All Themes In Jekyll And Hyde
- Created by: emsicle
- Created on: 17-03-20 16:01
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- Themes In Jekyll And Hyde
- Duality Of Human Nature
- Jekyll's experiment began in attempt to separate the two sides of human nature
- Jekyll cannot suppress Hyde (Jekyll enjoys being Hyde).
- Hyde disrupts the ordered and civilized world Jekyll lives in.
- Jekyll was from a well respected family-Gentleman.
- "I was radically both." (Jekyll)
- Jekyll kept Hyde "long caged" - suppressed, Hyde came back more brutal than ever.
- "Man is not truly one, but truly two." (Jekyll)
- Repression
- The restraint, prevention of a feeling or quality experience.
- "My devil had long been caged, he came out roaring." (Jekyll)
- "I read Satan's signature upon a face." (Utterson about Hyde)
- "Drank gin when he was alone to mortify the taste of vintages." (Utterson)
- friendship
- The three friends (Utterson, Lanyon and Jekyll).
- "The trio were inseparable friends."
- Utterson's friendship with Jekyll leads him to Hyde.
- Utterson wants to help and protect his friend. Utterson is determined to uncover the mystery of Hyde.
- Jekyll and Lanyon have been friends for a long time, although they fell out due to Jekyll's approach to science
- "Unscientific balderdash." (Lanyon)
- Utterson proves his loyalty to his friend Jekyll by confronting Hyde.
- "sincere and warm affection." (Jekyll about Utterson
- Religion
- "But carrying it off, sir, really like Satan."
- Before we even know Hyde's name he is already linked to Satan.
- "My Devil had been long caged." (Jekyll)
- "If ever I read Satan's signature upon a face." (Utterson about Hyde)
- Hyde is constantly associated with the Devil-embodiment of Satan.
- "But carrying it off, sir, really like Satan."
- Violence
- "He broke out in a great flame of anger."
- 'flame', fire is associated with hell-Satan.
- "Mr Hyde broke out of all bounds."
- 'bounds' may suggest the restraint and control Jekyll keeps Hyde under.
- "The man trampled calmly over the child and left her screaming on the ground."
- Hyde is portrayed as ignorant.
- then 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.
- 'Great flame of anger' represents the fires of hell and brandish indicates a adrenaline rush.
- "Ape like fury." (Hyde killing Sir Danvers Carew)
- Animistic
- "He broke out in a great flame of anger."
- Good vs evil
- Jekyll and Hyde are instantly shown to be complete opposites, this is established before we even know of their names.
- "Both sides of me were in dead earnest."
- "Last good influence in the lives of down going men." (Utterson description)
- Dr. Jekyll believes that good and evil should be separated from each other because he can not balance them well when they are mingled.
- Science vs nature
- "Lanyon, at what he called my scientific heresies."
- Jekyll disappointment at Lanyon's comments of his scientific belief.
- "Like a man restored from death- there stood Henry Jekyll."
- unnatural transition from Hyde to Jekyll.
- "But the temptation of a discovery so singular and profound at last overcame the suggestions of alarm."
- Jekyll understood and realized the risk of experimenting on himself.
- Scientists where usually dismissive of the supernatural.
- "Lanyon, at what he called my scientific heresies."
- Repression and homosexuality
- "Or else he would see a room in a rich house, where his friend lay asleep, dreaming and smiling at his dreams; and then the door of that room would be opened, the curtains of the bed plucked apart, the sleeper recalled, and lo! there would stand by his side a figure to whom power was given, and even at that dead hour, he must rise and do its bidding."
- Utterson's sexually charged dream about Jekyll (friend) which has to be repressed. He dreams about Jekyll being in bed and Hyde summoning Jekyll from bed.
- Tragedy of the novel could be: society doesn't accept people for who they are and look down on them for who they are.
- "If he be Mr. Hyde" he thought , "I shall be Mr.Seek."
- The novel only mentions men.
- Stevenson wants society to be more toelrant.
- Friendship could be a proxy for homosexuality. (Jekyll cant give int o his sexual desires because society forbids it).
- "Queer street, the less i ask."
- 'Queer' means homosexual (hints Hyde is in a homosexual relationship with Jekyll).
- "Black mail I suppose; an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth."
- Enfield believes Hyde must be blackmailing Jekyll for something he'd done in his youth.
- All young men potentially give into homosexual desires. (only appropriate when young and immature)
- "Or else he would see a room in a rich house, where his friend lay asleep, dreaming and smiling at his dreams; and then the door of that room would be opened, the curtains of the bed plucked apart, the sleeper recalled, and lo! there would stand by his side a figure to whom power was given, and even at that dead hour, he must rise and do its bidding."
- Reputation
- Jekyll has to hide his sins to protect his reputation so he creates Hyde to rid himself of sin.
- 'I am ashamed of my long tongue. Let us bargain. Never to refer to this again' (Utterson)
- "I have been safe of all men's respect" (Jekyll)
- Stevenson's message: Reputation cannot be trusted because they are based on appearances -They are versions of a person that he or she would want the world to see.
- Duality Of Human Nature
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