Themes Flashcards
Theme - Duality of human nature
in Chapter 10
The retelling of events from perspective of Jekyll allows Victorian gentleman to relate to 2 personalities. The pious nature of Victorian society meant many people suppressed their desires, resulting in them questioning their ‘goodness’ as a human being due to the fact that religion condemned these ‘evil’ thoughts.
Theme - Scientific development
“Dr Lanyon took to his bed, and in something less than a fortnight he was dead.”
He dies of shock because he saw Mr Hyde turning into Dr Jekyll. Due to the society’s interest in religion, people feared what scientific developments would do to mankind. Charles Darwin wrote the Origins of the Species in 1859, which shook society due the the theory that God had not created the universe.
Theme - Nature and the Supernatural
(Jekyll to Dr Lanyon) “you who have so long been bound to the most narrow and material views, you who have denied the virtue of transcendental medicine”
In Victorian period, Industrial Revolution created change. Jekyll’s experiment symbolises this because of his his desire to change the natural course of himself through science. The repetition of ‘you’ shows Dr Jekyll’s anger towards Dr Lanyon, as he has always ‘denied’ this form of medicine. He cares about his experiment more than anything else.
Theme - Duality of human nature
(Narrator about Dr Jekyll) “with something of a slyish cast”
Hints at his evilness. In 19th century, attractiveness was viewed as goodness whereas disfiguration indicated criminality. Stevenson has used the Gothic Double, 2 characters in 1 to explore dual nature of man. His aspect of immorality in him foreshadows the transition of Jekyll into Hyde.
Absence of women in the novel
In terms of Gothic fiction, women function as the ‘damsel in distress’ archetype. The lack of romantic love interest in the novel provides no distraction for the central characters, allowing for a focused exploration of man’s depravity.
