jekyll Flashcards
jekyll main purpose
he is a respectable ma n tormented by socieites intense pressures to conform to a complete moral perfection and in an attempt o rid himself becomes the embodiment of evil, his relationship with hyde is semi permiable and shpuld not fully be seen as separate entities as they are one man
context of jekyll
religion- he has a turbulent relationship with god, he is a foil to conformist christians like lanyon and his id is the embodiemnt of biblical evil, yet he represnets the sin de siecle struggle with christianity as he finds religion when moral and prays to god in his worst moments
he shows freudian ego, a moral and respected side of man
he- like john hunter- is a represntitive of the corruption of the upper classs and their ability to act imoraliy with little scrutiny, his and jekylls houses are alike and show the proximity between rich and poor
max nordeau theorised of the corruption of the upper class as they have time and money to commit crimes whilst the poor are struggling for the bare necessities
my devil had been long caged, he came out roaring
caged and roaring are animalistic imagery that likens hyde to a primitive evil, atavistic
devil is more extremist than aniaml imagery, this is a raw biblical evil, envokes even more fear than that of devolution
he is a victim of soceities restraint on men to have to conform, and this is a warning against intense repression
smooth faced well bred man
shows how jekyll as the ego completely conforms to scoeities standards, hegihteining the fin de siecle fears of the phycological advacements and the unknwon as its clear that anyone can posses a primal evil rather than just the gothic trope of a clear isolated villain
well bred conforms to class ideals of an old money man
such unsceintific balderdash, wouldve estranged damon and pythias
jekyll is a foil to the christian anti evolutionary and that scientists, possibly showing how he did not conform already to some standards due to his id
this however is more so used for irony as lanyon and the christians, represenitive of those who feared an era of discovery and change, brutally mock his experiments that are proved to be successful
damon and pythias is a greek allusion to mythical best friends
i only ask for justice when i am no longer here
jekyll is an ego and not a suoerego clearly as his character even as the ‘morally good’ side of himself is still plauged with the upper class characteristcs of selfishness and hypocritical behaviour
he has a cllear opportunity to confess and seek help in utterson and instead chooses to lie- a biblical sin showing how immorality is not black and white
when i am no longer here implies that his demise to hyde even earlier on in the novel is pre decided by jekyll, he cannot and does not want to give in to his pleasures in hyde
justice is ironic
on the first read we feel sympathy for his vicitmised state but upon reread its clear he has a very selfish nature
he surrounds himself with ‘intelligent and reputable men’ and his place in society
through his well bred old money background and his peers steveson appeals to the soceital standards of a conformist gentleman, creating a comfortable assocaition of jekyll with goodness and moraltiy, heighting the shock of hos dual character and showing how it can be present in all men
theres an intense juxtapositon when he reclines into seclusion through a letter, a complete break of all the conformist standards- to be seen is to be respected- and when he returns he tries to busy himself again showing a rebirth
jekyll as a represntation of evil
it is worth noting that its possible the orignial kindly jekyll is his true character, and hence exentuates the fear of primal evil in man and the dire need to not repress it in order for it to be revealed in an outburst, very possibly jekylls corruption happens soley after he tries to separte hyde out of his own moral interest
indeed when he bnaishes hyde most murder he attempts to ‘renew his relationships’
either jekyll represents the fact tat repressing your freedom and primal state will lead to a heavy temptation and maybe an outburst of evil, or he comndems the audience for having a liking for jekylls initial charcater as upper class men are misleading
either way heis used to criticise societal norms that evil is class specific
devil motif between jekyll and hyde
satans signature upon his face implies hes signed a deal with the devil and also he is so phsyically repulsive that he repels people to a point where he must be a raw biblical evil
in contrast jekyll is ‘no less distinguished to religion’ and tries to repair his relations with god when wary of his acts, he also glasps his hands to god and cries out upon his actions
their relationship is semi permiable and cannot wholey be separaed from one another
you could do a paragraph on what j represents in religion and what h represnts def
younger, lighter, happier
criticisim of the dangers of conforming to societal norms to the etxent where your primative id is repressed because then it can be preserved as a tempting source of freedom and youth that grows more tempting as time passes
tricolon
this too was myself
though we can feel a sympathy for jekyll as a product of a physigonomy central societies obsession with conforming, its important that there is not a separtation between the two men as is gothic convention to isolate the villain as an ‘other’
its important to remember theyre two sides of one man and have a prmiable connection- the sympathy for jekyll cannot be removed from the reminder that this is an inside threat
top jekyll paragraph ideas
- jekylls introduction as a conformist man and a bit vs when he goes into hiding
- jekyll as sympathy as a victim of soceity and mental torment, devil connotations and stuff
- jekyll as a selfish upper class man, max nordeau and chat w utterson
- jekyll in religion- lanyon, devil stuff with hyde and self religion
jekyll as a victim of the constraints of soceity
- ‘prisoner’
- ‘this too was myself’ though we can feel a sympathy for jekyll as a product of a physigonomy central societies obsession with conforming, its important that there is not a separtation between the two men as is gothic convention to isolate the villain as an ‘other’
its important to remember theyre two sides of one man and have a prmiable connection- the sympathy for jekyll cannot be removed from the reminder that this is an inside threat - ‘young smaller slighter’ criticisim of the dangers of conforming to societal norms to the etxent where your primative id is repressed because then it can be preserved as a tempting source of freedom and youth that grows more tempting as time passes
tricolon - it is worth noting that its possible the orignial kindly jekyll is his true character, and hence exentuates the fear of primal evil in man and the dire need to not repress it in order for it to be revealed in an outburst, very possibly jekylls corruption happens soley after he tries to separte hyde out of his own moral interest
indeed when he bnaishes hyde most murder he attempts to ‘renew his relationships’ - ‘morbid sense of shame’
jekyll as a respectible gentleman
- max nordeau theorised, john hunter + jack the ripper
-‘intelligent, reputable men’ through his well bred old money background and his peers steveson appeals to the soceital standards of a conformist gentleman, creating a comfortable assocaition of jekyll with goodness and moraltiy, heighting the shock of hos dual character and showing how it can be present in all men
theres an intense juxtapositon when he reclines into seclusion through a letter, a complete break of all the conformist standards- to be seen is to be respected- and when he returns he tries to busy himself again showing a rebirth - ‘pleasentest rooms in london’
- ‘well made smooth faced man’ shows how jekyll as the ego completely conforms to scoeities standards, hegihteining the fin de siecle fears of the phycological advacements and the unknwon as its clear that anyone can posses a primal evil rather than just the gothic trope of a clear isolated villain
well bred conforms to class ideals of an old money man
