lanyon

• Lanyon key traits

  • believes experimental science is blasphomous
  • conventional
  • obdurate in his beliefs
  • trustworthy
  • took jekylls secret to his grave
  • childhood friends with Jekyll and Utterson
  • fighting with Jekyll
• Quote 1 


  hearty, happy, dapper, red-faced gentleman with a shock of hair prematurely white
• hearty, happy, dapper, red-faced gentleman with a shock of hair prematurely white

  • red-faced implies he drinks considerably
  • shock-foreshadows the horrific surprise that he will receive when he witnesses Jekyll's transformation, he will die 'prematurely' as a result
  • Ao3- Stevenson uses Lanyon as a foil for Jekyll as he respects scientific beliefs that Jekyll disputes and vice vera, perhaps he was used a relatable character for typical V.G readers
• Lanyon quote 2

  'unscientific balderdash'
• 'unscientific balderdash'

  • used to inform the reader of Jekyll's experiments
  • noun- nonsensical, he opposes Jekyll's scientific experiments on moral grounds, Lanyon is a 'traditional' scientist which juxtaposes Jekyll's role as the experimental scientist
  • Ao3- Victorian society were often unwelcoming to scientific developments, many were scared due to their devotion to their religion, thus Darwin's beliefs were frowned upon due to their critism of creationism
• Quote 3

  'the rosy man had grown pale, his flesh had fallen away'
• 'the rosy man had grown pale, his flesh had fallen away'

  • juxtaposing adjectives highlight his decline from a healthy man to being inches away from death
  • he appears to be dying in front of Utterson, the metaphor suggests he is already dead and decomposing
  • Ao3- Lanyon's reaction suggests he is so stuck in the past he is physically unable to keep up with the pace of scientific developments, perhaps he is used to imply how those who deny advancements in society will be left behind
• religion

  'my life is shaken to its roots'
• 'my life is shaken to its roots'

  • metaphor suggests that every fiber of his world view has been unnerved
  • the noun 'roots' connotates birth or origin, in the absence of a coherent religious explanation for Hyde's existence his beliefs have been 'uprooted'
• science vs supernatural

  'such unscientific balderdash... would have estranged Damon and Pythias'
• 'such unscientific balderdash... would have estranged Damon and Pythias'

  • 'Damon and Pythias' is a reference to Greek mythology used in the 18th & 19th century to represent strong friendship
  • this portrays the conflict between religion and science as so pertinent it supersedes kin relations and takes precedence over the personal lives of individuals