J+H Context

• Stevenson was influenced by the strict Christian beliefs of his nanny, Cunningham, as a child.
• As an adult, Stevenson was interested in the behaviour of Victorian gentlemen and the way they behaved in an outwardly respectable manner, whilst concealing their immoral behaviours.
• Stevenson was fascinated by the life of Deacon Brodie, who was a respectable cabinet maker and secretly a robber.
• Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in 1850.
• 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' was published in 1886
• In Victorian middle and upper-class society, respectability was valued above all. Therefore people hid their true feelings, especially those viewed as immoral or improper.
• Reputation was very important to Victorian gentlemen. If they were seen doing anything that wasn't respectable, their good name was ruined.
• To protect their reputations, people often kept their sinful behaviour and less respectable desires secret.
• Victorian people didn't talk about anything that may damage their reputation or upset their apparently civilised society.
• The 'Victorian gentleman' was an important figure in Victorian society.
• Gentlemen were from the upper classes of the Victorian society.
• Gentlemen had wealth, education and status. They were expected to be polite, well mannered and have high moral standards.
• Army officers, church ministers, doctors and lawyers may all be counted as gentlemen.
• Some middle class men such as bankers and successful merchants also aspired to be gentlemen.
• In the novel, Utterson is a gentleman because he has money (he owns property), education (lawyer) and status (respectable). He is also polite, well-mannered and has high moral standards.
• Jekyll is a gentleman at first - he is wealthy, educated and respected by his peers. However, when he becomes Hyde, he loses these qualities.
• Being a gentleman brought many benefits such as the chance to enter well-paid professions, gain the respect of wealthy clients, and use contacts to arrange good marriages for their daughters, and well-paid jobs for their sons.
• Gentlemen were obsessed with their reputations.
• Gentlemen would often walk through public places to maintain their appearance as gentlemen. This happens in the book with Utterson and Enfield.
• Gentlemen were expected to keep their emotions under strict control. This forced them to hide their desires for things such as sex and alcohol.
• Many gentlemen were publicly snobbish about disreputable places like pubs and brothels, whilst visiting them secretly at night. Stevenson hints at this hypocrisy in the novel.
• Gentlemen were prepared to pay large sums of money to keep their less respectable actions secret, which made them vulnerable to blackmail.
• Even Hyde, who doesn't have a good reputation to protect, is willing to pay a sum of money to avoid a public scandal.
• Whilst Utterson is keep to uncover the truth about Hyde, he does not want to damage Jekyll's good reputation.
• The Industrial Revolution meant that many working-class people migrated to large towns and cities to live and work. Housing had to be built rapidly to accommodate workers and their families.
• Large areas of heavily populated and poor-quality housing sprang up in London's East End, such as Soho referenced in the book.
• Slums lacked basic amenities such as clean water, sewage systems or proper drainage. They also suffered from overcrowding, disease and crime.
• Stevenson uses descriptions of slum areas to suggest that there are darker aspects of society hidden beneath the surface of Victorian life.