Jekyll and Hyde - Themes

Reputation
1. Immoral activities and uncontrolled emotions would damage a gentleman's reputation which would mean losing social advantages
2. Reputation was very important to gentlemen in the novel in Victorian society
3. Utterson is more concerned about preserving jekylls repuation than bring Hyde in.
4. Stevenson's message is that reputation can not be trusted as they are based on peoples appearances
5. The problem with reputation being so important is that you don't know what people are really like
  1. This is what causes Utterson problems - he can't fully understand Jekyll's problem as he doesn't want to believe the worst as he fears for Jeykll's reputation
    1. This is why he held on to the idea of blackmail as he found it hard to look beyond his concern for his reputation
Duality
1. Jekyll decides that his duality applies to all of humanity
  1. He states is opinon as fact
2. Duality is the contrast between 2 concepts
3. Evil is personified in Hyde
4. Jekyll is a mix of good and evil
5. Stevenson uses the language of the battle to describe the struggle of the 2 different natures
  1. There is a 'war' within Jekyll and the ' two natures that contend in the field'
    1. Jekyll's mind sounds like 2 forces on a battle field
6. Jekyll undermines how closely the good and evil sides of his personality are tide together
  1. Hyde (Evil side) out ways the good
7. Without Hyde, Jekyll lives a good life, but he is an 'ordinary secret sinner' showing that he is not completely good
  1. In contrast Hyde is the purely evil side of Jekyll
    1. Jekyll calls Hyde 'my devil'
    2. Hyde is created because of Jekyll's the desire to get rid of his sinful thoughts rather than deal with them
8. Hyde is uncivilized and doesn't follow etiquette of victorian society
  1. In victorian society people in the upper class believed that those who were uncivilised were less evolved
9. Stevenson forces his reader to consider the possibility that everyone has a dark side
10. Stevenson uses the idea of duality to criticise the victorian society
  1. He suggests that the gap between appearance and reality in people/houses is hypocritical
    1. This is shown in the description of Jekyll's house
      1. The front : 'wore a great air of wealth and comfort'
      2. The back: is connected to a shabby and worn down door
Appearance vs Reality
1. Jekyll is considered a respectable upstanding man, but feels he hides a dark evil side
2. Hyde appears to be normal but with deformities and is uncivilised but is actually a 'child of hell'
3. Jekyll looks as if he is being blackmailed although he is doing it himself
4. Lanyon's physical deterioration looks to Utterson like a physical illness but it is just from the shock of seeing Hyde's transformation
Secrecy
1. The whole plot of Jeykll and hyde revolves around Jeykll's secret alter ego
2. The gentleman characters often decide not to speak about the unpleasant things so they can pretend they don't happen
  1. They also play down shocking events
    1. Enfield describes the trampled girl as a 'bad story' this understatement shows that the gentleman are determined to show/ pretend that everything is normal
3. Throughout the novel, there are many closed doors and windows
  1. The closed doors and window represent the people's desire to hide their secret
    1. The smashing of the cabinet door symbolises the breakdown of Jekyll's walls of secrecy
Science and religion
1. There are 2 different views of sciences
  1. Lanyon's
    1. Practical and rational view point needing evidence to believe it
      1. The difference in viewpoint is highlighted by different language used
        Lanyon's account of the events is much clearer and includes more factual detail
        Jekyll describes the events more abstract and poetic with less factual information
  2. Jekyll's
    1. More mystical and supernaturel view
2. In the 19th centry people believed that the earth was created by God
  1. However scientists started disprove their belief - Darwin released his theory of evolution
    1. Many victorians thought this view was dangerous as it suggested that science had power to create life which challenges their religious view of the world
3. Jekyll - 'shook the very fortress of identity'
4. Lanyon - 'unscientific balderdash'
5. Lanyon - 'scientific heresies'
6. Jekyll - ' transcendental'
7. Stevenson criticises victorian society by presenting Jekyll as religious in public, doing good things but then he was bad in private highlighting how society then was hypocritical

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Jekyll and Hyde - Themes

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