Jekyll and hyde

• "trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming"


  adverb "calmly" is oxymoronic and suggests a sadistic attitude.

  "left her screaming" no compassion for the girl, direct reference to terror - evokes sympathy from the reader
• "disgust, loathing, and fear"


  tricolon of harsh, abstract nouns.

  "loathing" suggests intense hatred.

  prominent as is comes from a calculated figure
• "Satan's signature upon a face"


  likens him to the embodiment of evil.

  "signature" suggests he has been claimed by the devil, and that the devil is approving.
• "the agonised womb of consciousness, these polar twins...continually struggling"


  metaphor representing the torment Jekyll feels by pleasing both sides of him.

  "polar" represents opposites which references the 'good vs. evil' of Jekyll and Hyde.

  context - the Victorian Compromise
• "like rows of smiling saleswomen"

  "sinister building...thrust forward"


  example of duality elsewhere.

  simile describes the welcoming street - this is contrasted with the description of the building.

  "thrust" connotes intimidation, making Utterson more vulnerable.

  context - references to Decan Brodie
• "hide-bound pedant"


  Jekyll's disbelief of Lanyon sticking to 'ethical' science.

  pun/irony due to reference of Hyde

  represents text as a whole - Jekyll is trapped in himself due to being 'Hyde-bound
• "far too fanciful"

  "unscientific balderdash"


  Lanyon about Jekyll - the feelings are reciprocal

  Lanyon believes Jekyll is taking science too far, foreshadows his death

  context - psychological science in Victorian era
• "a new province of knowledge"

  "new avenues of fame and power"


  extended metaphor but using a materialistic outlook.

  Jekyll reiterates the idea that science can influence both intelligence and society.

  Stevenson emphasises the potency of the discovery - Victorian ob(session) with social standing.
• "fog rolled over the city"

  pathetic fallacy - concealment/secrecy

  Hyde's actions will be protected.

  lack of light - good vs. evil - darkness suggest evil

  reference to "full moon" - Gothic trope - horror

  context - Stevenson adapted the traditional convention of Gothic

  context - the Victorian Compromise (why was Carew out at night?) (gay with Hyde?)
• Title - "The strange case"

  Overall form and structure


  Title suggests it is a medical case study but also of the detective genre.

  First 8 chapters follow Utterson in a linear narrative with an omniscient narrator.

  Also contains a series of letters/notes - furthers the detective genre.

  Contains gothic tropes such as fog and a full-moon. Gothic was extremely popular amongst Victorians - context of loving horror

  The reader is the detective who discovers the truth - some questions are unanswered allowing the reader to decide and think about the text further