Page 38

• “blood-red liquor” – warning of danger (connotations of red)
• “these covered a period of many years”
• “the more I reflected, the more convinced I grew that I was dealing with a case of cerebral disease” – poignant/sad/ highlights lack of understanding of self in Victorian times even by doctors. Lack of understanding which leads to the creation of Hyde.
• Repetition of references to “London”  - brings narrative to society at large.
• “knocker sounded very gently” (Hyde – his actions constantly defy our expectations e.g. adverb of gently – implies humanity)
• “crouching” (Hyde – suggestions of submission/ vulnerable)
• “policeman…advancing with his bulls eye open” – police represent the watchers and guarders of society “bulls eye”Just as a bull…
• Hyde – “great muscular activity and great apparent debility of constitution” contrast
• “dressed in a fashion that would have made an ordinary person laughable” – scorned by society.
• “he was wrestling against the approaches of the hysteria”
  • exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement:
    "the anti-Semitic hysteria of the 1890s"
    synonyms: frenzy · wildness · feverishness · irrationality · hysterics ·
    [More]
    loss of control · panic · panic attack · alarm · outburst/fit of agitation · loss of reason · fit of madness · neurosis · delirium · derangement · mania · distress · mental distress · the screaming abdabs/habdabs
    antonyms: calmness · self-possession
  • an old-fashioned term for a psychological disorder characterized by conversion of psychological stress into physical symptoms (somatization) or a change in self-awareness (such as a fugue state or selective amnesia).
• “sob” used to describe Hyde (cry but connotations of uncontrollably, childish)
• Hyde says to Lanyon: “been bound by the most narrow and material views”
• Lanyon: “when that sight has faded from my eyes I ask myself if I believe it” – this shows the denial of the whole self by the Victorians.
• “The creature …was..Hyde, and hunted for…as the murderer of Carew”.
• In all of us there is the ability for good and evil, even in Hyde there is humanity – this murderer is capable of “sobbing”
• Jekyll – “every guarantee of an honourable and distinguished future”
• Page 42 – top good quotes. “duplicity”
• Religion heightens the shame and sense of wrong doing
• “I have been doomed to a shipwreck” (ship – metaphor for Jekyll, sea – metaphor for Victorian society)
• “man is not truly one, but truly two”
• “life would be relieved of all that was unbearable”

• Constant references to cold – further links to evil/ hell
• “bible-word” – constant reference to religion and associations with religion
• Stevenson refers to London while Poole and Utterson wait for Hyde – by using a Geographical marker perhaps he is suggesting the drama/ issue at hand is not solely related to these characters, but affects the whole city.
• The description of the environment surrounding Hyde is at odds with our expectations: “quiet lamplight”  “papers neatly set forth on the business table” – insight into Hyde
• Who is responsible for killing Hyde? Utterson and Poole who violently forced their way in or Hyde? Contrasting environments – does this have a double meaning?
• Consider how Utterson and Poole treat Hyde and the surroundings – “All these they [Poole and Utterson] now thoroughly examined.” – so does society treat the ‘Hydes’ of the world.  – Repression
• “a copy of a pious work…with startling blasphemies” – this could be a metaphor for the contradiction of Victorian life. They live ‘ by the book/ religious book’ but yet have issues with and ‘scribble all over it’.
• Gabriel Utterson – angel name of ‘Gabriel’  - positive religious associations.
• “unworthy and unhappy” – This is how Jekyll signs off his suicide note – sums up the problems with Victorian society – that those who really looked at themselves were deeply unhappy and felt unworthy. It was a truly difficult time to be human, Victorian society was not humane. (self awareness)
• Hyde evokes in Lanyon: “disgustful curiosity”. Hyde represents what society has repressed. Oxymoron/Juxtaposition
• List to describe Hyde: “seizing, surprising and revolting” – society’s reaction to Hyde. List (AO2) analyse each word.
• WHAT DOES HYDE REPRESENT TO VICTORIAN  SOCIETY – repressed feelings/ evil/ darkness/ morbidity.

 

Pg 26 The Last Night.

• Needs wine to speak of his worries
• “shut up” – repetition describing Jekyll, hints at repression (Victorian society)
• “Henry Jekyll M.D. D.C.L… “ even the most educated, caring , respectable of people firstly are conflicted, but secondly can pay the ultimate price for not being true to themselves.
• Exploration of the self living and conditioned by the 19^th century/ Victorian Era.
• “I’m afraid” (Poolle)   - creates tension and a fearful tone
• “I may die” – foreshadows Jekyll’s suicide
• “wild, cold…night” pathetic fallacy, word choice of wild.
• Moon – “lying on her back” personification/ sexual associations/ suggestions/ dominance/ being dismissive
• “never in his life had he been so conscious of so sharp a wish to see and touch his fellow-creatures” – highlights the separation between people in Victorian society.
• “Amen Poole” – religious words/link/ theme. The text is brimming with religious references reminding the reader of the strong presence of religion in Victorian Britain.
• Jekyll’s great kitchen: “the fire was out and the beetles were leaping on the floor”
• Repetition of “wild”
• The note Poole shows to Utterson is likened to his life. “So far the letter had run composedly enough; but here, with a sudden splutter of the pen, the writer’s emotion had broken loose.”
  Page 29
• “why had he a mask upon his face” – irony
• Hyde = deviant side of Jekyll
• “this man was more of a dwarf”  = Hyde  Small side, closer to ground/ hell, tall side (Jekyll) closer to heaven. “My master is a tall fine build of a man”
• Repetition of “mask”
• Peril – word choice/ associated
• Hyde – made people feel: “cold”
• Hyde: “rat” “monkey”

 

• Mr Utterson was an odd man but liked: “something eminently human beaconed from his eye”. This shows he is a reliable narrator and his viewpoint can be trusted. Secondly the word choice of beacon furthers the idea that Mr Utterson is a man who is special and trusted in society. Just as a beacon is a bright light guiding others and helping them find their way, has connotations of being  incredibly great and valuable, so Mr Utterson is presented as helpful, a symbol of hope and morally sound. In addition this also implies that society is dark and sinister, as he is a beacon a beacon requires surrounding darkness in which to be a beacon. This presents Victorian society as dark and corrupted, lacking ‘light’ and beacons.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Introduction (AO3)

• The text questions Victorian beliefs
• People were living double lives
• Victorian society was very rigid and strict, and there was a strict moral code in place.
• The story is based on a dream the author, R.L.  Stevenson, had.
• The book was written in 1886.
• The author was born in 1850.
• The story focuses on male friendship.
• It is a dark novel, from the gothic sub-genre.
• It was written during the period of Enlightenment.
• The author studied law at University.
• Queen Victoria was the reigning Queen
• Gothic fiction was becoming very popular. (Why?)

 

A good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EGAcDMSX-s