Jekyll

• key traits

  • doctor- held in high esteem
  • liberated through Hyde
  • falls out with Lanyon
  • priorities science over religion
  • indulges his inner ID
  • Hyde is his doppelganger
• Quote 1

  'there came a blackness around his eyes'
• 'there came a blackness around his eyes'

  • blackness- reveals a menacing part of Jekyll
  • less human, possibly dangerous or predatory
  • black eyes= evil, eyes are considered the window to the soul
  • Ao3- Freud's personality theory explored the idea Stevenson played with here about humans possessing a primal element of the mind that is uncontrollable
• Quote 2

  'you must suffer me to go my own dark way'
• 'you must suffer me to go my own dark way'

  • way- implies he has chosen to take this pathway & will not turn back
  • dark- hints Jekyll enjoys indulging in his sordid interests, perhaps he is secretly relishing in his evil indulgences rather than accepting help
  • Ao3- Stevenson may be highlighting the hypocrisy of VGs behaviour and exposing the wealthy who live a double life to show how unsustainable it is
• Quote 3

  'My devil had long been caged and he came out roaring'
• 'My devil had long been caged and he came out roaring'

  • metaphor creates imagery of Jekyll possessing an animalistic beastial side that was impossible to repress forever
  • caged- depicts the repression in Victorian society. throughout the text there is a perpetuated theme of suffering & toxic austerity
  • roaring- animalistic language, animals are part of nature implying that the passions Hyde acts on are a natural part of us
  • Ao3- Ape like: Hyde links to Darwin's theory & the primitive nature in all of us by repressing his primitive side the danger of Hyde is more worrying
• Duality

  'If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also'
• 'If i am the chief of sinners, i am the chief of sufferers also'

  • advertises the dual nature of man
  • the act of sinning itself too has a dual nature :it is rewarding as it involves indulging in hedonistic desires but sinning comes with punishment and thus suffering