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