Friendship

• Friendship


  A close relationship between two or more people
• Friendship in Jekyll and Hyde

  • Less explicitly prominent in the text
  • Fundamental to the plot
• Friendships depicted


  • Mr Utterson and Mr Enfield
  • Mr Utterson and Dr Jekyll
• There is a distinct lack of female influence in the text, so rather than romantic relationships being depicted, Stevenson only presents the friendships between bachelors
• Good friendships


  • True friendship is presented as an admirable trait by Stevenson
  • Jekyll is a sociable man who enjoys hosting friends
  • Utterson's friendships seem to be founded in a similar catholicity of good nature
• Utterson is unhappy about what Jekyll is doing


  But Stevenson's use of the noun "friend" emphasises the relationship the two have despite their disagreement
• Bad friendships


  • Lanyon says "Henry Jekyll became too fanciful for me", suggesting the distance grew between them over time
  • Stevenson's use of fricatives in "fanciful" implies falsity, suggesting Lanyon could be interpreted as a false friend