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Summary Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Context
deep explanation of the context behind dr jekyll and mr hyde.
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ContextClass
There were challenges to the cities because there was a big amount of working class people
moving to the city. The sudden increase in population made the upper classes nervous. So,
they created areas in the cities they would go and areas they wouldn’t go. This created an
“other” side to London. The lives of people living in the no go areas and the crime in those
places were fascinating to the Victorians.
Victorian Crime
The character of Hyde was also inspired by Jack the Ripper; a serial killer that murdered
prostitutes in London. As mentioned, Victorians were fascinated by crime. Crime being more
common in the poor areas created the impression that the poor were more likely to be
criminals and bad people. They were not very tolerative of crime.
Victorian Values
Victorians had values and expectations from men and women. There was a strict definition
of “a gentleman”, and people that didn’t fully fill this definition would be classed as an
outsider. This definition included appearance, reputation, manners, class, status etc. Many
people would repress their true selves and desires in order to fit in with the society and
maintain their reputation. Many people would please these desires secretly, away from the
public eye. It was believed one couldn’t be both of these categories at once. However, the
novella reverses this idea by presenting Jekyll as a gentleman and Hyde as an outsider, then
revealing that they are actually the same person. This would of course be shocking to the
reader.
Religion
Many moral ideas were influenced by religion. People believed they were born as sinners, so
they had to lead a good life in order to please God and go to heaven. Hence why they
repressed their desires and restrained themselves from evilness. Religion was challenged by
the advancement in science and new discoveries and ideas that contradicted the
mainstream beliefs. This heavy influence of religion is presented in the novella through
characters like Utterson, who plans his day according to the ring of church bells. It was also
a time when the church started to lose its influence on people. Industrialization and
urbanisation changed people's daily routines drastically and caused them to move away
from religion and spirituality.
Science
There were advances in science and many of these challenged the religious ideas of the
time. Dissections were becoming more common and people understood more about human
anatomy. There were scientists conducting experiments that could be labelled as ‘mad’,
which inspired the character of Jekyll. Hyde’s character was partly inspired by the “Theory of
Evolution'' by Darwin. This theory was contradicting the religious beliefs of Victorians and
was rejected by most. For these reasons, science was viewed as a dangerous topic by
many.
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