J+H - Appearances

Question 1

“None the less natural to me because they wore the expression, and bore the stamp, of lower elements in my soul”

Answer 1

• Lower elements are ability to be evil
• Inside Jekyll is evil, notice this when we see the evil-looking Hyde
• Stevenson never reveals what Hyde looks like - doesn’t believe in false division between good and evil - we’re all like Jekyll, we do good and bad things.

Question 2

“The large handsome face of Dr. Jekyll grew pale to the very lips, and there came a blackness about his eyes”

Answer 2

• Presented as being attractive because Stevenson is saying appearance tells you nothing about whether someone is good or evil.
• Blackness of eyes is the duality of man, evil desire of Jekyll

Question 3

“A large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness”

Answer 3

Looks kind but “perhaps” isn’t

Question 4

Appearance vs Reality of the novella

Answer 4

• On the outside, this novella looks like a Christian novel where the evil Hyde and Jekyll are killed.
• However, this novella could be an attack on these conventions to attack Victorian society