j&h essay plans Flashcards
(2 cards)
how is Hyde presented throughout the novel?
thesis: foil to J, driving force of detective plot, creates mystery, Stevenson creates H to explore duality and our capacity for good & evil and criticise how Victorian gentlemen have to repress themselves by showing catastrophic consequences of it
start:
- introduced to him through E’s story, second hand, creates mystery - rarely sighted, shrouded in ambiguity
- uncanny, violent, Lombroso’s criminal man, atavism
- presented through setting (Soho), place where gentlemen went to fulfil innate desires secretly; lots of foreigners - H as fear of the other
- introduced as separate character to J - mystery, duality not revealed yet; perhaps he did start out more separate but as he fulfilled desires more they joined together more & J couldn’t live without H
middle:
- disappears in middle - J tries repressing & isolating self, secrecy, concealment, reputation
- urban gothic fog - industrial pollution creates concealment
- Carew murder: raises stakes (detective fiction), killing Victorian gentleman foreshadows how H overcomes J; repressing desires only leads to violent outbursts - critiquing importance of reputation
end:
- revealed J & H same person, mystery revealed
- epistolary form: fragmented narrative/structure, like J’s fragmented sense of self & confliction, J’s “confession” - connotations of evil & guilt
- J loses control of H: critiquing how gentlemen pressured to repress inner natural desires, secrecy & repression will leave you miserable or even break/kill you
—> secrecy & repression as a catastrophic, destructive force, duality innate to all of us & shouldn’t be separated
—> gay undertones
- H scientific experiment going too far - science v.s. religion
writer’s message:
- uses H as illustration of natural innate evil to mankind, demonstrates how separating the good from evil is unnatural & has disastrous consequences
- critiques repression & importance of reputation (as previously said)
- warning against science going too far?
how is Jekyll presented throughout the novel?
thesis:
- typical Victorian gentleman, reputable & respectable doctor, Stevenson uses him to illustrate catastrophic consequences of repression natural inner desires & critiquing high level of repression expected of them
beginning:
- introduced separate to H, however tied mysteriously to him through will - creates mystery, drive narrative (detective fiction)
- v secretive & ambiguous about H - goes pale & begs U to keep quiet and not mention it again; creates mystery & reveals fear gentlemen felt about their private behaviour being released (gay), criticising repression
- setting: house v big, luxurious, however had dingy back door & abandoned lab - uncanny, duality
