Hyde Flashcards
Atavism
Smaller, younger than Jekyll
‘Strong feelings of deformity’
Appearance used to show criminality through physiognomy
Repression
Name is an aptronym
Presents typical masculine behaviour Victorian men concealed
‘If he is mr Hyde I will be mr seek’
Fin De Siècle
Gothic convention seen in Hyde
Presents many fears emerged at end of century (fin de siècle)
Hyde represents fears of science and effects it has on psychology of others
Warning about fast social developments
Prominent fear at time was devolution- Hyde is ‘ape like’
Classist system
If he’s an unconnected entity member of working class: murder of carew presents violet uprising of the proletariat
If he’s linked to Jekyll: trampling girl shows power bourgeoisie can exercise on lower class
Characteristic- Volatile
‘With a flush of anger’- embodiment of whole Id controlled mind- no thought or remorse for actions
‘There is something wrong with his appearance… I never saw a man I so disliked and yet I scarce to know why’- evokes horror in people
Characteristic- violent
Embodiment of pure unadulterated evil
‘Incredibly mangled’- actions are intentional
Commits more evil acts the more power he has over Jekyll, the more evil committed by someone the more power they have over society
Characteristic- animalistic
‘Shrank back with a hissing intake of breath’
‘The creature’
‘Seizing, surprising and revolting’
‘Into a savage laugh’
relationships- Jekyll
relationship shown when it is revealed that Hyde has the key to Jekyll’s backdoor- always in Jekyll’s subconscious
Utterson finds out that Jekyll changed his will so Hyde can be left with all of his money, Jekyll defends Hyde making it clear that he knows him well- Hyde as access to house, servants are aware of him
Hyde is a foil to Jekyll, argued they are a singular character
relationships- Utterson
immediate extreme dislike of Hyde after trampling girl
after their first acquaintance he says ‘abnormal and misbegotten in the very essence of this creature’- realises true extent of his evil character from beginning so investigates it
relationships- Lanyon
first person to know Hyde is an extension of Jekyll, immediately hates him and dies from shock of the transformation
relationships- enfield
forces him to pay compensation for the trampling of the world and confront his actions
doesn’t seem to be too curious about nature of Hyde
‘damned juggernaut’- ch.1
juggernaut- hugely overwhelming destructive force (Hindus would go under the juggernaut and get crushed to death)
theme of sacrifice applies here- Jekyll’s sacrifices made to Hyde in exchange to indulge in inappropriate behaviour, Hyde is controlled solely by impulse
‘so ugly it brought out the sweat on me like running’-
Hyde is physical manifestation of evil
physiognomy- looks associated with evil
promotes gothic convention of horror and terror in text
‘Murderous mixture of timidity and boldness’
antithesis and conflict between timidity and boldness which can mirror internal conflict
alliteration shows his behaviour is intrinsic and instinctive to himself
‘His every act and though centred on self’
Far from Victorian ideals, foils Utterson and Enfield
Emphasises on Freudian Id in Hyde, self centred existence aligns himself with animalistic qualities
‘something wrong with his appearance, something displeasing, something down-right detestable’
descriptions of Hyde are ambiguous, evokes fear in characters posing a mechanism by which people may experience inner terrors and sins that exist within them
alliterative ‘d’ reinforces repulsion
anaphoric repetition creates air of unceasing tangibility
‘snarled aloud with a savage laugh’
unrestrained and uncontrolled destruction of freedom
Hyde is a degenerate acting like an animal without social restraint
sibilance reinforces notion of underlying sinisterness
