"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde": Hyde Analysis

"I had taken a loathing at my gentleman at first sight. So had the child's family, which was only natural. But the doctor's case was what struck me. He was the usual cut and dry apothecary, of no particular age and colour, with a strong Edinburgh accent and about as emotional as a bag pipe. Well, sir, he was like the rest of us; every time he looked at my prisoner, I saw that Sawbones turn sick and white with desire to kill him. I knew what was on his mind just as he knew what was on mine." - Enfield, Chapter 1
1. Hyde may be such an abomination so that everyone wants to kill him
2. Hyde may just appear different to others
  1. Evil instincts not being policed
    1. Only family should feel anger
      1. The gentlemen want to commit murder
        Enfield wants to kill him?
        A doctor wants to kill him?
        Irony
        A man who's job is meant to be saving people wants to kill one
    2. Stevenson is saying does society stick to Christian values or are we hypocrites
  2. Hyde's point of view not being shown
    1. We only hear what others think
3. "Sawbones"
  1. Violent term
    1. Doctors seen as dangerous?
  2. "He [doctor] was the usual cut and dry apothecary... emotional as a bagpipe"
    1. Someone so emotionless became emotional at the sight of Hyde
      1. Hyde that hideous?
    2. Normal for doctors to be emotionless?
      1. Scientists suffer from lack of empathy and don't see the humanity in people
      2. More interested in scientific progress
        Stevenson playing with the fear of science taking over religion in Victorian era
4. "Desire" has sexual connotations
5. Hyperbolic language
  1. Loathing
  2. "turn sick and white"
    1. Irony
      1. Doctor's get rid of sickness
6. The gentlemen want to kill more than the family
7. Hyde has done little wrong (hypocrisy)
  1. They are still extorting money from him
8. "Only natural"
  1. Anger is OK for people as long as it is justified
    1. Hyde hasn't done anything wrong yet
      1. Excuse for blackmail?
9. "my prisoner"
  1. People would do anything when reputation is at stake
10. All gentlemen act the same and think the same
  1. Enfield call Hyde his "gentlemen"
    1. Foreshadowing Jekyll's reveal as Hyde
"He [Hyde] is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point. He's an extraordinary looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way. No, sir; I can make no hand of it; I can't describe him. And it's not want of memory; for I declare to see him this moment" - Enfield, Chapter 1
1. Hyde is so ugly words aren't enough to describe him
  1. Not repressing his desire's
    1. Enfield and the "Sawbones" didn't repress their desire to kill
      1. "Sawbones" turning "sick and white" is him becoming more like Hyde
        Everyone has their inner demons
        Reference to Sigmund Freud's Id, Ego, and Super-Ego
  2. He was born to be a criminal
    1. Reference to Lombroso's theory of the born criminal
2. Hyde lack's humanity
  1. The lack of humanity maybe what Enfield feels
    1. When someone goes against the teachings of God
3. Dislike symbolises what happens to people who turn against God
  1. Stevenson rejects this view as Enfield is acting more evilly than Hyde
    1. Enfield used to undermine the Christian morals
4. Hyde created by Jekyll
  1. The "deformity" is the sacrilegious act against God
  2. Jekyll has been overcome by Hyde
    1. Only the fittest will survive
      1. Darwinism
        The creation of science has overcome a man of religion
        Science will survive as it is more fit to do so than religion
        Showing that religion is nothing but a story
        Lack of Christian belief
        Tapping into the fear of the reader
5. Survival of the fittest
  1. Hyde is the one who survived
    1. Humans are regressing
      1. Hyde's "deformity" is evidence of that
      2. In Christianity, people are meant to become better human beings
        Enfield's violent thoughts juxtapose with this idea
      3. Human's are becoming more evil
    2. Lack of Christian belief
      1. Showing that religion is nothing but a story
6. Hyde's "deformity" is his homosexuality
  1. "Something downright detestable" is unsee-able
    1. This is the fear of homosexuality
      1. Hyde's point of view not even discussed or considered
        Stevenson is saying that this fear for homosexuality is unjustified
7. The emphasis on "must" shows how much the gentlemen dislike Hyde
  1. Unfair prejudice
    1. Hypocritical since Hyde's point of view is omitted
      1. Stevenson is highlighting the hypocrisy of men
  2. Enfield is just looking for a reason
    1. Enfield wants to justify his dislike
      1. Hypocritical
        Stevenson is saying that the hypocrisy is unjustifiable
        Pretending to be moral
"but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown, disgust, loathing and fear with which Mr. Utterson regarded him [Hyde]. There must be something else, said the perplexed gentleman. There is something more, if I could find a name for it. God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say? or can it be the old story of Dr. Fell? or is it the mere radiance of a foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, its clay continent? The last, I think; for, O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan's signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend." - Chapter 2
1. Hyde marked as the devil's item
  1. Completely evil
2. Language is full of Christian references
  1. Hyde's appearance is being described
    1. Prejudice
      1. Highlighting the hypocrisy of religion
3. Utterson asks God to bless him
  1. Being affected by Hyde's evil
  2. How people should feel horror when indulging in their desires
4. Worried about soul going to hell
5. "clay continent"
  1. Man made from clay in the story of Genesis
  2. Continent makes up a significant part of a world
    1. The human body is significant to God
      1. Life has meaning
6. Dr Fell is someone of unspeakable repugnance
  1. Just looked at Hyde, nothing else
    1. Hyde is still compared to someone of extreme distaste
      1. Utterson didn't react this way when heard of Enfield's blackmail
        Stevenson highlighting the hypocrisy of gentlemen with Christian morals
        People are defined by their appearances, not their actions
      2. Creation of science is blasphemy
        Science is making humanity worse
        "I do not like thee, Doctor Fell, / The reason why - I cannot tell; / But this I know, and know to well, / I do not like thee, Doctor Fell."
        Dr Fell is the imbodiment of our fear in science
        Stevenson is saying the reason to fear science is unfounded
        We have always feared science
        A nursery rhyme
        The hate/fear for science is childish
7. To be fully human is to avoid evil
  1. Hyde doesn't repress his desires
    1. "hardly human"
      1. Still a bit human
        Evil is a natural human characteristic
        Utterson asks to be blessed
8. Utterson is jealous of Hyde
  1. "Harry" the affectionate name for "Henry"
9. Hyperbolic language
  1. Gothic horror
10. "Satan's signature" reminds us of Jekyll's signature
  1. Jekyll no better than the devil?
    1. Jekyll represent all middle class men
      1. The whole system is corrupt
  2. Enfield doesn't tell Utterson of Jekyll's signature
    1. All gentlemen are corrupt
  3. If the cheque was like Hyde, then is the cheque evil?
    1. Enfield still accepts it
      1. All gentlemen are corrupt
        Stevenson is highlighting how gentlemen would accept things from the devil
  4. Foreshadows Jekyll's forged letter
    1. Utterson keeps the letter a secret
      1. Jekyll's signature is the same as Satan's
      2. Corrupt
"And then all of a sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on (as the maid described it) like a madman. The old gentlemen took a step back, with the air of one very much surprised and a trifle hurt; and at that Mr. Hyde broke out of all bounds and clubbed him to the earth. And next moment, with ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot and hailing down a storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway. At the horror of these sights and sounds, the maid fainted." - Chapter 4
1. Hyde represents original sin
  1. Created by defying god
    1. We are all born evil
      1. We need to be on guard all the time to prevent ourselves from becoming anything like Hyde
2. Attack is unprovoked
  1. Attack aimed at a defenceless, angelic man
    1. Proof that we are all born evil
    2. Carew was a knight
      1. Not even a knight can go against this evil
        Stevenson is saying that no one is safe
        Evil is a terrible danger
3. "surprised and trifle hurt"
  1. Evil is greatest when we let our guard down
    1. Hyde was caged for a long time
      1. Jekyll gave into Hyde in the worst time
  2. Contrasts to what Hyde does to Carew
    1. Gothic horror elements
    2. Comic
4. Zoomorphic language
  1. Reference to Atavism, the fear of regression
  2. Our evolution is making us more primitive
    1. Survival of the fittest
      1. Hyde is "fitter" for survival than the seemingly perfect Carew
        Making the reader fear of regression
        Creation of science overcame religion
        Religion is not fit for survival
        Stevenson scaring people with this concept
        Society is falling apart
        It is better to not worry about good and evil
        Morals are not fit enough for people to survive
    2. Darwin's theory suggests we came from fish
      1. Mankind is no more special than any other organism
5. Religion isn't enough to keep people in check
6. Hyperbole of the bouncing body
  1. To survive, violence is necessary
    1. For man to evolve, people need to become more violent
      1. The fittest is not necessarily the nicest
7. "the older man [Carew] bowed and accosted the other [Hyde] with a very pretty manner of politeness" - Chapter 4
  1. "pretty" is very feminine
    1. Carew homo?
      1. Advancing Hyde
        Hyde's reaction represents the reaction of society to gayness :)
      2. Even the purest of people have their darkest of secrets
        Audience would be disgusted
8. Maid behaves stereotypically
  1. Faints to emphasise horrors
    1. Maid contiually repeats the story despite it being horrific
      1. Faking her emotions?
        Hyde may not be that bad
        Hyperbolic
9. Violence is hyperbolic
10. Carew strolling in 11pm?
  1. Committing unlawful acts
    1. Stevenson highlighting the hypocrisy of men
11. Everyone repulsed by Hyde but not Carew?
  1. Attracted to Hyde?
    1. Thought Hyde was a prostitute?
12. "clubbed him to the earth"
  1. Reference to primitive methods
    1. "Clubbed" draws connotations of cavemen and/or primitive beings
      1. A human is behaving like an animal
        Fear of regression
  2. Almost as if Hyde is burying him
    1. Stevenson is saying it is time for people like Carew to die
      1. Only way to survive is to be more primitive
      2. Carew maybe a hypocrite
"The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth and death. Then these agonies began swiftly to subside, and I came to myself as if out of a great sickness. There was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably sweet. I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a millrace in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but innocent freedom of the soul. I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine" - Chapter 10
1. Describes becoming Hyde as "innocent"
  1. The affect on his SOUL is innocent?
    1. Questioning Christianity?
      1. Hyde is the one feeling innocent
        Describes religion as a prison for the soul
        Religion bad for society?
        Hyde outlives Jekyll
        Religion held Jekyll back
        Religion killing people quicker?
        Is science a better alternative?
        Hyde is described for his appearance
        This is why he becomes violent?
        Hyde's evil a response to his incarceration and repression?
    2. The soul is who we are
      1. The restraint of religion was on him no more
        He has had these desires to begin with
        Man is born with evil
2. When religion is taken out of the picture, he experiences "freedom"
3. "Original Evil" alludes to the idea of original sin
  1. Biblical reference
    1. Adam and Eve
  2. We are capable of evil
4. At the beginning, Hyde is "an unknown but innocent freedom of the soul"
  1. Ironic
    1. Hyde is appears to be evil
      1. Science seems to be naive
    2. Freedom leads to catastrophe
5. "Younger, sweeter, lighter"
  1. Science appears to be making progress but at a terrible cost
  2. After he lets go of religion
    1. Religion making people older, bitter, heavier?
6. Science causing physical pain?
  1. The affect of abandoning your moral self?
7. "The great sickness"
  1. Referring to being Jekyll?
    1. Turning to Hyde a cure?
      1. Hyde is an improvement
  2. Religion akin to a sickness?
    1. Religion contagious?
  3. Implies everyone's natural state is full of sinful desire
8. Hyperbole
  1. Physical description is an allusion to horror
  2. Hyperbole of pain and evil
    1. "like wine" mirrors readers attraction to horror and violence
      1. Likening readers to Hyde
9. Hyde described more positively than Jekyll
  1. Should all men aspire to be Hyde?
10. Gentlemen don't name any of his vices
  1. They only name the vices they don't have themselves
    1. Blackmail
    2. Extortion
    3. Withholding evidence
    4. The gentlemen have all done these acts
      1. Sexual desires haven't been pointed out
        Could they all be possibly gay? :)

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"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde": Hyde Analysis

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