Jekyll Chapter 9

• We can assess that Dr Jekyll was misguided by some obsession with alchemy/chemistry in his ambitious pursuit of fame and fortune, but this ultimately led to dire consequences and destroys his livelihood
• "simple crystalline salt of white colour"

  • Could cause so much harm in the man's life would have been shocking to the Victorian audience and yet close to the reality of

  other drugs in use at the time.

  Other drugs that have a similar appearance, such as cocaine, have a deceivingly 'pure' appearance (the colour white is connotated

  with purity) but can bring out terrible behaviour in people
• "He paused and put his hand to his throat, and I could see, in spite of his collected manner, that he was wrestling against the approaches of the hysteria"

  approaches of the hysteria"

  • Hyde is begging for the drugs from Lanyon, it is evident that Mr Hyde is suffering from symptoms of withdrawal, demonstrated by the extreme emotive language such as "hysteria" and the repetition, juxtaposed with the calm and collected manner of the quintessential Victorian gentleman, Dr Lanyon
• "a new province of knowledge and new avenues to fame and power shall be laid open to you"

  • This passage alludes to Adam's eating of forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in Genesis. When Hyde presents his potion to Dr Lanyon, he asks, many rhetorical questions that reflect God's warning to Adam that eating from the Tree of Knowledge will kill them
  • Like the Devil, in the form of the snake in Eden, Jekyll tempts Dr Lanyon with the possibility of exploring his findings with promises of greatness. This allusion to the Biblical story of the fall of man is furthered by the reference to "Satan"
• Dr Lanyon describes Dr Hyde's behaviour as "on fire with sombre excitement".

  • oxymoron "sombre excitement" symbolise internal battle between Jek/Hd as Jek loses control
  • natural elements, "fire" symbolise Hd unstoppable nature,+ having literary significance of inspiration + hell, both equated w Jek +Mr Hd, respectively
  • Fire only element humans produce, said set us apart from other animals+thought to be gift from gods in mythology.
  • J ability to create drug a
• • J ability to create drug a intellectual virtue, usually also likened to a gift from God, loses control over, caus mass destruction. similar to how fire useful tool, but unstoppable + destructive force