Jekyll and hyde

• "death warrant " issued by court in pursuit of justice --> stevenson invites us to see lanyon as a criminal, when presented with a scientific discovery, he chooses to die rather than learn more---> alternatively by having Dr lanyon die simply by seeing Jekyll transform Stevenson could be mocking christianity as Dr Lanyon was a symbol of what a Christan should be, suggests that christianity is weak, corroborated by the the juxstaposing cherful reaction of Dr lanyon to his own inveitable death. How good can Christianity be if it can make a man happy to be rid of his life.
• Stevenson’s wife asked him to write in the form of an “allegorical” novel. So Stevenson uses the setting to symbolise the “duality of man”. It allows his readers to read the novella as a warning against the dangers of temptation. However, it also allows Stevenson to subvert and question the Christian values of his readers.
• Jekyll lived in John Hunters house, John Hunter advanced medical science and surgery by paying grave robbers to provide him with corpses. Stevenson therefore suggests that ideas of morality are social constructs. Hunters experiments had been proved to be for the greater good, this setting asks us to consider if Jekyll’s experiments might also in time prove to be for the good of mankind.
• (Jekyll residing in John hunters house) invities us to ask if Jekyll’s vices might also be viewed as sinful only because of the social attitudes of the time. These were shaped by a Christian interpretation of moral behavior, which we know Stevenson rejected, taking drugs and visiting brothels.
• Hyde’s private lodgings reflect his real nature (there is no one he wishes to impress). It is clearly the house of a gentleman, “furnished with luxury and good taste”. Furthermore Hyde has very refined tastes, so he is a “connoisseur”. On one level, this suggests that all upper class men are the same as Hyde, and therefore equally prone to evil. On the other hand, it suggests that Hyde simply has desires, there is nothing “evil” about them. Yes, he does kill Sir Danvers Carew, but this is due to the accumulation of his desires which Stevenson wanted to warn his readers about.
• setting reveals the mask of Jekyll's true nature. Jekyll next to "soho". “Leicester Square”, Hyde cannot live more than a few minutes away. Stevenson does this to symbolise how the front portrayed by all the men in the novel is simply a facade. They live right next door to Soho, because it exists to service their vices. Soho is just as much a part of their true nature, as the “good” Christian “works” they practice.
• "Like some damned juggernaut " - Act 1, Scene 1

  • "damned" suggests he will go to hell,
  • similie-"juggernaut" pagan god jagganath, Hinduism has just as many followers, suggets that their is another way but it is christian prejudice that informs our view of hyde. Which invites us to question whether Hyde is evil from the begginging. (Fear of other religion)
  • Something unnatural about hyde, not really like a man but a juggernaut, helps the christian audience dismiss him as a product of evil science. Undermining the story as he is an atheist causing his audience to question whether Christianity.
• "I saw that sawbones turn sick and white with the desire to kill him" -Enfield

  • Original sin, far more evil than hyde at this stage, represent society. May be that they are aiming to get rid of the evil in the world therefore is a Christain act.
  • Hypocrisy --> full of the desire to kill and "screwed" him out of £100, corrupt as hyde has done nothing objectively wrong at this point. This may be due to Hyde's "troglodytic" appearence, refers to the theory of evolution which the audience were scared of.
• "I read satan's signature upon a face . It is on that of your new friend" -Utterson

  • Vessel for satan, evoked great fear in readers of the era, the 3 negative adjectives evoked "disgust, loathing and fear " in even the most professional , calm and collected people like Utterson. (ran over a girl and supposed blackmail)
  • Jekyll was not blackmailed and is rather ecstatic as he lived through Hyde. Christian idea of Hyde as the embodiment of evil is not true, enjoying pleasures which society has repressed.
• • Hypocrisy --> How can he have "Satan's signature" if they can't describe what he looked like? Christian audiences will assume, so evil cant describe him. Could suggest that there is nothing evil to describe.
  • Science ---> Hyde = symbol for evil and created by science, science is leading us to evil, away from Christianity-->Hyde created using a drug, refers to the fear of addiction.
  • Symbolism---> Hyde, simbolic of the original sin, suggests that ones "id" is more powerful. Therefore Hyde is all of Jekylls evil. Jekyll is not pure, rather he is duplicitous suggesting that we are all duplicitous.
• "shrank nack with a hissing intake"
• "Neither bell nor knocker"
• 
  

  "With ape-like fury... raining down a storm of blows", shattered bones(chapter 3)

  • maid could not hear what they said but the bones breaking, discredits the passion for violence and bloodshed, the need for such violence by society suggests, not actually respectable.
  • Hyde is unevolved, theory of evolution
  • "ape-like", misconception being more evolved than the lower class, murder of sir danvers carew, tap into the fears of Victorian society regarding the lower class. Carew represents the upper echelon of london, influx of the working class into london altered or overthrow their lifestyle
• "I felt younger, lighter, happier in body"
• murdered sir danvers carew due to the hypocrisy(out looking for sex at midnight) of the 1885 gross indecency act. by only targeting the MP and leaving the match seller with nothing but a punch, Sir danvers carew would have voted for the act, stevenson invites us to see wether the government had done something to deserve that treatment. Corrborated when Stevenson left the country to live in samoa which is more primative, rejected christianity and the middle class society which disgusted him

  * Attack on society

  *how evil hyde is kills a innocent beautiful old man (christian message)
• didnt talk about the transformation because they believe in repression. Because it is a denial of God – if man can create another human being, through science, it is an attack on God’s power.
• "new province of knowledge and avenues to fame and power" -jekyll to hyde

  • Christian message -> reject science at all cost, Jesus was tempted by the devil, tempted by hyde, Lanyon recognises that he carries the original sin and is still evil therefore decides to give up on life and die and go to heaven. Doesnt make sense to a reader who is a fanatic christian
  • Stevensons message-> ridiculous as it is a rejection of live, Stevenson had tuberculosis, clinging on to life as their is no after life, shows contempt to Lanyon and in turn his contempt for religion specifically Christianity.
• "a chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven " setting

  • "pall" a cloth which covers a coffin, doesnt cover the city but "the sky, calling it "heaven" is symbolic to a christian reader suggesting that the city has become sinful. And the evil deeds commited are to great that god is effectively dead.
  • Reader who knows Stevenson, chocolate is brown, but delicious, the death of god should be celebrated, hints that without god and religion we could build a freer and better society
• "like some disconsolate prisoner"

  • Similie highligths sadness jekyll is facing
  • adjective, "disconsolate" connotations to sadness
  • "some" utterson views Jekyll as a commoner of sorts, contradicts his depitction as a "respectable gentleman" , shows how low Jekyll has fallen due to his clash with the id. -> sympathy as he is loosing
  • "prisoner", trapped, transformed without a potion, lost control , contradicts him saying " i can be rid of hyde " at any given moment.
  • "prisoner" prisoner of society, uphold persona, should not repress desires as they may come out "roaring"
• "cheif of sinners, cheif of sufferers"