Dr Jekyll & Hyde

Question 1

Chapter 1

“Black, sneering coolness… really like satan”

Hyde / Religion / Reputation

Answer 1

• The adjective “black” has connotations of darkness, the unknown - which causes uncertainty, which leads to the gothic feature of the fear of the unknown.
• The adjective “sneering” shows that Hyde is cold, harsh, and sadistic
• The noun “coolness” relates to calmness and tranquility, contrasting with the adjectives and as a result evoking fear in the reader as Hyde being calm is quite frightening as it leads the reader to believe that Hyde has no conscience
• The noun “satan” relates to the devil evoking fear into the reader and Stevenson does this to show the reader how frightening Hyde really is.

Question 2

Chapter 1

“There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable.”

Hyde / Uncanny

Answer 2

• Hyde is an unidentifiable character that doesn’t blend in with the rest of society
• Is deliberately described as vague and amiguous to make the reader anxious about who he actually is.
• The idea that Hyde evokes fear and builds tension for the reader. It allows the reader to paint an image of Hyde that aligns with their own fears
• Hyde acts as a machine that revives the inner terrors and sins that exist within us.
• The repetition of “something” suggests the uncanny which would have evoked fear for the comperary reader as it’s a gothic feature.
• The use of dental alliteration gives a sense of abruptness which gives us an insight into Hyde’s violent and erratic nature. But it can also give a sense of authority which scares readers as the idea of Hyde having power would make him even more frightening.

Question 3

Chapter 1

“I saw the sawbones turn sick and white with the desire to kill him”.

Dawinism / Hyde / Good vs Evil

Answer 3

• The noun “sawbones” means a doctor, who is meant to be kind, respectable and care for people, wants to kill Hyde, shows the great influence Hyde has on others.
• The adjective “white” has connotations of innocence and purity
• The noun “desire” scares the victorians that Hyde is reverting back to his primitive state
• The verb “kill” shows his violent intentions which contrast with the doctor’s innocence.
• The adjective “sick” has connotations of disease. This idea of disease leads Victorians to believe that Hyde is unwell, he’s not normal, therefore considering him as ugly and as a result Hyde is classified as evil.
• Hyde causes an extreme, exaggerated physical reaction in both Enfield and the doctor, making both have disease-like symptoms, suggesting that Hyde is not even an animal, but a disease which inflicts suffering.
• Stevenson may be using these exaggerated, laughable reactions as a method to mock the respectable gentlemen that are blinded by the repressive society.

Question 4

Chapter 1

“It wasn’t like a man; it was like some damned juggernaut”

Hyde / Supernatural / Darwinism

Answer 4

• The pronoun “it” objectifies Hyde, therefore treating him as a thing instead of a person.
• The adjective “damned” has connotations with doomsday and the fact that there’s no rectfiying the situation.
• “Juggernaut” relates to practices in Hinduism, and this can symbolise Hyde as a member not accepted by the Christian God.
• The adjective “damned”, having the biblical connotations of Hell, which implies that Hyde is utterly removed from the respectable society.
• This links to darwinism: Victorians feared that they could revert back to their primitive state.
• The noun “juggernaut” means an unstoppable force, suggesting it is more powerful than humans.
• This would have scared the contemporary audience as at the time Victorians were christian and would have thought that the person higher than humans was God.
• Links back to the gothic genre and the supernatural, this evoked fear as Victorians were scared of the unknown.

Question 5

Chapter 1

“trampled calmly”.

Hyde / Good vs Evil

Answer 5

• The oxymoron “trampled calmly” shows the contrast between the girl’s innocence and Hyde’s brutality.
• The verb “trampled” suggests violence and barbarity, disregard for the child
• The adverb “calmly” connotes with peacefulness and tranquility, implying he’s emotionally unaffected showing his sinister reaction
• Contrast between physical and emotional actions
• Acted on ID - Freud’s Tripartite Theory
• Shows the prevalence of prostitution

Chapter 4: “With ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot”.

Question 6

Chapter 2

“Satan’s signature upon a face”.

Answer 6

• This metaphor suggests that the devil has marked Hyde for his own; he belongs to Satan and is therefore pure evil.
• Through sibilance a hissing sound like on of a snake is created.
• The snake was responsibly, in the genesis, story for tempting Eve to eat the fruit. Also, the snake in the genesis story is the devil… Stevenson is yet again proving Hyde is pure evil.

Question 7

Chapter 2

“The other snarled aloud into a savage laugh”

Darwinism / Hyde

Answer 7

• Utterson is the narrator making him a well trusted narrator and he gives a description of Hyde.
• The adjective “savage” implies that Hyde is degenerate without morals, and he is viewed as animalistic.
• The verb “snarled” is usually a sound that’s made by animals and has a sinister undertone.
• The use of sibilance suggests that there is a sinister aspect to Hyde’s character and can also imply the screcy behind it.
• The is relates to Darwinism: the idea that humans could possibly degernate into the inner savage if the veneer of society were removed.

Question 8

Chapter 2

“Unscientific balderdash”

Science

Answer 8

• The noun “balderdash” implies that Dr Lanyon believes that Dr Jekyll’s science is nonsense and not real science.
• Similarly to how the average religious Victorian would not have accepted Dr Jekyll’s mystical and metaphysical science, as it was new and unknown, which contrasted to Dr Lanyon’s rational and orthodox science, which represents the repression during the Victorian era.
• Could also imply that Dr Lanyon wants to break the boundary of science, but he is afraid, so calls out Dr Jekyll for his science. This represents the repression in Victorian society, and that Victorian people may want to do something, but don’t because it isn’t socially acceptable.

Question 9

Chapter 3

“Large handsome face of Dr Jekyll grew pale to the very lips, and there came a blackness about his eyes”.

Answer 9

• highlights duality between Jekyll and Hyde
• Victorian idea of purity, facade for his true self which is erratic and unpredictable
• Contrast between pale and handsome suggesting secrecy
• suggests illness, colour leaves face
• blackness represents gothic theme of unknown, shows unpredicability and evokes fear in the reader
• blackness has connotations of evil, dark, grief, this links to duality of human nature
• eyes are quite revealing - can tell a person’s yrue intentions. Fact that eyes have blackness suggests Jekyll has nearly revealed Hyde and his dark side further evoking fear.

Question 10

Chapter 4

“with ape-like fury”

Answer 10

• Simile shows that Hyde is animal-like because he has no control over his emotions, which lead to his violent and animalistic behaviours.
• This dehumanising image of Hyde as an animal strips him of his humanity and highlights his lack of remorse.
• Because Carew has done nothing to deserve his murder, Hyde’s fury seems to be wild and arbitrary. It could suggest that he is driven by a hatred of all people and the world in general.
• Darwin’s theory of evolution led many Victorians to fear the idea of ‘devolution’, the idea that humans could devolve into a more primitive state without the influence of civilisation. Stevenson may be playing on these fears to make Hyde seem a more terrifying character.

Question 11

Chapter 4

“a great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven”

Answer 11

• A ‘pall’ connotes funerals and death, mirroring the death that has just occurred.
• This pathetic fallacy emphasises the fear of the readers, making them feel uneasy as the area seems unsafe.
• It is a metaphor describing Hyde as being the chocolate pall, emphasising the dark and evil side within him, and Jekyll being heaven and how Hyde is taking control over Jekyll.
• However on the other hand, the alliterative phrase ‘chocolate covered’ not only emphasises the dirt and darkness but is seemingly ironic as ‘chocolate’ is sweet and liked by everyone but in this context, brings misery upon Soho.
• “c” sound creates a commanding tone suggesting that Hyde is playing God by causing this to happen

Question 12

Chapter 6

“Deep seated terror of the mind”

Answer 12

• Traumatic, evokes reader curiosity
• not going anywhere
• victorian audience - psychotic
• modern audience - empathetic
• “deep-seated” shows how duality or an alter ego is permanently and always in ever gentleman
• the reference to “mind” shows how even rational people have this duality
• the sibilance creates a hissing sound connecting the line to a snake or serpent howing how this terror is evil

Question 13

Chapter 6

“The rosy man had grown pale, his flesh had fallen away”

Answer 13

• physical decay - the semantic field of rot shows that Lanyon is slowly secomposing due to the guilt and trauma he feels.

Question 14

Chapter 7

“the smile was struck out of his face and succeeded by an expression of… abject terror”.

Answer 14

• The adjective “abject” shows that Jekyll knows his appearance (as Hyde) will be shocking and unfamiliar to Utterson and Enfield.

Question 15

Chapter 8

“I shall consider it my duty to break in that
door”

Answer 15

• Utterson is trustworthy and a loyal friend

Question 16

Chapter 9

“Disgustful curiosity”

Answer 16

• oxymoron
• disgustful means revolting or sickening
• curiosity is regarded as a positive trait in the modern day
• regarded as a negative trait in victorian era

Question 17

Chapter 9

“You who have denied the virtue of transcendental medicine”.

Answer 17

• Hyde takes on the voice of the serpent that tempted Eve with ultimate knowledge, Lanyon is a victim of temptation and curiosity.
• The adjective “transcendental” connotes to the supernatural, showing that Lanyon like Utterson is trustworthy as they restrict themselves.

Question 18

Chapter 9

“There was something abnormal and misbegotten in the very essence of the creature”.

Hyde / Darwinism

Answer 18

• The adjective “abnormal” differentiates Hyde from the other well-respected gentlemen in the novella.
• The noun “creature” is repeated frequently to describe Hyde which evokes animalistic imagery.
• We get the impression that Hyde is a pre-human troglodyte that exists without civilisation and the laws and morals that dictate the civilised being.

Question 19

Chapter 10

“Man is not truly one, but truly two”

Answer 19

Dr Jekyll on the duality of man

Question 20

Chapter 10

“Even as good shone upon the countenance of the one, evil was written broadly and plainly on the face of the other”

Answer 20

Dr Jekyll on Hyde’s appearance (related to the idea of physiognomy, that the way you look can determine your behaviour. In this case, Hyde looks evil and is evil too)

Question 21

Chapter 10

“My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring”

Answer 21

• “My”- possessive pronoun shows that Hyde is Jekyll’s creation
• “roaring”- continues to depict Hyde as an animal. Devils and animals are clearly distinct from humans, so these images stress how inhuman Hyde is. But animals are part of nature, so at the same time the images acknowledge that the passions Hyde acts are a natural, if lower, part of us

Question 22

Chapter 10

“Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.”

Answer 22

• the notion that Hyde symbolizes the evil parts of Jekyll is made explicit. Jekyll suggests that all people are dual natured, having both the potential for good and evil within them. To see someone like Hyde, who has no inclination toward good whatsoever, is incredibly distressing.

Question 23

Interpretations of Jekyll’s name

Jekyll / Duality

Answer 23

• “Je” translated in French, means “I”, and “Kyll”, when pronounced, sounds like “kill”.
• alludes to his attempts to kill the evil (Hyde) in him later in the novella
• The idea of this portmanteau combines the two languages which links to duality, the idea that there are two sides of a person, good and evil.