Jekyll and Hyde - Themes Flashcards
What did Victorian Society expect gentleman to have?
Victorian society expected gentleman to have a good reputation.
What is very important to gentlemen in the novel?
+Reputation is very important to gentlemen in the novel
+Immoral activities and uncontrolled emotions would damage a gentleman’s reputation.
+If this happened, they may no longer be seen as a gentleman at all, which would mean losing many social advantages.
+This means that the gentlemen in Jekyll and Hyde value their reputations above all else.
Who is wary of gossip?
+Utterson is wary of gossip, in case it reflects badly on him or his friends.
+He and Enfield agree never to talk about Hyde, and believe in not asking questions if something “looks like Queer Street”.
Who is more concerned about preserving Jekyll’s reputation?
+Utterson is more concerned about preserving Jekyll’s reputation than bringing Hyde to trial.
+After Carew’s murder, he says to Jekyll, “If it came to a trial, your name might appear.”
What is Stevenson’s message about reputation?
+Stevenson’s message is that reputations cannot be trusted because they are based on appearances.
+They are the version of person that he or she wants the world to see.
What happens when a society values reputation as highly as the Victorians did?
+When a society values reputation as highly as the Victorians did, it makes it difficult to know what people are really like.
+This is what causes Utterson problems - he cannot fully understand Jekyll’s situation because he only sees Jekyll’s repuation as important.
+This means that he holds onto the idea of blackmail until the very last moment - he finds it hard to look beyond his concern for reputation.
Who is more worried about his reputation than his sins?
Jekyll is more worried about his reputation than his sins
Who has to hide his sins to protect his reputation?
+Jekyll has to hide his sins to protect his reputation.
+He struggles with this, so he creates Hyde to rid himself of the “disgrace” of sin.
Give quotes which show Jekyll’s feelings about reputation.
- “a load of genial respectability” - Jekyll still wants a gentlemanly reputation.
- “like a schoolboy” - This simile makes Jekyll seem quite childish and irresponsible
- “spring headlong into the sea of liberty” - He associates Hyde with freedom.
- “the safety was complete” - Jekyll thinks his reputation is safe.
- “I did not even exist!” - He sees Hyde as a different person because it makes him feel better.
+This quote shows how concerned Jekyll is with his reputation - he thinks more about hiding his sins than dealing with them.
+He feels free as Hyde because he can conceal his sins perfectly.
Who gets a little carried away?
+“I had been safe of all men’s respect”
+Jekyll gets a little carried away with his ‘goodie by day, baddie by night’ arrangement.
+He can prowl around in the dark causing death and destruction, whilst his reputation remains intact.
+Ideal - Until he goes wrong
What does Jekyll believe?
Jekyll believes there are two sides to every individual
How does Jekyll feel before he creates Hyde?
+Before he creates Hyde, Jekyll feels that he is leading a double life:
- Jekyll is an established gentleman, with “the respect of the wise and good” in society.
- On the other hand, he is guilty of “irregularities” - sins and desires that he keeps hidden.
Who does Jekyll decide his duality applies to?
+Jekyll decides that this duality applies to all of humanity: “man is not truly one, but truly two.”
+Jekyll states this as a fact, because he’s so convinced he’s right.
+This leads him to risk everything.
Who is more self-aware than other characters?
+Jekyll is more self-aware than the other characters.
+He feels like the good and evil sides of his personality are struggling against one another, and decides to take action by separating them.
+However, he fails to fully separate his two sides because he is “radically both”.
How does Stevenson use the language of a battle to describe the struggle between Jekyll’s good and bad emotions?
+Writer’s Techniques - Language: Stevenson uses the language of a battle to describe the struggle.
+There’s a “war” within Jekyll, and the “two natures that contended in the field” of his mind sound like two forces meeting on a battlefield.
What does Jekyll underestimate?
+Jekyll underestimates how closely the good and bad sides of his personality are bound together.
+He also underestimates the power and attraction of his purely evil side - in the end, Hyde and the bad part of Jekyll outweigh the good part of Jekyll.
What can the two sides be seen as?
The two sides can be seen as sinful and virtuous
How does Jekyll live without Hyde?
+Without Hyde, Jekyll lives a virtuous life and is “distinguished for religion” and charity.
+But he is also an “ordinary secret sinner”.
+All people, including Jekyll, are a mixture of sin and virtue.
How is Hyde in contrast to Jekyll?
+In contrast, Hyde is the purely satanic side of Jekyll.
+He writes all over Jekyll’s religious text with “startling blasphemies”.
+Jekyll calls Hyde “My devil”, and Utterson thinks that “Satan’s signature” is written on Hyde’s face.
Why is Hyde created?
+Hyde is created because of Jekyll’s desire to rid himself of sin, rather than deal with it.
+Jekyll says that Hyde could have been created as “an angel instead of a fiend”, if only the experiment had been done with more “pious” intentions [ie. for God’s glory, not his own].
How does the novel show complex attitudes to sin?
+Although Stevenson shows the dangers of letting this sinful side take over, the novel also shows complex attitudes to sin:
- it’s tempting - Jekyll feels “younger, lighter, happier” as Hyde.
- it’s powerful - Hyde takes over in the end
- it’s unavoidable - as Hyde, Jekyll gives in to “original evil”
What branch of Christianity was around when the novel was written?
+Backgrund and Context - Religion: In this period, a branch of Christianity called Evangelicalism taught that all mankind are inevitably sinful, because Adam and Eve sinned.
+Stevenson frightens his readers by taking this further - the sinful side isn’t only inevitable, it can also be stronger.
What can be seen as civilised and uncivilised?
The two sides can be seen as civilised and uncivilised
Who isn’t just the sinful side of Jekyll?
+Hyde isn’t just the sinful side of Jekyll - he’s also the uncivilised side.
+He disrupts the ordered, civilised world that Jekyll and his friends live in.
What did some upper-class Victorians think about people who committed crimes?
+Some upper-class Victorians thought that people who committed crimes, or disrupted the social order, were less evolved.
+They tried to use Darwin’s theory of evolution to back this up.
What did Darwin argue?
+Darwin argued that humans shared a common ancestor with apes.
+Some upper-class Victorians accepted his theory of evolution, but interpreted it in a different way - they felt evolution would eventually lead to the creation of a ‘perfect’ creature [and on this basis, they saw themselves as more highly evolved than the rest of society].
What does Stevenson force his readers to consider?
+Stevenson forces his readers to consider the possibility that there’s a savage within all people, even if they seemed civilised.
+Hyde behaves “like a madman” and is “ape-like”, but he’s a part of Jekyll.
+This suggests that it is the civilised side of Jekyll’s personality the excercises restraint - without it, all that is left is the pure evil of Hyde.
+Character - Poole: This also applies to other characters to a certain extent - Poole is a loyal, “well-dressed” servant, but he shouts at another servant with “ferocity”.
What does Stevenson use man’s dual nature to comment on?
+Stevenson uses man’s dual nature to comment on society
