J&K Flashcards

Question

how does jekyll embody duality

Answer 1

he separates his moral and immoral sides through science and creates hyde, "man is not truly one but truly two"

Answer 2

represents jekylls repressed desires - the violent and primatial side that exists beneath jekylls civilised exterior

Answer 3

1. Framed Narrative / Multiple Narrators Feature: The story is told through a non-linear, framed structure with multiple perspectives (e.g. Utterson, Lanyon, Jekyll's confession). Analysis: This fragmented narrative mirrors the fragmented identity of Jekyll and Hyde. Link to Theme: Duality of man — each narrator presents only part of the truth, reflecting the incomplete understanding humans have of themselves and others. High-level idea: The concealment and revelation of key information mimic the Victorian tendency to hide inner desires.

Answer 4

3. Cyclical Structure Feature: The novella opens and ends with letters and legal documents. Analysis: This creates a sense of inescapability and fate, suggesting that the truth must eventually be confronted. Link to Theme: Consequences of unchecked ambition — Jekyll’s experiment begins as a secret and ends in written confession and suicide. Sophisticated point: The return to documents highlights the dominance of rationality and the law — things that Hyde (and Jekyll’s desires) seek to defy.

Answer 5

4. Structural Juxtaposition Feature: Stevenson contrasts settings and events — e.g., respectable Jekyll's house vs. the rundown laboratory, or the calm city vs. Hyde’s violence. Analysis: These juxtapositions physically represent the duality within characters and society. Link to Theme: Good vs evil, urban gothic — the contrast between order and chaos, civility and savagery. Grade 9 insight: Juxtaposition isn't just physical — it reflects moral and psychological conflicts rooted in every individual.

Answer 6

5. Shift from Mystery to Confession Feature: The first half reads as a detective mystery, while the ending is a confession/explanation. Analysis: The genre shift mirrors the transition from external investigation to internal exploration. Link to Theme: Science vs religion, identity — Jekyll’s scientific explanation contrasts with the moral implications of his actions. Top-tier point: This structural shift mirrors the Victorian anxiety about science revealing dark, hidden truths about human nature.

Answer 7

6. Climactic Placement of Lanyon’s Narrative Feature: Lanyon’s letter appears just before Jekyll’s full confession. Analysis: Placing Lanyon’s account before Jekyll’s confession bridges the rational and irrational. Link to Theme: The limits of science — Lanyon, a man of science, is destroyed by what he sees, showing that some truths are too much for reason. Grade 9 twist: Lanyon’s collapse prefigures Jekyll’s — both are ruined by exposure to the hidden self.

Answer 8

Gothic Genre Feature: Uses typical Gothic conventions: dark settings, mystery, the supernatural, and madness. Analysis: Gothic form allows Stevenson to explore taboo ideas indirectly — such as repressed desires, the monstrous self, and moral decay. Theme Link: Repression & the nature of evil — the Gothic allows Stevenson to disguise psychological horror as external terror. Grade 9 Point: The Gothic mode gives physical form to inner evil — Hyde is Jekyll’s inner corruption made visible.

Answer 9

Epistolary Elements (Letters, Statements, Documents) Feature: Parts of the novella are told through written documents (e.g. Lanyon’s narrative, Jekyll’s confession). Analysis: The use of documents adds realism and layers of perspective, but also creates emotional distance. Theme Link: Secrecy & repression — characters choose to write rather than speak, suggesting that the truth is too dangerous to tell aloud. Grade 9 Insight: The form shows how Victorian society preferred to contain and control dangerous knowledge — even confession is locked in a drawer.

Answer 10

🧬 Phrenology and Degeneration Theory Context: Phrenology was the belief that criminal or immoral traits could be detected by skull shape. Degeneration theory (by Lombroso) claimed that criminals were “less evolved.” Link to Theme: Evil, identity, science vs morality How to use: Hyde’s “troglodytic” appearance reflects the fear that evil is physically visible and biologically inherited — suggesting Stevenson critiques pseudoscientific attempts to “locate” evil in the body. Grade 9 insight: Stevenson complicates this idea by making Hyde a product of Jekyll’s respectable mind, not biology — evil is internal, not visible.

Answer 11

Context: London’s rapid growth created urban environments where people could hide their identities, leading to fears of moral decay in the city. Link to Theme: Repression, secrecy, duality How to use: Hyde thrives in a city where no one knows who you are — he can vanish into the fog, just like people’s hidden desires. Grade 9 twist: The city itself becomes a metaphor for the hidden compartments of the mind — what you present publicly vs what you do in secret.

J&K Flashcards

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