English Literature - Jekyll and Hyde Quotes

• "man is not truly one, but truly two"--> He's convinced he's right-- cause him to take risks
• "the respect of the wise and good"--> Before Hyde, Jekyll feels that he is leading a double life--> Jekyll is an established gentleman.
• "two nature that contended in the field"of his mind sound like two forces meeting on a battlefield--> Stevenson uses language of battle.

• "distinguished for religion"-Without Hyde, Jekyll lives a virtuous life, but hes also an "ordinary secret sinner".
• "startling blasphemies" written by Hyde of Jekyll's religious texts.Jekyll calls Hyde "My devil", and Utterson thinks that "Satan's signature" is written on hyde's face.--> Hyde is purely satanic

• "like a madman" and "ape-like" describes how Hyde acts
• Poole is "welldressed" and loyal but he still shouts at the maid with "ferocity"

• Jekyll's respectable until he puts on the "think cloak" of Hyde.
• Jekyll's house--> it "wore a great air of wealth and comfort" from the front, but secretly connected to the shabby door to the laboratory.
• Hyde evil nature is cleraly shown "displeasing smile" and "extraordinary appearance"--> only one who doesnt hide behind appearances 

Victorian society expected gentlemen to have a good reputation

• Utterson was wary of gossip in fear of it reflecting badly on his reputation, him and Enfield agreed never to talk about Hyde and believed in not asking questions if something "looks like Queer Street"
• Uttersons more concerned about Jekyll's reputation than bringing Hyde to to trial (Carew's murder)--> "If it came to trial, you name might appear"
• Stevenson's message is that reputations cannot be truses- appearance vs reality- When society values reputation as much as the victorians did its difficult to judge what people are really like

Jekyll is more worried about hi reputation than his sins

• "in the public eye with a load of genial respectabilty"--> he still wants a gentlemanly reputation
• "like a schoolboy"--> simile suggests jekyll is quite childish and irresponsible
• "sea of liberty"--> asssociates Hyde with freedom
• "I had been safe of all men's respect"--> Jekkyl is caught up with being a good person by day, bad person by night. He can causing death and destruction at dark whilst his reputation remains intact, until it goes wrong

The characters are interested in science and religion

• Jekyll and Lanyon are scientist (rely on hard evidence) ;they live in a christian society, Jekyll is fond of religious texts and often calls on God to help him.
• Lanyon:- deals with science of the materials world - He cannot cope with Jekyll using scientific research to experiment with spiritual matters
• Jekyll:- scientific work leads "wholly towards the mystic and the transcendental" (relating to the spiritual realm - he uses to deal with "that hard law of life, which lies at the root of religion". The "hard law" is th eidea that all humans are sinful.
• At th estart of th nineteenth centuary most people believed the explanation from the Bible that the Earth was created by God. But throughout the ninteeth centuary, scientists began to disprove this theory- process of evolution
• Many Victorians viewedthis as a dangerous explanation which suggested that science had the power to create life instead of God- challeneged religious views on the world.

Religion is a social issue as well as a personal one

• Christianity teaches everyone is sinful--> Hyde was created becasue Jekyll was so troubled by his sins, even though they weren't actually that bad - he "he regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense of shame" (when he was younger)
• After Carews murder, jekyll becomes "distinguished for religion" - known for doing good deeds, is another sign or respectability.
• Stevenson reminds the reader that Jekylls actions are sinful by using religious language. For example, jekyll is a "secret sinner" and hyde is "the spirit of hell".

Science is sometimes portrayed as unsettling

Stevenson presents Jekyll scientific work as mysterious and disturbing:

• The transformation of Hyde to jekyll is hideous. lanyon finds it sickening and Jekyll describes the first transition as provoking "racking pangs", "deadly nausea" and " a horror of the spirit".
• Jekyll's cabinet is full of curious objects that utterson and Poole dont understamd. There are "traces" of chemicals and "various" measures of "some white salt", and they decide the cheval glass has seen "somestrange things". 
• Stevenson uses this vague language to present science as mystery.

Science is shown to be powerful

1. Jekyll's science causes death and destruction--> hightlights power, science can be used to distrupt the coventional order of victorian life.

2. Jekyll says that the details of his experiment cannot be shared because:

• jekyll wont "deeply" describe his experiment because it cause his evil side to return with a "more awful pressure"--> warning of power of science
• His experiment is "incomplete". Jekyll failed to achieve his aims and couldn't control the power of evil science he unleashed.

Jekyll's science goes against religious beliefs

• "temptations of a discovery so singular and profound" motivates Jekyll to create Hyde--> tries change human nature, christians see as God's creation.
• Repeats the phrase "I was the first.." showing hes proud of himself. 
• He starts to think "beyond the reachof fate".
• By the end, Jekyll is the "chief of sufferes" and experiences "torment" as Hyde grows stronger--> the language of torment that Jekyll uses links to Christian idea of Hell-a place of eternal suffering in the afterlife

There are a lot of secrets in the novel

The whole plot revolves around Jekyll's secret alter ego, but other characters have secrets too:

• Utterson has done "many ill things" in his past, doesnt explain what they are. Actions seem shameful, even though his past is "fairly blameless".
• Not explained where enfield was returning from at three o'clock in the morning. Reader assumes been some scandalous
• Stevensons narratve has many gaps- reader more suspicious of things left unexplained--> mysterious

Many things are left unsaid

• The gentlemen characters often decide not to speak of unpleasant things, they can pretend its not happening.
• They also downplay shocking events, Enfield describes the girl being trampled on as "a bad story", and Lanyon says he regard Jekyll as dead, Utterson only replies with "Tut-tut".
• Understatement shows they're determined to pretend everything is normal.
• Jekyll doesnt speak bout Hyde , he cant admit to his origin as part of Jekyll. He asks Utterson to "respect" his silence, and says he "cannot share" what he knows.

Stevenson uses the locked doors as symbols 

• The back door to Jekyll's house has "neither bell nor knocker" and its associated with Hyde
• Jekyll slams the window shut on Utterson and Enfield, later locks himself in the cabinet
• Important items, like letter and Jekyll's ingredients, are kept locked in drawers and safes
• These closed doors and windows represent people's desire to keep their secrets hidden, so smashing the cabinet door is a symbolic moment, represents the breakdown of Jekyll's walls of secrecy.