j&h context Flashcards
significance of religous imagery
adds power to the text by maintaining a seriosu note through the biblical allusions, a universally respected and recognise form of authoirty in 1800s england
solidifies the duality pf the theme of science vs religion and makes readers more of aware of the societal conflict between the two
transmorphism in religion
in the bible it states the ability to change states is only doabkle by christ for the greater good, so its uncanny and satanic for jekyll to do so unaided and to misuse the supernatural powers for means of destruction
stevensons relationship with religion
he had a strained relationship with god after rejecting his scotish calvanist family, he did not believe in the hipocritical focus on perfection which he felt was unattainable by human nature
shift in religion in the 1800s
the industrial revolution meant mnay people switched spiritual needs for urbanisation and material comforts, a wave of scientific discovery criticised the proven biblical falsitities
for those who were relgiious the changing of states wouldve been to great anxiety and Stevenson plays into these fears with the combination of evil and sience
only 40% of victorians attended churhc
darwins impact
in fin de sicle literature devolution was a common topic, and was touchy for creationsationlists as the idea of god creating all was a direct contradiction to darwins theory.
john hunter explained
he was the inspo for jekyll and a real life story, drawing the fears of daulity very close to home.he was a london doctor and scoialite who had a second lower class house where grave diggers supplied him over 2000 dead bodies- showing the proximity of the rich and poor in london
presentation of the novel as a medical prosedure
the title ‘strange case’ reminds us of stevensons medical past and the prescence of two doctors in the novel.
layon speaks to hyde when he picks up the medical stuff as if it were a waiting room, and lanyon writes of hyde as a case study- but its a strange case as upon teransformation hyde becomes the doctor. many of the recounts have calls to medical writings of the time
freud in j & h
victorians loved phsycology and freuds analysis of the mind was very popular and relevant, in analysing in a freudian perspective we can grasp that jekyll embodies his moral consicne in the ego whilst hyde is badly controlled by the id.
gothic fin de siecle tropes
at the end of the 19th century there were intense fears of advancemnets and scientific odeas such as darwins theory. in the early 1800s people cared for romantic freedom over logic,but now with the same focus on phsycology they looked at reasonning.
theres usually a clearly evil character other who has no influence by societal standards and hence scares the reader as they are the unknown
mysterioussettings that add tension such as jekylls back room and hydes appartment
pathetic fallacy such as the heavy use of fog and mist as a way of obstructing the viewers visuals- adding to fears of the unknown
atavism
lombrosos theory states that after studying the features of dead criminals they shared adevolutionsied and phsycially unattractive phsyical sttae, as if generationally they had been stunted from evolving. hydes tridolydactric qualities echo a lot of the difinitve signs of this
