J + H - Jekyll Flashcards
(chapter 3 pg 14) - 1
a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast
- ‘well-made, smooth-faced’ shows that he is good looking like a gentleman
- ‘smooth-faced’ implies that he lacks any scarring of pox on his face highlighting his good health
- ‘man of fifty’ implies he has a wisdom which comes with his age emphasising his experience
- Jekyll is further described as ‘large’ indicating that he is quite tall showing the reader that he is well fed and is therefore wealthy and fortunate.
- Victorian readers would have been able to relate more easily as physiognomy made many Victorians believe that your appearance reflected your inner morality.
- ‘slyish cast’ reflects his capacity to conceal his duality. ‘Cast’ has connotations of a face model which foreshadows his ability to lie to his friends to protect his reputation.
(chapter 3 pg 14) - 3
‘There came a blackness to his eyes’
* The symbolic ‘blackness’ of the eyes alludes to some deep inner evil thoughts or nature that Jekyll is concealing as eyes were seen as windows to the soul.
* This image is made even more foreboding as in Victorian times, the pseudo-science of physiognomy implied that what you looked like denotes your moral worth – emphasizes that Jekyll’s ghostly appearance as suggested by pale implies that he is both mentally and physically corrupted by what he saw.
* foreshadows the incident at the window.
(chapter 5 pg 19)
‘I swear to God, cried the doctor, I swear to God I will never set eyes on him again’
- Repetition of ‘I swear to god’ highlights the Impulsive response to mentioning of Hyde – emphasises internal conflict between Jekyll and Hyde. The ironic use of a biblical reference emphasises Jekyll’s desperate situation due to Hyde’s appalling actions (murder of Carew).
- legalistic language – ‘I swear’ - unrestrained highly emotive self - highly unusual for a Victorian gentleman.
(chapter 7 pg 26) -1
but no, no, no, it is quite impossible; I dare not.
* emphatic hyperbolised negative language in repetition of ‘no’ reflects the hopelessness of his situation.
* ‘dare’ – connotes the great risk of his actions emphasising the severity of their consequences. Reveals his ineffable desperation to protect his reputation.
(chapter 6 pg 22)
He came out of his seclusion … He was busy, he was much in the open air, he did good
- Stevenson creates a momentary change in Jekyll to show that the good in him is transitory and weak and cannot last as he immediately goes back to his old ways.
- Use of repeated past tense verbs – ‘He came out’ / ‘He was busy’ / ‘he did good’ – creates an asyndetic list of all the thigs he did when the effects of Hyde wore off a little – further emphasises his conscious effort to change for the better. His improvement is emphasised as Stevenson says that ‘He did good’. This reflects the struggle that he is undertaking - to return to being good and to renounce the evil within him.
(chapter 7 pg 26) - 2
some disconsolate prisoner
* The metaphor ‘some disconsolate prisoner’ illuminates his imprisonment by his evil side.
* The adjective ‘disconsolate’ highlights his abject misery emphasising how he is alienated and detached from society.
* The qualifier ‘some’ generalises his state comparing Jekyll’s state to that of the lower classes contrasting with his roots as a gentleman
essay structure
P1: Extract
P2: physical description of J - physiognomy
* (chapter 3 pg 14) - a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast
* (chapter 3 pg 14) - ‘There came a blackness to his eyes’
P3: concealment of H from friends / repression of desires - attemps to maintain reputatuon
* (chapter 5 pg 19) - I swear to God,” cried the doctor, “I swear to God I will never set eyes on him again
* (chapter 7 pg 26) - but no, no, no, it is quite impossible; I dare not.
P4: isolation:
* (chapter 6 pg 22) - He came out of his seclusion … He was busy, he was much in the open air, he did good
* (chapter 7 pg 26) - some disconsolate prisoner
