J+H: Chapter 4

J+H: Chapter 4

Setting
1. "This was the home of henry Jekyll’s favourite, a man who was heir to a quarter of a million sterling"
  1. Irony: the home is not quite posh
  2. Hyde is undeserving
  3. Obvious distaste
2. wind "embattled, reinvasion, charging"
  1. connotation of violence, bestows sinister dangerous undertone, foreshadows future events
    1. signifies the power of darkness
  2. "lamps... combat the mournful reinvasion of darkness"
    1. emphasis on darkness + sense of continuous battle and makes the light seem almost weaker + metaphor for the story of J+H and mirror the story
      1. Semantic field of war
3. the scene is "lowered over heaven"
  1. heaven cannot see it + the area is evil and sinful as God cannot look over and be in touch with it
Appearance/ Reputation
1. "the older man bowed and accosted the other with a very pretty manner of politeness
  1. Accosted: double meaning
  2. Adds a sense of mystery + accosted could mean greet or attack. The man could have been attacking Hyde verbally or provoked Hyde.
Urban Myth
1. "the other...she had conceived a dislike"
  1. dehumanises Hyde further as it seems like he goes against societal norms. The societal construst of normality affects and blinds Utterson's perception and understanding of Hyde.
    1. Reader has no reason to dislike had: but has an unexplainable irking that something is wrong with him
  2. biased description of Hyde
  3. emphasise on Hyde's abnormality and gives the impression that he is not only physically malformed, but mentally
    1. links to the idea of Hyde being an outsider and potentially evil
  4. Nearly every character finds it difficult to properly describe Mr. Hyde; he is not exactly human, they all say.
Violence
1. "details were few and startling"
  1. illustrates the extent of Hyde’s capacity for evil
  2. he mindlessly vicious nature of the man becomes clear with the violent murder of Sir Danvers Carew.
  3. Hyde is violent at random, with no apparent motive, and with little concern for his own safety
SUMMARY: Nearly a year later, an elderly gentleman is murdered in the street by Hyde. A letter to Utterson is found on the body. Utterson recognises the murder weapon has a broken walking cane of Jekyll’s. He takes the police to Jekyll’s house to find Hyde, but are told he hasn’t been there for two months. They find the other half of the cane and signs of a quick exit.
Animal
1. with ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot
  1. Hyde has no sense of morality and lacks civilisation.
  2. He is a dehumanising, evoluntionary inferior being with preliterate "fury," which makes his violent and vicous
  3. Trampled: gives prominence to Hyde's violent and cruel attitude
    1. Evil- unseen indescribable Evil so bad, cannot be dialogued Hidden within society but present nonetheless
      1. Mr. Hyde doesn’t have any associates. His isolation is a consequence of his evil nature.
        disappearance after the murder, along with his utter lack of family, friends, and people who can identify him, suggests that he possesses some kind of otherworldly origin
Mystery
1. "No cards or papers except a sealed and stamped envelope… which bore the name and address of Mr. Utterson"
  1. Info builds up suspense and tension by not going into great detail
  2. Reader wonders what the letter contains and why Hyde did not take it

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	Created by Aalia Rizvi almost 8 years ago