IDK Flashcards
Gabriel Utterson
His name suggests dual nature, Gabriel reminds us of the angel, a character clearly on the side of God, but this is contrasted with his surname. Indicating that he is completely human and will share the same thoughts as human nature. Stevenson is making the point to what human nature is about, between what is human about us and what is holy about us.
I had taken a loathing to my gentleman at first sight. So had the child’s family, which was only natural
Here you can see Hyde’s evil as easily overlooked, the most evil desire is to murder, this is the same feeling En field and the family have which is ‘only natural. This shows the Hypocrisy of the middle class men and women. Here Stevenson is alluding to human nature which is quite happy to fantasies murdering. Hyde will murder by why? is it expressing his evil nature of is it an attack on Victorian impulse to repress desires.
Blackmail, I suppose; an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth
Enfield describes that Jekyll must have done something in the past. When we look at this more closely there is an assumption that all gentlemen have committed crimes in the past which they have been blackmailed for, he implies they have escaped from this because of wealth and status. The use of the phrase ‘capers’ suggest that they should have no guilt over these.
The man trampled over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground…she was no more than frightened
The use of the adverb implies that there is something terrible about the man . the use of the oxymoron is an uncomfortable image which suggest how evil Hyde is, he has no feelings of wrongdoing. However the the fact that it says ‘she was nothing more than frightened’ shows he hasn’t done anything to the girl at all, nothing to get the hate and death threats he is receiving. Hyde is the victim here and because we don’t side with him as readers, we too are accused of this hypocrisy of Stevenson.
The last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of down-going men
This suggests that utterson represents Victorian rationalism, always searching out for logical explanations and dismissing the supernatural. However although he is a good character he still is friends of men who have dual nature, suggesting he chooses evil over good.
Religion is a mental illness, Characters use religion as a scapegoat to their dual personality, utterson reads the bible as a way of being a part of society, religion is his ego. The superego is the conventions of society and religion is your conscious self being accepted in society.
I incline to Cain’s heresy, i let my brother go to the devil in his own way
He is saying that he will not intervene in another mans business, this foreshadows events in the bible with Cain and able. The irony here is that Evil Cain kills his good brother,showing that Hyde’s wishes is to take over Jekyll. This suggests that mankind is more in-tuned with the devil than God.
‘If you choose to make capital out of this accident,’ said he, ‘I am naturally helpless. No gentleman but wishes to avoid a scene,’ says he. ‘Name your figure.’
Three things make this statement striking. First, Hyde says them immediately after trampling a girl. The idea that he would still be concerned about being a gentleman signals how truly strange he is. Jekyll created his alter-ego of Hyde, to be free of the constraints society had placed upon him and the constraints of his life of being a Victorian ‘gentleman’.
Finally, the idea that others would want to benefit from the girl’s suffering—and that Hyde would know it—is also striking. It suggests that no matter how strange he seems, Hyde understands the group confronting him, and they all share common interests.
I feel very strongly about putting questions; it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgment. You start a question, and it’s like starting a stone. You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting others; and presently some bland old bird … is knocked on the head in his own back-garden and the family have to change their name. No, sir, I make it a rule of mine: the more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask.
Enfield’s statement, which seems at first to be a kind of self-discipline, ends up supporting social hypocrisy. Enfield doesn’t say that he doesn’t ask questions in cases when there’s nothing to ask. He says he’s concerned that he might accidentally show that a respected family doesn’t deserve the respect they are getting. In other words, he’s supporting social lies over reality.
In addition, the more things look like “Queer Street” (which meant wrong or odd), the more people need to ask questions if they are going to understand them.
These lines are also important because Enfield’s specific example of the danger of asking questions (an “old bird” getting “knocked on the head”) foreshadows Hyde’s murder of Danvers Carew.
‘If he be Mr. Hyde,’ he had thought, ‘I shall be Mr. Seek.’
In this statement Utterson is acknowledging the appropriateness of Edward Hyde’s name. He is someone who hides or is hidden. A closely related meaning is that despite the deaths and the shocking horror with which people respond to events, there’s something childlike about this novella. The whole thing is like a giant game of Hide and Seek: where is Edward Hyde hiding?
There is something more, if I could find a name for it. God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say? or can it be the old story of Dr. Fell? or is it the mere radiance of a foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, its clay continent? The last, I think; for, O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend.
Many characters try to describe Mr. Hyde, and several try to explain why his appearance is so disturbing. But Utterson makes the most frequent and extended attempts. Here he suggests three reasons why Hyde is disturbing to look at. The first is that rather than looking like a normal person, Hyde looks like a troglodyte, or cave man. This reintroduces the period concern over evolution. The second suggestion refers to a brief satirical poem from the 17th century in which the speaker says, “I do not like thee Dr. Fell/The reason why, I cannot tell.” In short Utterson says he might dislike Hyde for no reason at all, or at least for no reason he can name. The third reason is simplest: Hyde is disturbing to look at because his spirit is evil or satanic.
