Hyde As A Middle And Upper Class Symbol

Question 1

What is the key point here ?

Answer 1

The duality of man

Question 2

How does Hyde refer to himself ?

Answer 2

‘ no gentleman but wishes to avoid a seen’
- Hyde openly refers to himself as a gentleman, here RLS blatantly critics the upper classes repressed actions
- the noun gentleman is the most frequent description of Hyde
- Stevenson is thinly ceiling his critism of the upper classes fącade of old world values however they engage in taboo activities accociated with the lower classes

Question 3

How does Lanyon describe Hyde ?
( pair this with Hyde’s description of himself)

Answer 3

‘Civilly enough’ and knocked ‘very gently’
- these actions seem more akin to a character of higher status such as Utterson or Lanyon however Stevenson subverts the readers expectation for him to be lower class

Question 4

How are Hyde’s Lodgings described ? ( good point for duality and horror)

Answer 4

Having ‘ luxury and good taste’
‘ plate was silver’ and it was ‘elegant’
- plethora of words associated with those of higher class
- this complete subversion of the accociation of crime and lower class that was common amongst the Victorian upper class, who would of been reading the novel as the lower classes couldn’t read, is both shocking and horrific
- RLS suggests that despite the fącade of gentlemanliness of the upper class crime itself is not limited to the working class

Question 5

What else is described as being in Hyde’s lodgings ?

Answer 5

A ‘closet filled with wine’
Connotations of both class and wealth are visceral to the reader