Lanyon

Question 1

” a good fellow - you needn’t frown - an excellent fellow”]
chapter 3
reputation

“hide bound pedant for all that; an ignorant blatant pedant”

Answer 1

• Jekyll feels respect and compassion towards Dr Lanyon as a person.
• This is important for portraying how their personal lives are corrupted and contaminated by the wider conflicts of society
• portrays the effects their professional disagreements had on their personal relationships
• the repetition of the noun “pedant” portrays his resentment, his words seems to be imbued with a sense of bitterness
• this is reinforced by the harsh consonance of the “t” sound in “ignorant, blatant pedant” whch sounds agressive and riddled with anger
• Ultimately, Jekyll’s views on Lanyon are wildly contradictory, reinforcing the suggestion that there is a dual nature to every aspect of life and that everything is complicated by contradiction

Question 2

“such unscientific balderdash… would have estranged Damon and Pythias”
Science vs supernatural
Chapter 2

Answer 2

• “Damon and Pythias” is a reference to Greek mythology used in the 18th and 19th century to symbolise strong friendships
• He embodies rationalism, they are both doctor with polar perspectives of science
• This portrays the conflict between religion and science as so pertinent it supersedes kin relations : it took precedence over the personal lives of the individual
• Lanyon’s allusion to mythology almost ridicules him as a scientist as it exposes his beliefs are not exclusively scientific
• Stevenson could be cirtiquing how the science that is strongly influenced by religion may be distored and not entirely accurate - calling upon a transforamtion of science and religion and their place in society’s discourse

Question 3

“Jekyll became too fanciful for me”

Answer 3

• Hints that Dr Lanyon is traditional and remains in stanch for a reason, rationale and integrity of traditional science
• He is used to demonstrate the extremes that exist in the realm of scientific research
  -His role within the text is a foil to Jekyll as he is used to highlight the absurdities in some of Jekyll’s experimentation
• It also foreshadows the end of the novella, when Hyde becomes all consuming and Jekyll can no longer control him. The fricatives employed in “fanciful” creates a harsh tone of his rejection to Jekyll

Question 4

“My life is shaken to its roots”
Religion
Chapter 9

Answer 4

• The metaphor suggests that every fibre of his worldview has been unnerved
• the noun “roots” connotates birth and origin, in the absence of a coherent religious explanation for his existence he is metaphorically uprooted
  -Seeing something completely inexplicable leaves him with no sense of certainty in his life.
• Stevenson almost ridicules the domatic nature of religious beliefs, he is presented with unquestionable evidence of this metaphysical science yet he refuses to concede “ I shall die incredulous”
• He would rather die in a state of perpetual disbelief than give in to the possible truth that threatens everything he knows
• Jekyll’s transformation is hyperbolic yet symbolic, but a Lanyon dies from shock of this could illuminate how society will die and disintegrate if they don’t open their eyes to reality