Jekyll and Hyde Revision

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CHAPTER ANALYSIS

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Chapter 1 - Story of the Door

Mr Utterson and Enfield are on their regular Sunday walks. On their walk, they pass a dirty door in a poor area. Enfield tells Utterson a story about the door and the man who lives behind it. He says a small, revolting man trampled a little girl of eight at 3 am in the morning. A crowd, led by Enfield, confronted the man and forced him to pay £100 in compensation. The man gave them a cheque which we learn at the very end of the chapter was signed by Dr Jekyll, a very honourable man: no one believed the cheque was real but later found out that it was. Utterson is worried that Jekyll is being blackmailed by Hyde. 

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Chapter 2 - Search for Mr. Hyde

The lawyer, Utterson, is troubled by the will that Henry Jekyll has written because it hands everything over to Mr Hyde if Jekyll dies or disappears for more than three months. Utterson visits Dr Lanyon, a friend of Jekyll's, to find out more, but discovers that Lanyon has fallen out with Jekyll over the "unscientific" experiment Jekyll has been conducting. That night, Utterson suffers from nightmares. In one nightmare, he sees the figure of the man who trampled on the girl, in another nightmare, the same figure approaches the sleeping Jekyll and makes him do what he wants. This figure has no face.

Upon waking, Utterson is determined to find out what Hyde looks like so he spends his spare time standing by the door where Hyde lives. He eventually sees Hyde, a small man, and approaches him. Utterson is horrified by Hyde’s appearance but can't pinpoint exactly what makes Hyde so ugly. Utterson goes directly to Dr Jekyll's house to see him but he isn't home. Utterson then has a chat with Poole, Jekyll's butler, and discovers that all the servants have been ordered to obey Hyde. Utterson returns home, pretty distraught and worried for Jekyll because he fears that Jekyll is being blackmailed by Hyde. 

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Chapter 3 - Dr Jekyll was quite at ease

It is two weeks later and Jekyll throws a dinner party at his house. In private, Utterson asks Jekyll about the will and his concerns about Hyde's nature. At the mention of Hyde's name, Jekyll changes, refusing to discuss the matter. Utterson, however, is persistent and asks Jekyll to trust him, assuring him that he can help. Jekyll thanks Utterson for his concern and assures him that he trusts him. 

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Chapter 4 - The Carew Murder case

It is one year later. A maid witnesses Hyde using a cane to brutally murder an MP called Sir Davers Carew in the street, without any provocation. The attack is so violent that it causes the old man's body to jump from the pavement, and the bones can be heard breaking. The maid faints.

The police are called and find a part of the cane used in the assault and a letter from Sir Danvers Carew addressed to Utterson whom they contact. 

Utterson identifies the victim and also the cane as belonging to Jekyll. It was, in fact, a present from Utterson to Jekyll some years ago. He takes the police to Hyde's house. Inside, they find tastefully luxurious rooms, the other half of the cane used to kill Sir Danvers Carew and a partially burned chequebook. Hyde has obviously made a hurried escape. The police resolve to wait for Hyde at the band, sure that he will go there to retrieve the several thousand pounds in his account. 

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Chapter 5 - Incident of the letter

Utterson visits Jekyll at his laboratory. He finds him there, very unwell. Jekyll tells Utterson that Hyde has fled London and begs him to believe that this is true. As evidence, he produces a letter from Hyde, delivered that morning by hand according to Jekyll, which seems to confirm this. Jekyll states that he is finished with Hyde for good and now fears for his own reputation.

While Utterson is convinced that Hyde intended to murder Jekyll to gain the proceeds of the will, Jekyll merely acknowledges that he has learnt his lesson, appearing exhausted and regretful. Utterson's suspicions heighten even more when Poole contradicts Jekyll, assuring Utterson that no one delivered the letter by hand to the house that morning. 

Utterson decides to have the handwriting in the letter compared with Jekyll's by his trusted head clerk Mr Guest, an expert in handwriting. Mr Guest finds the two samples identical but differently sloped. Utterson is stunned, believing Jekyll to have forged the letter to protect the murderous Hyde.

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Chapter 6 - Incident of Dr Lanyon

Hyde is still missing. There is a huge public reaction to Sir Danvers Carew's murder and a reward is offered for Hyde's capture. Jekyll is transformed for two months, becoming much more sociable and carrying out acts of charity and kindness. He throws a dinner party, which is attended by Utterson and Lanyon. This stops abruptly, however, and he becomes reclusive once again, refusing to see anyone.

Utterson visits Lanyon and is appalled to find him a terrified, nervous wreck, who seems close to death. At the very mention of Jekyll's name, he becomes emotional and tells Utterson that he does not want to even hear the name. He explains that all will be revealed after he dies. 

Utterson writes to Jekyll, telling him of Lanyon's situation. The reply worries Utterson as Jekyll states that he wants to be left alone to deal with his own terrible sufferings. 

Within three weeks, Lanyon dies. On the night of the funeral, Utterson opens a package from Lanyon, which contains instructions that he should not open the papers within it until Jekyll's death or disappearance. Utterson resists the urge to open the contents. 

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Chapter 7 - Incident at the Window

The following Sunday, Utterson and Enfield go for a walk. They stop at Jekyll's residence and enter the courtyard, where they see Jekyll sitting at an upstairs window. He appears sad but engages them in conversation. Suddenly, Jekyll is overtaken by something and shuts the window. 

Utterson and Enfield are confused and stunned by what they have just witnessed. They walk home in silence. 

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Chapter 8 - The last night

Utterson is visited at home by an anxious Poole, who suspects that his master has been killed by Hyde. He asks Utterson to investigate and they go to Jekyll's house. Poole leads Utterson to Jekyll's cabinet and announces him. The voice that replies is not Jekyll's and Poole suspects that he was murdered 8 days ago, explaining that he heard Jekyll utter a terrible cry from within and he has not seen him since. Poole explains that communication with the being has been via notes which urgently request for a particular drug. However, each time the drug is fetched, it is rejected for its impurity. Poole has a copy of the note which is signed by Jekyll. 

Poole has briefly seen the person in the room. It was wearing a mask, cried out like a rat when it saw him and ran away. Utterson believes that Jekyll is seized by an illness but Poole states that he believes the creature is Hyde. 

Utterson demands entry to the room, but the voice inside refuses and begs for mercy. Utterson breaks down the door with the help of Poole and the footman. They find Hyde dead, but still twitching dressed in oversized clothes and holding the phial in his hand. It is suicide. They search everywhere for Jekyll but do not find him. Instead, they find his will, which has been amended to make Utterson his beneficiary. A second document tells Utterson to read Lanyon's papers and Jekyll's confession. Utterson urges those present to keep events secret and leaves to read both documents. 

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Chapter 9 - Dr Lanyon's Narrative

Utterson reads the document written by Lanyon. It tells of a strange request by Jekyll who asked that Lanyon remove a particular drawer from a room in Jekyll's house and bring it back to his own. 

Lanyon writes that out of curiosity and due to the somewhat desperate tone of the demand, he agreed but armed himself with a revolver. It took a carpenter and locksmith to unlock the cupboard containing the drawer, but they did so and Lanyon removed it. 

The messenger arrived at midnight to collect the contents and Lanyon was struck by the ridiculous appearance of the man. It was clearly Hyde. He was agitated and nearly hysterical at the sight of the contents of the drawer, which he used to mix a potion. Hyde offered Lanyon the choice of watching what happened after he drank the potion or allowing him to leave but warned him of the consequences of staying to watch. Lanyon chose to watch as Hyde transformed into Jekyll. The experience was too much for Lanyon and he died withing three weeks. 

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Chapter 10 - Henry Jekyll's full statement of the

Jekyll's narrative begins by explaining his background and proceeds to explain that he wanted to separate out his dual side in order to carry out all his indecencies without ruining his good reputation. Through his scientific studies, he discovered that man is made up of two elements and then set about to separate them. 

Jekyll created a drug that unleashed his dual side allowing his darker side to satisfy its primal instincts without consequences. One night he drank the potion and after much pain, his primitive self was born. Jekyll was aware of how Hyde repulsed those who saw him, although he delighted his new form. He used a potion to return to his former self but became increasingly eager to turn into Hyde. 

One morning, he woke up as Hyde without taking the potion. He found that he was physically bigger than before and it became clear that evil was gaining power. Scared by this experience, he decided to give up on Hyde and return to his former self. However, the temptation proved too strong and two months later, he gave in and as Hyde, killed Sir Danvers Carew. Again, he decided to abandon Hyde but found that he was changing into him involuntarily. 

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THEMES

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Repressed desires

The repression here is that of Victorian England: no sexual appetites, no violence, and no great expressions of emotion, at least in the public sphere. Everything is sober and dignified. In the novel, the more Dr Jekyll’s forbidden appetites are repressed, the more he desires the life of Mr Hyde, and the stronger Mr Hyde becomes. Which shows how repression of desire can have its own dangers causing them to return with increased power. Which is shown when Jekyll represses Hyde for two months, he returns with a vengeance to kill Sir Danvers Carew. (“At that time my virtue slumbered; my evil, kept awake by ambition, was alert and swift to seize the occasion; and the thing that was projected was Edward Hyde.”)- chapter 10

The novel is full of men who are single or lack a relationship with a woman. The few women mentioned are passive and weak. Critics have suggested that Jekyll/Hyde may represent the repression of homosexual desire and behaviour in Victorian society as the characters prefer male company more than female. Homosexuality was something that Victorian society would have sought to keep secret.

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Friendship

Friendship in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde serves to drive the plot forward. Aside from basic curiosity. Loyalty is one attribute of friendship, which ensures that Utterson pursues his quest for answers motivated by a desire to protect and help his friend Jekyll. Poole also acts out to loyalty in seeking out Utterson to come and identify the creature locked away in the room. Utterson friendship with Lanyon and Jekyll enables him to find out the answers to the many mysteries that surround him. Less positively, the bonds of friendship do not always facilitate honest face-to-face communication. Lanyon, for example, will not speak to Utterson about everything that he saw and heard. Note also what can happen when friendships break down, as in the case of Lanyon and Jekyll.

(“At the sight of Mr Utterson, he sprang up from his chair and welcomed him with both hands. The geniality, as was the way of the man, was somewhat theatrical to the eye; but it reposed on genuine feeling. For these two were old friends, old mates both at school and college, both thorough respecters of themselves and of each other, and what does not always follow, men who thoroughly enjoyed each other's company.”)-chapter 2

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Appearances

Appearances figure in the novel both figuratively and literally. Dr Jekyll wants to keep up a front of respectability, even though he has a lot of unsavoury tendencies. In a literal sense, the appearances of buildings in the novel reflect the characters of the inhabitants. Dr Jekyll has a comfortable and well-appointed house, but Mr Hyde spends most of his time in the "dingy windowless structure" of the doctor’s laboratory. Correspondingly, the respectable, prosperous-looking main house symbolises the respectable, upright Jekyll. The buildings are adjoined but look out on two different streets. Because of the complex layout of the streets in the area, the casual observer cannot detect that the structures are two parts of a whole, just as he or she would be unable to detect the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde.

Hyde appears repulsively ugly and deformed, small, shrunken, and hairy. His physical ugliness and deformity symbolises his moral hideousness and warped ethics. Indeed, for the audience of that time, the connection between such ugliness and Hyde’s wickedness might have been seen as more than symbolic. Additionally, Hyde’s small stature may represent the fact that, as Jekyll’s dark side, he has been repressed for years, prevented from growing and flourishing.

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Curosity

In Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, curiosity drives the characters to seek knowledge. This curiosity is either suppressed or fulfilled in each character. Curiosity lacks any negative connotations; instead, characters who do not actively seek to unravel the Jekyll and Hyde mystery may be viewed as passive or weak. Finally, the characters’ curiosities are, to some degree, transferred over to the reader; we seek to solve the puzzle along with Mr Utterson. (“It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it; and it may be doubted if, from that day forth, Utterson desired the society of his surviving friend with the same eagerness.”)-chapter 6

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Secrecy (1)

In Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the plot is frequently driven forward by secrecy and deception; Mr Utterson doesn’t know the relationship between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and he wants to find out. Also, by neglecting the scenes of Mr Hyde’s supposedly crazy sins, Stevenson allows our imaginations to run towards wild and eerie places. There are many times when characters swear to secrecy or agree not to talk about a certain topic or event ever again. As after discussing Hyde’s relationship with Jekyll, Utterson cousin Enfield suggests they “never refer to this again” and in chapter 6 “I cannot tell you” such secrecies are important in creating the air of mystery and suspense that eventually begins to reveal itself.

Many secrets remain at the end, such as the nature of Hyde’s other crimes and the detail of Jekyll’s youthful and less savoury activities, as well as those of Utterson. In addition, nothing is ever revealed about the science behind Jekyll’s experiments.

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Secrecy (2)

The idea of secrecy is reinforced symbolically in the novel through the locking away of the documents to be read later, the locking and unlocking of doors and the closing of windows. The secrecy is closely linked to the theme of hypocrisy. Stevenson criticises the Victorian society at the time of his writing, which was obsessed with the outward appearance of respectability and decorum. The reality was very different, with seemingly respectable, middle-class gentleman participating in sexual activities and abuse of alcohol and drug, which they kept secret from family, friends and wider society. For example, Utterson was desperate to protect Jekyll even when he suspects him of sheltering the murderer of Sir Danvers Carew and his hypocrisy in not sharing what he suspects with the police.

This hypocrisy relates to those who met Hyde and were unable to describe and explain fully the disgust created by their encounter. Here, Stevenson is alluding to the inability of Victorian society to recognise the evil that lurked under the surface. These fine, righteous and upstanding characters are portrayed as hypocrites who cannot see the evil that lies within their own natures. The disgust they feel in meeting Hyde is also a disgust with themselves to their own evil side, which they don’t acknowledge.

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Violence

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde details 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 violence is an inherent part of man’s nature.

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Religion

God and Satan figure prominently in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, as well as many general references to religion and works of charity. As part of their intellectual lives, the men in the novel discuss various religious works. Mr Hyde is also frequently likened to Satan. (“really like Satan.")- chapter 1.

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Urban Landscape

Throughout the novel, Stevenson goes out of his way to establish a link between the urban landscape of Victorian London and the dark events surrounding Hyde. He achieves his desired effect through the use of nightmarish imagery, in which dark streets twist and coil, or lie draped in fog, forming a sinister landscape befitting the crimes that take place there. In such images, Stevenson paints Hyde as an urban creature, utterly at home in the darkness of London—where countless crimes take place, the novel suggests, without anyone knowing. Stevenson also uses the setting of night-time Victorian London to reinforce the evil that takes place and the atmosphere of mystery and suspense that pervades the novel, for example, ‘through wider labyrinths of lamp lighted city…’(chapter 2).

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Duality of man (1)

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde centres upon a conception of humanity as dual in nature, although the theme does not emerge fully until the last chapter when the complete story of the Jekyll-Hyde relationship is revealed. Therefore, we confront the theory of a dual human nature explicitly only after having witnessed all of the events of the novel. It is explored as a battle within ourselves which questions, which is superior? Since Hyde seems to be taking over, one could argue that evil is stronger than good. If man is half angel and half fiend, one wonders what happens to the “angel” at the end of the novel. Perhaps the angel gives way permanently to Jekyll’s devil. Or perhaps Jekyll is simply mistaken: man, is not “truly two” but is first and foremost the primitive creature embodied in Hyde. However, Hyde does end up dead at the end of the story, perhaps suggesting a weakness or failure of evil. Stevenson enhances the richness of the novel by leaving us to look within ourselves to find the answers. The big question, of course, is whether good can be separated from evil, or whether the two are forever intertwined. If man is half angel and half fiend, one wonders what happens to the “angel” at the end of the novel.

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Duality of man (2)

A debate can be risen on whether evil self-represents a small part of all our personalities or whether it represents the of our being, which is kept under control by influenced by society. The novel argues that once evil is unleashed it is an uncontainable force which dominates and diminishes good. As Hyde grows in force and strength and Jekyll is weak.

Duality is also seen throughout the play especially of the front entrance as it symbolises the upright Jekyll contrasting with the dilapidated and shabby rear entrance, which represents Hyde. These two aspects of the house interconnect, and the rooms and passages within are described as a labyrinth. The house could thus be a metaphor for the complex workings of the human mind, home to both good and evil possibilities.

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The Supernatural

Utterson represents the rational world along with Lanyon, in which everything can be explained. As a lawyer, Utterson uses logic to argue his points. The evidence as Utterson reads it, points in the directions and the contemporary reader would have thought them quite sensible. This contrasts with Hyde’s supernatural qualities as they remain beyond the reach of rational explanation. As he is said to move at great speed and the effect he has on others suggests an otherworldly nature. Ironically, it is Utterson himself who unknowingly alludes to Hyde’s supernatural origins when he says that Hyde’s family could not be traced. His ghostly nature is also hinted at by the identification of the ‘haunting sense’ (chapter 4) that dominates those unfortunate enough to meet him.

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Crime and Justice

In this novel struggling between scientific and supernatural, the law can be considered as a force for the rational. However, those searching for Hyde following the murder of Sir Danvers Carew face an impossible task in bringing him to justice. The law is portrayed as being guilty of self-interest and over-confidence. It is also clear that the revelations contained in Lanyon’s and Jekyll’s papers render the law useless and ineffective.

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Conventional versus unconventional science

Science is one way to unravel the mysteries of the world we inhabit. The rational Lanyon’s understanding of the world and life is based on research, evidence and logical explanations. Jekyll, however, explores the ‘mystic and transcendental’ (chapter 10) and is seen to push the boundaries of science. It is this that causes his friendship with Lanyon to break down. Utterson’s reflections on this falling out are accurate but understated when he think, “They have only differed on some point of science” (chapter 2). The gap between the two men is, in fact, unbridgeable and, when Jekyll reveals his scientific knowledge to Lanyon after transforming from Hyde, it leaves Lanyon unable to carry on with his life. The whole basis of his world is shattered. In chapter 9, he attempts to explain his position rationally by saying ‘I saw what I saw, I heard what I heard’ but ultimately can utter nothing more than ‘my soul sickened it’.

There is no doubt that Jekyll has not only pushed the boundaries of science but also those of morality and ethics. In creating Hyde, he has also usurped the role of God. This overreaching ruins him. Lanyon too is ruined by his rational beliefs and their failure to accommodate an alternative, despite the evidence presented before him. This leaves an interesting question for the reader: whose approach is the right one?

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CHARACTER ANALYSIS

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Gabriel Utterson

He is a lawyer for respectable people; he is quite a boring person but helps men when they are in trouble without judging them. 

Stevenson begins the novel with a description of Utterson, describing him as an unappealing, down-to-earth, "dreary" individual who is both loyal and intelligent. It's important in the context of what is to come that Utterson is very ordinary but clever. Utterson becomes the detective figure in the novel, searching for the terrible truth about his friend Dr Jekyll. Because he is very ordinary, the reader values his responses more: he is you or I investigating the matter, an everyman figure. Above all, Stevenson, for all the fantasy elements in his narrative, wants, to tell the truth about mankind. 

Throughout the novel, Utterson gains power, not in the sense that Hyde does but in the way that he cracks the case. He starts off at the start, with no explanation to anything, but as the novel carries on, he keeps getting more and more information and gets a step closer to solving the mystery. At the end, it can be argued that he has gained the most power above all characters because Hyde ends his life due to the fact being that Utterson is close to finding out the truth. Utterson is left with answers to some, but not all, questions. 

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Henry Jekyll

Jekyll is a doctor and an experimental scientist who is a wealthy and respectable man. He conducts an experiment, in which he manages to separate out the two binary sides within him. However, as the novel moves further, he loses control of his evil side, which takes control of him and he ends up committing suicide in order to stop things spiraling out of control even more than they already had.

Jekyll at the start had power to the extent that he was able to control his transformation into Hyde. However, after taking this potion continuously through the novel, Jekyll begins to lose power as Hyde begins to gain strength and Jekyll starts to transform into Hyde involuntarily which shows Jekyll to lose his power. In addition, Hyde’s power increases so much after Jekyll continuous misuse of the drug that he has to take his drugs twice to transform back to his former self. This dramatic change shows limits to his scientific knowledge as Jekyll decides to test his theory out even though he knows he could be risking his life. Altogether Jekyll starts off to have power which decreases as the chapters progress as it leads to his suicide. Stevenson may use this to show science in a negative light.

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Edward Hyde

Hyde is Jekyll's alter ego, released from the bonds of conscience and loosed into the world by a mysterious potion. He is a strange, repugnant man who looks faintly pre-human. Hyde is violent and cruel, and everyone who sees him describes him as ugly and deformed—yet no one can say exactly why. The language itself seems to fail around Hyde: he is not a creature who belongs to the rational world, the world of conscious articulation or logical grammar. 

Throughout the novella, Hyde gains power over Jekyll, proving that evil is stronger than good. Hyde manages to show up involuntarily without Jekyll having to take the potion and this scares Jekyll. Near the end of the novella, Hyde has total control over Jekyll and Jekyll can't seem to transform back to his former self. This results in him having to commit suicide within Hyde's body. 

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Hastie Lanyon

Lanyon is a successful doctor in Central London. He has fallen out with Dr Jekyll over a difference of opinion about science. Lanyon's dismissal of Jekyll's 'fanciful' science as 'balderdash' is ironic in the light of what happens at the end of the novel because he discovers to the cost of his life that it isn't balderdash at all. 

It is appropriate, then, that Lanyon is the first person to see Jekyll enact his transformations—the great advocate of material causes is witness to undeniable proof of a metaphysical, physically impossible phenomenon. Having spent his life as a rationalist and a sceptic, Lanyon cannot deal with the world that Jekyll’s experiments have revealed. Deep within himself, Lanyon prefers to die rather than go on living in a universe that, from his point of view, has been turned upside down.

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LANGUAGE ANALYSIS

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Chapter 1

Hyde’s House

‘The door which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker was blistered and distained’ THEME- SETTING, SECRECY

  • ‘Blistered and distained’- blistered suggests that the door is damaged and presents the building to be derelict and neglected.
  • This description symbolically represents Mr Hyde, who also has some of these sinister qualities.
  • Contrasts with Jekyll’s house
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Chapter 2

‘Shrank back with a hissing intake of breath’ THEME- SCIENCE

  • ‘Shrank’- suggests that Hyde fears discovery, through its connotations of secrecy and hiding.
  • Use of onomatopoeia ‘hissing’ presents animalistic qualities Hyde has inferring that he is hissing in pain – as though the thought of discovery is physically painful for him. It is apparent that Hyde does not want to be discovered, especially by Utterson. This first meeting with Hyde effectively emphasises the themes of secrecy and discovery that run throughout the novel.
  • The painful reaction he has to discovery highlights the mysterious nature of his character, and cleverly foreshadows the pain and destruction he is going to bring.
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Chapter 2

 ‘Which wore a great air of wealth and comfort (...) was now plunged in darkness’

  • London is an extended metaphor for the struggle within Jekyll
  • The two areas of the house are clearly related to their two inhabitants. The respectable Dr Jekyll lives in the well-kept wealthy mansion, and the despicable and evil Mr Hyde inhabits the run down, neglected laboratory.
  • ‘Plunged in darkness’ suggests secrecy which shows that the house is different at night even though Utterson knows it well as Jekyll lives there.
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Chapter 4

‘Hailing down a storm of blows under which the bones were audibly shattered’ THEME- VIOLENCE, EVIL

  • Stevenson uses very vivid violent imagery which clearly shows how evil Hyde is
  • ‘Hailing’ suggests a fast sudden movement which suggests that Hyde is unpredictable and shows his animalistic behaviour in action.
  • The description at the end is nauseating; we can easily picture and hear what is happening. The strength of the attack is given in the word ‘storm’ – Hyde is raging at Carew. This develops the theme of evil as Hyde’s attack was unprovoked; his reaction is instinctive and spurred by frustration.
  • 'Audibly shattered' - this is an example of onomatopoeia. From this, the reader can imagine the sound of Carew's bones breaking.
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Chapter 4

‘Apelike fury’ THEMES – EVIL, DARWINISM

  • Simile shows Hyde's animalistic inhumane behaviour.
  • Further, shows how Hyde’s attack was unprovoked and how sudden it was
  • This shows that Hyde doesn't care about his actions and has no control over his fiery, animalistic behaviour.
  • Apelike’ suggests Hyde is not human or not fully formed as he is described as an ape
  • Presents Darwin’s theory of evolution which had disrupted the core Christian beliefs the Victorians had.
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Chapter 7

‘Window was instantly thrust down’ THEME- SECRECY

  • The moment Jekyll realises he is transforming into Hyde in front of his friends he instantly shuts the window showing he does not want his friends finding out about his transformation
  • This scene shows how Hyde is growing stronger and stronger by the minute as Jekyll keeps taking the drugs as Hyde instantly transformed without Jekyll’s use of drugs
  • ‘Thrust’- quick action showing how important it is for Jekyll to hide his experiment. Thrust is also a violent action showing Hyde taking over
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Chapter 9

‘A cry followed; he reeled, staggered, clutched at the table’

  • Presents the transformation to be painful and shows how weak Jekyll is becoming after continuous misuse of the drugs he is using for the transformation as Hyde is becoming stronger with the continuous transformation.
  • ‘Reeling’ and ‘staggered’ suggests Jekyll is losing his balance and staggering or lurching violently which shows how weak Jekyll has become as he is not able to keep up with the transformation.
  • ‘Clutched’ further emphasises Jekyll’s weakness as the drug has made him lost balance
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Chapter 10

‘A current of disordered sensual images running like a millrace in my fancy’ THEME- GOOD VS EVIL

  • Simile
  • Dr Jekyll describes in very positive terms how it feels to be free "of the bonds of obligation." This is why Mr. Hyde is able to take over his body and mind.
  • Shows how Jekyll is very fascinated by his work- he is successfully able to create another side to him and shows how he does not have regret for his scientific experiment.
  • ‘millrace’ used to show the transformation from Jekyll and Hyde to be swift and fast and to create a vivid sense that Jekyll’s soul is being traded by Hyde’s or changed
  • Hyde’s soul is described to be like a ‘current’ showing Jekyll’s attraction in exploring his dark side
  • ‘sensual images’ shows how the transformation is very pleasing to Jekyll
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Hyde

‘Human Juggernaut’ THEMES – EVIL, DARWINISM

  • Juggernaut- shows Hyde is not fully evolved.
  • Fits in with Darwin’s central ideas of evolution as Hyde is presented as a monstrous being who shows clear signs of ‘deformity’.

‘Calmly trod’ THEMES – EVIL, DUAL NATURE

  • Oxymoron used to show dual personality. A violent action is presented as something positive through the use of the adverb. Shows that everyone has a good and bad side which co-exist together.
  • ‘Calmly’ shows how easily it is for Hyde to commit violent acts and shows he does not regret his actions. Instead, he may feel a sort of pleasure from doing this which is shown by the adverb
  • Shows Hyde to have no emotions presenting a satanic image
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Structure (grade 7)

The play is structured in three part- perspective view

  • The first perspective we read from if from Utterson’s which is narrated in the 3rd person. Stevenson decides to start off with Utterson as he is clueless than the others – Lanyon, and Jekyll about Jekyll’s experiment and therefore builds up the suspense until the climax of the novel.
  • The second perspective is from Lanyon which is mailed as a letter to Utterson, to be opened only in the event of Dr Jekyll’s death. Through this first person letter, we learn more about Jekyll and find out that he is not as he seems which further builds up suspense as the narrator still does not know what is going on.
  • The last perspective is by Jekyll himself. It is only upon reading the final narrative in which Jekyll explains his motivations for trying to split off the evil in him and the dire consequences that ensue from this unnatural experiment that the whole story becomes clear.
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