context

• Edinburgh


  Robert Louis Stevenson's birthplace.
• 1850


  Stevenson's year of birth.
• Nightmares and tuberculosis


  As a child, Stevenson suffered from these.
• The transformation scene.


  Right before writing J&H, Stevenson was dangerously ill. He almost died from bleeding of the lungs. He took a drug, but the side effects caused him to spasm, hallucinate, and he had awful nightmares. This scene in the book was inspired by his nightmares.
• Alison Cunningham.


  The name of Stevenson's nanny, a religious fundamentalist who brought him up with tales of the torments of Hell.
• Grave robbers


  Doctors, particularly surgeons, needed corpses to dissect, to improve medical science. Grave robbers were paid large amounts of money to steal bodies from their recent burial place.
• John Hunter


  Prolific in human dissection, he dissected over 2000 human bodies including foetuses, babies, pregnant women, as well as children and adults.
• Stevenson's activities.


  Stevenson would visit the brothels and drinking dens of the poor part of Edinburgh. He was fascinated by the divide in the city.
• The famous children's book written by Stevenson.

  Treasure Island.
• Stevenson's wife.


  Fanny
• Fanny's reaction to the first draft of 'Jekyll and Hyde'.

  She threw it on the fire.
• 1- No sexual appetites allowed to be demonstrated.

  2- No violence permitted in public.

  3- Homosexuality was illegal.


  Reasons for repression in Victorian society.
• Evolution


  Charles Darwin's theory, outlined in his book 'On the Origin of Species', in which he introduced the ideas of natural selection, variation, the survival of the fittest and that all the different species have evolved from simple life forms. Darwin's ideas caused a lot of controversy, and this continues today, because they can be seen as conflicting with religious views about the creation of the world and the creatures in it.
• Gothic fiction


  The term Gothic fiction refers to a style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom, as well as elements, such as nature, individuality, and very high emotion. These emotions can include fear and suspense.