a sense of difficulty in articulating Hyde as a character, and as a being who lacks all morals.
“So ugly that it brought out the sweat on me like running”
Hyde is a physical manifestation of evil. He evokes disgust and revulsion in all simply by sight. This promotes the gothic conventions of horror and terror in the text.
“His every act and thought centered on self”
He is selfish, which is far from Victorian ideals. This contrasts with the characters of Utterson and Enfield who are reputable and presented as typical Victorian gentlemen. This emphasises the role of the Freudian id in the character of Hyde, and his self-centred existence further aligns him with animals rather than humanity.
Alternative- refer to Enfield-Hyde 3’Oclock point
“Drinking pleasure with bestial avidity from any degree of torture to another; relentless like a man of stone”
This is a jarring description of excessive drinking and bestial behaviour as “man of stone” highlights a lack of conscience and suggests an air of immovability. The hedonistic connotations of excessive drinking further cause the reader to dislike Hyde as he appears to fully indulge himself.
“He had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness”
There is antithesis and conflict between “timidity” and “boldness” which mirrors the internal conflict. Alliteration of “murderous mixture” could suggest this behaviour is intrinsic and instrictive to his very being, and also refers to the literal murder he commits of Sir Carew. This also provides depth to Mr Hyde’s character.
“He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something down-right detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere, he gives a strong feeling of deformity”
Mr Hyde is a vague character in the eyes of the reader as descriptions of him are ambiguous. He evokes fear in other characters, posing a mechanism by which people may experience the inner terrors and sins that exist within them. Stevenson’s use of ambiguity forces the reader to imagine their worst fears in Hyde. The alliterative “d” reinforces a sense of repulsion; anaphoric repetition of “something” creates an air of unceasing intangibility.
“The other snarled aloud into a savage laugh; and the next moment, with extraordinary quickness, he had unlocked the door and disappeared into the house”
The words “Savage” and “snarled” gives a sense of unrestrained and uncontrollable destruction and freedom: Hyde is a degenerate, acting like an animal, without morals or social restraint. Alongside this, sibilance reinforces notion of underlying sinsterness. Furthermore, “extraordinary quickness” highlights Hyde’s supernatural force.
“There was something abnormal and misbegotten in the very essence of the creature”
“Abnormal” differentiates Hyde from all other men and beings; “creature” again
reinforces animalistic imagery. He is troglodytic in nature so without boundaries. By referencing the “very essence” Stevenson is commenting on the true evil personality of Mr Hyde, and this could link to the supernatural as this is considered impossible within society. This could also imply that Mr Hyde is the true essence of Dr Jekyll.
“That masked thing like a monkey jumped from among the chemicals”
Reference to Darwin’s theory of evolution: Hyde is a degenerate both in the colloquial and scientific fashion. Hyde is separated from the rest of the characters by mentioning the “chemicals” from which he has been created.
“Pure evil”
“Delight”
Hyde is “pure evil”. Jekyll seems to be a mixture of good and evil. Hyde is Jekyll’s dark side, released from the bonds of conscience and loosed into the world by a mysterious potion. He seems to be violent for the sake of it, and he enjoys violence. The murder of Carew in Chapter 4 is a senseless attack which he takes “delight” in as he attacks the poor man with a cane. His enjoyment and psychopathic tendencies are what shock the reader most.
“an imprint of deformity and decay”
His appearance leaves “an imprint of deformity and decay”. Hyde is clearly not the average human, and he creates a menacing and threatening atmosphere.
“The other snarled aloud into a savage laugh; and the next moment, with extraordinary quickness, he had unlocked the door and disappeared into the house.”
Hyde is clearly not the average
human, and he creates a menacing
and threatening atmosphere. He is a strange, repugnant man who
looks faintly pre-human, and
everyone who sees him describes
him as ugly and deformed. No one
can say exactly why though. He moves like an animal rather than a human, and his laugh and mannerisms are evil: The other snarled aloud into a savage laugh; and the next moment, with extraordinary quickness, he had unlocked the door and disappeared into the house.” He is more savage than he is civilised.
“There was something abnormal and misbegotten in the very essence of the creature”
Language itself seems to fail around
Hyde: he is not a being who
belongs to the rational world. He is often described as a creature. “There was something abnormal and misbegotten in the very essence of the creature’
“He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance”
Utterson, Enfield and Poole are all horrified by his physical features, although Stevenson does not explicitly describe his exterior in detail. The context of Darwinism allows the reader to infer that he is a creature of reversed evolution: "He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance?.
