Jekyll and Hyde Vocabulary- Grades 4-9 Flashcards
Grades 4-7
Tier 2
duality
Having two parts, often with opposing meanings
Jekyll & Hyde represent the duality of human nature; good & evil coexist
“I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man.” (Chapter 10)
Tier 2
countenance
A person’s face or facial expression
‘even as good shone upon the countenance of the one, evil was written broadly and plainly on the face of the other’ (Chapter 10)
Tier 2
dreary
gloomy and dismal
Despite Utterson’s dreary personality, people seem to admire him.
‘lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow loveable.’ (Chapter 1)
Tier 2
regression
a return to a former or less developed state
Perhaps Stevenson’s animalistic descriptions of Hyde link to Darwin’s theory of evolution and the Victorian fear of regression.
Tier 2
humanity
the quality of being human; feelings of compassion
Hyde centers upon a conception of humanity as dual in nature.
Tier 2
physiognomy
the supposed art of judging character from facial characteristics.
In Victorian times, people believed in physiognomy. Hyde’s animalistic and stunted appearance therefore represents the idea that he’s less evolved and human than others.
Tier 3- Genre
Gothic
a literature style linking to mystery, horror, and suspense
Gothic characteristics in Jekyll and Hyde include claustrophobic and nocturnal settings, ruined buildings, nightmares, isolation, and unreliable narrators
Tier 3- Form
Epistolary
A piece of literature told through letters
Stevenson uses the epistolary form to create a sense of mystery; Chapters 9 and 10 are told through the form of letters.
Tier 3- Language
Pathetic Fallacy
Where weather and the environment reflects the mood or atmsophere.
In Chapter 4, Stevenson uses lots of pathetic fallacy (often used in conjunction with war imagery), creating a scene where Soho resembles a battleground.
Tier 2 / Tier 3- Analysis
Subverts
Overthrowing, challenging, or undermining something
Stevenson subverts the detective genre, as we know from the start of the novella who the criminal is.
Tier 3- Language
symbol
An image or object in literature which represents something else
Envolopes symbolise mysteries in the novel, and the opening of these letters is a symbol of revelation and often truth.
Tier 3- form
novella
A short novel
In the 1886 novella, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde…
Tier 3- Structure
Withholding information
To keep some essential information back from the reader, often to create mystery or suspense
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is decidedly ominous. One way that Stevenson creates this feeling is by withholding information. Not only is Hyde never described in detail, but it often seems like the characters choose silence, or at least discretion, over dialogue.
Tier 2 / Tier 3- Context
Contemporary
The audience / reader at the time of writing
A contemporary audience would have valued the importance of reputation, and this is reflected as even Hyde wants to protect his reputation in Chapter 1 when he pays the family of the trampled girl £100 so that they don’t make his name ‘stink’ across London.
Tier 2
Atavism
Reverting to something primitive
Hyde displays atavistic traits.
