Violence Flashcards
“the man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground”
Stevenson deliberately depicts innocent victims to highlight Hyde’s barbaric acts. The trampling of the girl is made more brutal by her young age, however, the unembellished language used in “the man trampled calmly over the child’s body and
left her screaming on the ground” could be interpreted to imply that this is less an act of deliberate malice and more a passive disregard for human life.
Hyde’s innate lack of morals are shown by the animalistic connotations of “The man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground”. The verb “trampled” connotes animalistic aggression whilst the adverb “calmly” emphasises Hyde’s detachment from his actions.
“this will make a deal of noise”
Stevenson deliberately depicts innocent victims to highlight Hyde’s barbaric acts. Hyde’s murder of Carew shows a disregard for the upper class. Stevenson highlights Carew’s status in the metaphor and auditory imagery in “this will make a deal of noise”. This disdain from a member of a lower class towards the upper classes could be seen as symbolic of proletarian revolution.
“All of a sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on like a madman”
Stevenson uses lexis from the semantic field of violence in “All of a sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on like a madman”. The ordered series of clauses depicting Hyde’s behaviour contrast with the violent and irrational nature of the action. His volatility is shown by the metaphor of his violence as a “flame” which also has natural connotations, suggesting that this is intrinsic to his character.
“A certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street”
“prolonged and sordid negligence”
The description of the setting reflects how out of place Hyde is in society. “A certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street” suggests that the building, like Hyde, is out of place in society. The jarring nature of the building which is not in line with the others is emphasised by the plosive alliteration of “block of building”. Stevenson furthers this by using sibilance in “certain sinister”. The building is also described to be in a state of “prolonged and sordid negligence”. This could be reflective of Hyde as it suggests that his violent behaviour is rooted in his isolation.
“the man trampled calmly over the child’s body”
“streaming tears”
The maid and the young girl fulfil the gothic character archetype of the innocent female. Like many female gothic characters, the girl is reduced to an object in “the man trampled calmly over the child’s body”. Stevenson again uses stereotypes by describing the maid’s “streaming tears” in order to characterise her as an irrational woman.
“aged beautiful gentleman with white hair”
Whilst not a woman, Carew’s character is feminised by the description of him as an “aged beautiful gentleman with white hair”. Stevenson’s use of colour in “white hair” provides angelic connotations, and makes him appear as a vulnerable individual whom Mr Hyde takes advantage of.
“If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also”
Sin has a dual nature: reward and punishment. The novella acts as a cautionary tale, showing how the rewards do not outweigh the punishment of acting sinfully.
“glee”
“delight from every blow”
Hyde commits two crimes of violence against innocent and helpless citizens: first, a little girl and second, an elderly man. The violence in the novel centres on Mr Hyde, and raises the question of whether or not violence is an inherent part of man’s nature. It is shocking how much pleasure Hyde gets from the murder of Carew - he feels “glee” and tasted “delight from every blow” as he attacked him.
“Satan’s signature upon a face”
Acts of violence in the novella are against
innocent people and provoke horror in the characters around them. This would have linked to the context of Victorian crimes in London, and the fear that some invisible force was driving evil into its citizens. Hyde is described as “Satan’s signature upon a face” - this shows how he is an embodiment of evil and how he
epitomises everything that citizens feared
at the time.
