Themes/Ideas

Question 1

what is dr jekyll used to show

Answer 1

• not all victorians live moral lives; most have facades
• his transformation is scary as it is based on not-well-understood new science
• dual nature; wish to be respected and to indulge in dubious pleasures through which stevenson comments on repressive, duplicitous and hypocritical vic soc
• represses and hides his desires; ends up destroying his life

Question 2

how is dr jekyll presented

Answer 2

• mad and sinful scientist
• sympathetically; feels regret, shocked by hyde, hardworking, respectable, hides his desires but this leads to shame
• negatively; born into privileged life; wants respect and vices (greed), warned and helped by friends

Question 3

how is utterson presented

Answer 3

• stereotypical, respectable gentleman
• still willing to ignore loss of respectability in friends, conceals evidence, has past misdeeds

Question 4

how does stevenson present duality

Answer 4

• genre: gothic (setting, monsters, death, inexplicable events) vs detective fiction (utterson is a vibe) vs scientific journal (dispassionate 3rd person narrative, supplementary end evidence)
• setting (lab vs hydes house vs front and back of jekylls)
• language (trampled calmly)

Question 5

how does stevenson present new science

Answer 5

• dangerous (hyde) - but that some of this danger comes from people’s unwillingness to understand/accept it (lanyon)
• possible good (good intentions)
• people deny scientific evidence and are stuck in ways (lanyon)
• negative and shocking (lanyon)

Question 6

how does stevenson present repression of desires and respectability

Question 7

what is hyde used to present

Answer 7

• not just the fact that primitive man is in all of us but the fear that we may devolve
• vic soc’s fears of lower classes (murder of carew)
• hypocrisy of upper classes (described a gentleman, nice rooms, often civil, other gentlemen often out late [ie carew and enfield])
• repression of desires
• fear of inner evil

Question 8

how does stevenson present women and femininity

Answer 8

• ## excluded as mcs

Question 9

how does stevenson create mystery and tension

Answer 9

• presentation of hyde
• descriptions of setting
• shows confusion and fear around new science
• shows facades in upper classes

Question 10

how does stevenson create a sense of fear

Answer 10

• hydes violence
• lanyons reaction
• enfield and utterson’s reactions
• shows dangers of repressed desires
• fear of new science
• fear of confronting truth about duality of man
• fear of losing facades