Repression

• “He was austere with himself; drank gin when he was alone, to mortify a taste for vintages; and though he enjoyed the theatre, had not crossed the doors of one for twenty years."


  Utterson conforms to Victorian England societal standards by acting carefully around others, he only does things like drinking when he is alone in order to maintain his reputation - he represses what he truly enjoys.
• "No sir, I make a rule of mine, the more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask." - Enfield


  Here, Enfield represses his desire to be inquisitive - even though he is suspicious and wants an explanation, he doesn't ask questions out of fear for what he might find out.
• "I am ashamed of my long tongue. Let us make a bargain never to refer to this again."


  Here, Enfield admits to disliking how much he gossips - "long tongue" emphasises this as just as the tongue is large so too does Enfield gossip a lot - too much, and he and Utterson make a deal to stop gossiping.
• "He paused and put his hand to his throat, and I could see,

  in spite of his collected manner, that he was wrestling against the approaches of the hysteria."


  Here, it is evident as to just how determined Utterson was to discover the truth in terms of Jekyll, however, he represses this excitement which is emphasised by the use of the word "hysteria" which links to an almost erratic amount of excitement. He represses these feelings in order to come off as calm and collected.
• “At that time my virtue slumbered; my evil, kept awake by ambition, was alert and swift to seize the occasion; and the thing that was projected was Edward Hyde.”


  Jekyll details how he tried as hard as he could to repress Hyde, but it appeared the more he did so, the more Hyde seemed eager to come out. This is emphasised by "my evil" as it shows that he struggled to remain a good man due to the intense pressure Hyde was putting on him.
• “My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring.”


  Jekyll describes how after attempting to repress Hyde inside for so long, when he finally came out it was intense.

  - Just as a roar is terrifying and loud, so too did Hyde escape in a scary way.

  • The use of the word "devil" to describe Hyde emphasises just how evil he is - by comparing him to a keeper of Hell, it shows Jekyll's fear of releasing him due to his terrifying nature and therefore the reason why Jekyll repressed him for so long.