Jekyll and hyde quotes Flashcards
“he was now no less distinguished
tor religion
This shows his difficult relationship with
religion. He has previously studied
“he was now no less distinguished
religious texts but appears here to have
“large… smooth faced man”
a description of Dr Jekyll.
demonstrates that he is the perfect quintessential victorian gentleman.
portrayed as a perfect darwinian figure/ perfect religious figure.
“A fortnight later, by excellent good fortune, the doctor gave one of his pleasant dinners to some five or six old cronies, all intelligent, reputable men and all judges of good wine”
He is sociable and well respected.
“charitable man”
He has an image of a generous person.
“I concealed my pleasures”
He suppressed his sinful side in order to gain social respect.
“He came out of his seclusion”
After indulging in Hyde, Jekyll attempts to re-assimilate into society.
“My devil had long been caged, he came out roaring.
Jekyll’s inner “devil” is a manifestation of his deeper desires. The connotations of “devil” also suggest that Jekyll’s desires are in direct opposition to contemporary Christian ideology.
He was conscious of his “more
furious propensity to ill”
“propensity to ill” implies a now natural
inclination towards immorality.
“the hand that lay on my knee was
corded and hair’
The hand, a symbol of respectability
and honour, is invaded by free-flowing
hair insinuating ideas of an
unrestrained and uncontrolled freedom.
“I felt younger, lighter, happier in
body”
Stevenson uses triadic structure to show how burdensome the restraints of
society are on Jekyll.
An overdose might “blot out that immaterial tabernacle which I looked to change”
“immaterial tabernacle” is lexis from the semantic field of religion so shows that
in Jekyll’s experiments he is encroaching on God’s territory.
“man is not truly one but truly two”
He believes that the human psyche can
“man is not truly one but truly two”
be split.
“I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame”
He has failed in splitting his good and bad and has instead allowed the evil in him to thrive.
“I was driven to reflect deeply and inveterately on that hard law of life which lies at the root of religion”
Alliteration is used and refers to the
common concept of guilt, conscience and sin. Jekyll attempts to isolate the
moral and immoral to undercut the “root
of religion”.
“Late one accursed night, I
compounded the elements, I watched them boil… with a strong glow of courage, drank off the potion”
“Late one accursed night” creates darkness, adding gravitas to the scene. “Strong glow of courage” suggests
watched Jekyll to be erratic as well as showing that he was aware of the risks he was taking.
