Secrecy

Question 1

Stevenson intentions through the theme of Secrecy

Answer 1

• shows that exposure of Jekyll’s hidden life is inevitably
• secrets cant remain hidden forever
• secrecy leads to destruction and moral decay
• Stevenson critiques the reality of victorian society, revealing that everyone has darker truths

Question 2

Secrecy is presented in the novel through…

Answer 2

• The mysterious and unsetlling presence of Hyde
• The description of the setting and symbolism of objects
• Jekyll’s darkest secret and the damage it could cause to his reputation

Question 3

Hyde is…

Answer 3

a living secret

Question 4

‘He must have secrets of his own; black secrets, by the look of him’

Answer 4

• ‘must’ = certainty
• society judges characters on outward appearance
• ‘black’ - darkness, evil and unknown
• connects his appearance to evil - inner evil cant stay hidden
• Fear and mystery

Question 5

‘You must suffer me to go my own dark way’

Answer 5

• Jekyll’s inner torment
• ‘dark way’ is metaphoricl - moral corruption and sinister path
• Jekyll’s isolation from society as he descends into darkness

Question 6

‘The fog still slept on the wing above the drowned city’

Answer 6

• Pathetic Fallacy - murky atmosphere reflecting fear of unknown
• Personification adds to the eerie gothic atmosphere
• ‘drowned’ suggests London is smothered in secrets and darkness
• corrupted city hiding dark truths

Question 7

‘Like some disconsolate prisoner’

Answer 7

• similie compares jekyll to a prisoner
• trapped by his own dual nature
• loss of freedom and control
• sorrow emphasises emotional toll of secrecy

Question 8

‘There lay a body sorely contorted and still twitching’

Answer 8

• vivid and disturbing imager
• Hyde’s death reflects the unnaturalness of his existence
• physical distrotion reflects moral corruption
• ‘twitching’ his is not at peace

Question 9

‘I concealed my pleasures…I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life’

Answer 9

• reveals Jekyll’s shame and repression
• ‘profound’ shows the deep-rooted nature of his double life
• the struggle between respectability and desires

Question 10

‘If he shall be Mr Hyde.’ ‘I shall be Mr Seek’

Answer 10

• Hyde symbolises hidden and darker side
• Utterson represents the pursuit of uncovering secrets

Question 11

The smashing of the cabinet door

Answer 11

symbolises the breaking down of Jekyll’s walls of secrecy