Jekyll And Hyde Flashcards
(23 cards)
End
Stevenson heightens the effect of his climax, at the end of the novella, by describing the scene in intensely vivid language. When he depicts Hyde as ‘staring with injected eyes’, and suggests the dreadful contortions of his features ‘melt and alter’, he superbly evokes the ghastliness of the moment of transformation. As this passage emphasises, the true horror of Jekyll and Hyde’s secret is not that they are two sides of the same person, each persona is able to assert itself at will, but that each is actually trapped with the grip of the other, fighting for dominance. The transformed process appears fittingly violent and ravaging, causing the metamorphosing body to ‘reel’, ‘stagger’, and ‘gasp’. Indeed, by this point of the novel, Jekyll is losing ground to Hyde, and, correspondingly, emerges ‘half fainting’, as if ‘restored from death’.
Duality
Setting itself - London's dualistic nature from day and night. Science vs religion Expression vs repression Light vs dark Morality vs sin
Secrecy
Being hidden, unknown
Ironic because Jekyll’s dark side is literally called ‘Hyde’
Night time highlights the secrecy
Reputation
Victorian era - reputation was very important, any actions that were seen a sinful resulted in one being oastrasiced
Hero (Jekyll) is constantly battling the expectations and restrictions of society
Reputation shown clearly through utterson, a well respected man that does not disobey society’s expectations
Gothic
Continuous struggle between good and evil
Pathetic fallacy - darkness, clouds, wind, storm, fog with negative connotations
Idea of evil being shown in the form of something monstrous.
Hero (Jekyll) is constantly battling the expectations and restrictions of society
‘Satan’s Signature’
Seal, created by the devil - Hyde is brandished by evil. Devil’s spawn.
Religious reference, would’ve been a shocking thing for a Victorian audience as they’re extremely Catholic. Immoral and offensive in their society.
‘Wrong In Mind’
Reference to Jekyll, he became wrong in thinking, morally incorrect - shows a Victorian view from Lanyon, showing how the audience would react to the situation as well.
Repetition of ‘it’ or ‘thing’
References Hyde, shows him as animalistic - dehumanises him and highlights his malevolence and how he is ostracised in Victorian Society.
-Shows the clear contrast between him and Jekyll, as Jekyll is a
‘Enslaved’
Utterson to this mystery.
Shows his obsession with the relation of J+H.
A metaphor to describe his addictive/obsessive nature, he’s always a slave to the mystery.
Consumes him.
‘Man Is Not Truly One, But Truly Two’
Universal reference of man.
Sexual gratification vs. Repression
Jekyll’s pleasure of secrecy vs. Pain of respectability.
Stephenson reveals Jekyll’s life as full of opposition, the true nature of dualism.
‘O God!’
Juxtaposition of God and Satan, good and evil - Jekyll and Hyde.
Victorian audience will understand Utterson’s need to be purified or blessed by God after his revelation of evil.
‘My mind submerged in terror’
Gothic description used by Landon after seeing the unveiling relationship between Jekyll and Hyde. This shows the extent of wickedness and forms an atmosphere of horror, which would affect the Victorian reader.
‘My soul sickened’
Visual imagery, would make the Victorian reader be on edge with shock and disgust.
As well as this, at the time this book was written, many Victorians were strong Catholics - making this religious reference to the ‘soul’ even more in depth and meaningful to a reader.
LINK ‘my soul submerged in terror’
‘Melt And Alter’
Visual imagery used here enhances the gory imagery and the affect the sight had on Lanyon, show not only an emotional and mental change - but a horrific physical one too.
‘Extreme Distress Of Mind’
Psychological torment shown by Jekyll, as a result of him denying Hyde, constructed emotionally because he has to keep Hyde down and powerless because of his hideous actions. Jekyll represses him, which causes a bubbling and underlying need to do bad things which is a natural part of his human personality which means he cannot hide it - which is from the Victorian society forcing him to deny his senses and who he is.
‘Labouring Under A Blackness Of Distress’
Metaphor for Jekyll’s struggle under his torment.
‘I only ask for justice’
Jekyll about Hyde to Utterson
Begging tone, not moral
The sentence contradicts Victorian Philosophies making it ironic as they believe it is not right to give evil justice and Hyde is the pure ‘manifestation’ of evil.
‘Hear His Teeth Grate’
Visceral imagery is used by Stevenson, which allows the reader to imagine the scene clearly and vividly, enhancing that feeling and atmosphere of terror.
Allows the anxiety of the tension and terror be shown in the readers mind.
‘Wrestling’
Highlights the power struggle between Jekyll and Hyde that is still continuing although Hyde is now in control and Jekyll is fighting for freedom. This means the character is fighting himself physically, mentally and emotionally between good and evil.
Ironic as you cannot physically ‘wrestle’ with yourself.
‘Unbelief of Satan’
Juxtaposion between God and Satan, bulds up an image to the Victorian reader, as something is so dark that not even Satan would believe it - Hyde about himself, before revealing the transformation to Lanyon.
“A mask”
Metaphorically hiding moral decay,
“Cry out like a rat”
Animalistic,
“Thing” or “it”
Repeated throughout the book, shows the character of Hyde being dehumanised
