SCIENCE AND RELIGION

• • “Unscientific balderdash,” uttered by Dr. Lanyon, signifies the clash between new scientific ideas and traditional beliefs.
• • “I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the thought of the separation of these elements.” This Dr. Jekyll’s quote emphasizes his obsession with his experiments, ignoring the moral implications echoing the religious perspective.
• Industrial revolution


  • Led to a rapid rate of scientific development in the Victorian era
  • Rapid changes in both technology and science started influencing everyday life
  • Caused social unease, with people scared of what would happen in the future
• Devolution


  Fears sparked by Charles Darwin's work in the Victorian era
• Mr Hyde


  Manifests the fears of devolution in the Victorian era
• Scientists


  • Stevenson subverts the contemporary reader's expectations of career stereotypes within the text
  • Within Victorian society, scientists were considered trustworthy whereas lawyers were considered deceitful, Stevenson reverses these traits in the text
  • This subversion serves to heighten tension for the reader
• Scientific experimentation


  • Stevenson builds upon a Victorian reader's fears around science by showing how far science can be pushed
  • Jekyll's work into the metaphysical makes the scientific community within the text uncomfortable, this anxiety will be transferred to the reader
• The violent lexis in "war of attitudes" depicts the conflict within the scientific community
• Lanyon describes Jekyll's work as "unscientific balderdash"
• Conflict between Lanyon and Jekyll


  • Lanyon prefers to balance his religious thought and scientific study by remaining in the sphere of material science, whilst Jekyll extends his work into the metaphysical
  • This conflict mirrors the tensions between religion and science which was apparent within society
• Scientific experiments


  • The descriptions of Jekyll's scientific experiments treads a fine line between scientific experimentation and the supernatural
  • The scientific language "added one of the powders" could also be seen as akin to spells and witchcraft
• Stevenson manipulates scientific syntactic structure in the reference "began, in proportion as the crystals melted, to brighten in colour"
• Illogical word order


  • Emphasises the tension between Jekyll's inner irrationality and the rationality of science
  • The description also sounds like a witches chant
• Narration


  • The text is narrated by three different voices who slowly unravel the mystery behind the identity of the criminal
  • Chapters 1-8 focus on the perspective of Mr Utterson who acts as the detective, written in the third person which creates the impression that he is a reliable narrator
  • Chapter 9 is in the form of a letter written by Dr Lanyon in the first person, indicative of an unreliable narrator and foreshadowing the forthcoming irrational events
  • The text ends with a first person letter written by Jekyll in which he summarises all of the previously described events from his own viewpoint
• The different narrative viewpoints creates uncertainty in the reader as they have to piece together what happens as the story progresses and choose which parts to believe
• Religious symbolism


  Universally understood by the readers of Jekyll and Hyde
• Gothic fiction


  • Religious references serve to contrast with and highlight the immoral events occurring
  • References to the Bible add an element of seriousness to the text which juxtaposed the fantastical concepts explored within it
• Biblical allusions


  • "really like Satan"
  • "Cain's heresy"
  • "if ever I read Satan's signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend"
• Cain and Abel


  The first two sons of Adam and Eve, where Cain murders his brother Abel as he is jealous that God prefers the sacrifices Abel makes
• Cain and Abel story


  Symbolic of the duality found within Jekyll and Hyde
• The story implies that evil is intrinsic to human nature
• "law of life"


  Juxtaposition of human dictated justice in "law" and the natural connotations of "life" implying that he sees society to be at odds with God
• By considering life this deeply, a contemporary reader may argue that Jekyll has earned his punishment by meddling with God's business
• Religious allusions work to solidify the theme of religion vs science within the text, and ensure that the reader is always aware of this juxtaposition within their own society