Jekyll and Hyde character plans. Flashcards
Dr Henry Jekyll
Summary: - Dr Henry Jekyll is a medical doctor with an interest in the supernatural. He carries out experiments and makes a potion that transforms him into his alter ego which is Hyde.
- He makes a potion which separates the good and bad aspects of himself and allows him to switch between two identities.
- He makes a will leaving everything to Hyde if he dies.
- He is too weak to stick to his resolution and changes into Hyde spontaneously.
The importance of Jekyll.
Jekyll is the central protagonist of the novella, yet for much of it we see little of him directly. He is introduced by reputation, without being named. For the first eight chapters, we are not aware that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person. That is revealed at the end of chapter 9. The rest of the novella revolves around him but as an often shadowy focus.
Writing about Jekyll.
“And stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life”: He leads a double life to appear respectable while satisfying his delights in secret.
“Led wholly towards the mystic and transcendental”: He is concerned with the nature of the soul or personality than the physical body.
“I began to perceive more deeply than it has ever yet been started, the trembling immateriality”: He sees his discovery as a unique advance in science that no one has approached before.
Aiming high.
For a high level, look at what a character’s own words tell us about their personality. The last chapter is told in Jekyll’s voice, and it has its own particular style. The richest language in the novella is used by Jekyll in his final statement. Jekyll uses vibrant, flamboyant language, packed with imagery and emotion. He frequently uses similes and metaphors which make his account more vivid.
Mr Edward Hyde.
Summary: - Mr Edward Hyde is the alter ego of Jekyll. He does not exist until freed from within Jekyll’s psyche by the transformative potion Jekyll takes and drinks. The fullest account of Hyde comes in Jekyll’s final statement. We need to put this together with his appearances earlier in the novella to see what he does in sequence.
The importance of Hyde.
Hyde is the evil aspect of Jekyll manifested in a separate identity, and as such forms part of the main protagonist. It is his character and actions that drive Jekyll to destruction. He is also responsible forer all the main events of the novella - the trampling of a young girl recalled by Enfield, the murder of Carew, the death of Lanyon and the destruction of Jekyll.
Writing about Hyde.
“There was something abnormal and misbegotten in the very essence of the creature”: His evil and unnaturalness makes him look repulsive.
“I was conscious of no repugnance, rather of a leap of welcome”: Because Hyde is a familiar part of himself, he does not find him repellent.
“He was a being inherently malign and villainous”: It is his lack of concern for anyone else that makes Hyde especially evil.
Aiming high.
Hyde looks different from Jekyll.
Mr Gabriel John Utterson
Summary:
- Mr Gabriel Utterson is a lawyer and friend of both Jekyll and Lanyon. We see much of the action of the novella from his point of view, learning things as he learns them.
The importance of Utterson.
Utterson scored a key character in the novella as he provides continuity and a solid focus during the eight chapters as events unfurl. His reliable, rational character makes him a good choice as our guide.
Writing about Utterson.
“His affections like ivy were the growth of time, they implied no aptness in the object”: This means that he does not choose friends carefully.
“Henry Jekyll forge for a murderer”: Utterson interprets the similarity of the handwriting in Hyde’s note and Jekyll’s note as evidence that Jekyll forged the note on Hyde’s behalf.
“Pull yourself together”: Utterson is the figure in authority on the last night, and acts with determination.
Dr Hastie Lanyon.
Summary:
Dr Hastie Lanyon is a medical doctor and an established colleague of Jekyll. However, the two have fallen out and are no longer good friends.
- He suffers the terrible shock of seeing Hyde transform into Jekyll which leads to his illness and death.
The importance of Lanyon.
Lanyon is a counterpoint to Jekyll in that his approach to science is entirely practical and based on the physical body.
Writing about Lanyon.
“He began to go wrong, wrong in mind”: For Lanyon, science is a purely rational in which ‘fanciful’ ideas about the spirit play no part.
“Bound to the most narrow and material views”: Lanyon will not consider anything that can’t be explained in terms of the physical world”.
“My life is shaken to its roots”: Seeing something completely inexplicable leaves him with no sense of certainty in his life”.
Enfield.
Mr Richard Enfield is a friend and distant cousin of Utterson’s. He appears only twice in the novella, when he: tells Utterson about Hyde.
- Suggests that Hyde might be blackmailing Jekyll, an idea that Utterson accepts and acts on.
- Is walking with Utterson when they try to engage Jekyll in conversation and they both turn away in horror at the look on Jekyll’s face.
