The Character of Henry Jekyll

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  • Henry Jekyll
    • Respectable
      • Jekyll is "well known and highly considered" due to his wealth, reputation and intelligence.
      • He socialises with upper class people, which is suggested by "The doctor gave one of his pleasant dinners to some five or six old cronies, all intelligent reputable men, and all judges of good wine"
      • Jekyll loses respect as the plot progresses, for example, from Lanyon because of his "scientific heresies" which shows how Jekyll's ambition has led him to go against religion
        • Ambitious
          • As Lanyon suggests, Jekyll is too ambitious with his science, which is described as "unscientific balderdash"
          • Jekyll's ambition leads him to create a potion that splits his good and evil side and he willingly "risked death" to make this happen
      • Jekyll is first presented as "large, well made, smooth-faced man of 50 ... every mark of capacity and kindness" which makes the audience respect Jekyll.
    • Troubled
      • As the novel progresses, Jekyll becomes more erratic which is shown when Utterson and Enfield see Jekyll in the window and it says "the smile was struck out of his face" which shows his instant change in behaviour and is worrying
      • Jekyll is troubled by his evil side so creates Hyde, a separate identity for his evil side, to be "relieved of all that was unbearable"
      • Jekyll seems to lose control of Hyde and is even more troubled when  he becomes addicted to the potion - Jekyll compares himself to a "drunkard" and says he is "slowly losing hold of my original and better self"
    • Ambitious
      • As Lanyon suggests, Jekyll is too ambitious with his science, which is described as "unscientific balderdash"
      • Jekyll's ambition leads him to create a potion that splits his good and evil side and he willingly "risked death" to make this happen

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