Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde key quotes and themes

' The large handsom face of Dr Jekyllgrew pale to the very lips and there came a blackness about his eyes' Physical appearance is important , it is how Victorian society recognised good and evil. He is pysically changing from good into evil, he is being corrupted by evil, it even changes his appearance. The connotations of the 'blackness' around his eyes is of death and evil, his view of the world has changed to be one of evil, he has seen evil, he is involved and cannot unsee it. victorian gentlemen did not want to get involved in other people's business for fear of not getting out of it and it ruining their reputation.

'The smile struck out of his face and suceeded by an expression of such object terror and despair''struck out' shows us how quicky the change happened, like a match being struck and creating a flame and fire of anger and evil. Evil can corrupt quickly and provoke terror and despair. Will evil burn good out? Is it that evil is innate and a part of his soul but has been supressed for so long that it is now so powerful?

'i knew myself to be... tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original soul' Jekyll recognises that the evil is within his meant to be pure soul, he has no choice but to be evil as he is a 'slave'. The sibilance of 'sold a slave' makes the harsh reality of this duality impactful.

'the hall when they entered was brightly lighted up, the fire was built high' an attempt at good to fight evil. fire compensates for the darkness about to happen.

' Man is not truly one but two, two i say'This seems harsh but through many of the characters we can recognise this to be true. The landlord at Hydes house is an obvious example of this. 

'She had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy but her manners were excellent'Her ill feeling is covered by her manners therefore she is a hypocrite. Jekyll believes that everyone is a hypocrite but some characters because of status and money manage to hide it better than others. Everyone has a natural evil in their human nature.

'through a primitive duality of man'...  'this too was myself'' 'Primitive' brings connotations of the natural and early man, linking to evolution theories and the fear of an innate being who wasn't as sophisticated.

'furnished with luxury and good taste' Hydes house, this is a shock to the reader who expected different, appearances and reality.

' i sometimes think that if we knew all, we would be glad to get away'

acts as a metaphor, tension is created for the reader who does not know the twist. A warning to utterson? 

'God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic' justaposition of God and troglodytic= cave man like. The victorian societies fear of regression and returning to an unsophisticated creature which is not fully human and more animal like. It goes against al religous beliefs, he asks God to save him from it.

' Hissing intake of breath' evil snake and animal like. 'hissing' evil word, venom and poison.

'clubbed him with ape like fury and hailing down a storm of blows' 'club' is cave man like. 'ape like' recession, evolution, animal.

' i thought i sat beyond the reach of fate' playing God, Hyde beleived he was so superior. That he was even greater than religion, and religion was what they lived their life by. 

' You shall be blasted by a prodigy to stagger the unbelief of Satan' Prodigy= genius. This is juxtaposed to Satan. Jekylls transformation into Hyde is so great that even Satan would be shocked. It is that evil.

' I let my brother go to the devil in his own way' Utterson says that he doesn't care what happens to his colleauges. despite this throughout the novel he tries to uncover the truth, duality and flawed character. Later on it is said that Hyde is like the devil so in some ways Utterson has let him, but in others he made it hard for himself to find out the truth, concealing and disclosing evidence, this creates tension.

'it is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquor it' Utterson struggles to decide what to do. But then 'if he be Mr Hyde, i'll be Mr Seek'

Appearance is how Victorians judge good and evil. Jekyll-' a large, well made, smooth face of a man of fifty'. healthy, happy, free of blemishes and flaws.

Danvers ' an aged and beautiful man with white hair' wise, experienced, kind. 

'it wasn't like a man, it was like some dammed juggernaut' emotionless, inhumane machine that works and carries on regardless, dammed= codemmed by God and now in Hell.

'really like Satan' this is the extent of Hyde's evil.

'He must be deformed somewhere' ' a man of deformity but no nameable maformation' creates tension as no once can accuratley describe him, gothic horror like creature. Victorians judge people how they look, Hyde gives them an uneasy feeling.

' No gentleman but wishes to avoid a scene, name your figure' using money and status to hide the truth. This is why people are so concerned with loosing their status, so they cannot hide what they know they really are. Hyde still conciders himself a gentleman.

'windows barred with iron' windows, the opening to the soul, the truth are barred like a prision. a crimescene is going on within.' the dingy windowless structure'  dingy= mentally derranged 

blackmail i supose, a honest man paying through the nose for the capers of his youth', how honest is he really? Capers= a euphemism for something else, a child, a relationship? Sugar coats the truth so that it does not have to be spoken of, thats what money does.

'  i burned it'

a mournful reinvasion of darkness, seemed in the lawyers eyes like a district of some city in a nightmare'

reinvasion, evil is always near and present. in the lawyers eyes, this description contrasts with his usual clinical style, this is the power of evil. 

the court was very cool and a little damp, and full of premature twilight... was still bright with sunset. 

do later sorry!