Summary
Summary Character Study: Mr Hyde
Character Study for Mr. Hyde from 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' by Robert Louis Stevenson. Contains: - Quotations from the Text - Themes - Context - Exemplar Paragraphs
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DR JEKYLL AND HYDEChapter’s 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
Analysis verbs that you can use for developing your answer:
To criticise, to explore, to convey, to reinforce, to insinuate, to reflect, to illustrate, to highlight, to
represent, to symbolise, to epitomize
Colonial Otherness:
- Stevenson could be very racist.
- Hyde could be used as a symbol to depict the colonial otherness because he is visibly
different - he doesn’t look european.
- ‘Juggernaut’ - comes from Sanskrit or Odia (two Indian languages). A juggernaut was a
religious cart in India. In the 13th century, a Fransiscan Monk changed the meaning of
the word from a religious cart to something wicked and evil after he witnessed some
religious hindus throwing themselves under the wheels of the cart in a violent sacrifice.
Significance of Hyde’s appearance:
- The ambiguity of Hyde’s appearance ( Enfield can’t describe Hyde’s features and
appearance when explaining to Mr Utterson) reflects how Hyde’s form internalises the
appearance of your own internal fear
- Repeatedly throughout the play, Stevenson interprets Hyde’s criminal nature into
animalistic behaviour to embody him though Stevenson’s zoomorphism language
“ape-like” as an unforgiving and relentless beast.
- Hyde has a sense of deformity which is justified through the branch of
criminology-physiognomy (created by Cesare Lombroso). Hyde is a physical
embodiment of evil - through his deformed face and ‘juggernaut’ like features emphasise
how he is more likely to be a criminal and attain criminal-like abilities.
- Stevenson justifies and rejects that theory through Hyde being described as the typical
criminal but Jekyll being described as a respectable Victorian gentlemen
Urban Terror:
- People were moving into London due to the Industrial Revolution
- London had become one of the most wealthiest and opportune cities in the world for
politics, finance and trade
- People were wanting to find jobs and work in the city- and there was an increase in the
population (1M in 1800 to 6.7M in 1900)
- As wealth grew, so did poverty.
- As poverty grew so did crime
- Stevenson links the urban landscape that Hyde lives in (Soho- known as the waste of
London, dodgy and no respectable person goes there) and the dark events and deeds
that Hyde does. (refer to Metonymy)
- Uses nightmarish and gothic imagery- use of letters, information being passed and
revealed indirectly, the use of fog and twisting and coiling around the place.
, Hyde quotes:
- What is the writer telling us- The Point (W Wicked, H Hatred, A Animalistic, P Powerful
and Destructive)
- How - Evidence and devices
- Why - Reason and writers intentions (think/ feel/ imagine)
- ‘Trampled calmly’- W- juxtaposition, adverb- How easy it is for him to do this
- ‘Clubbed him to the earth’- P-
- ‘Pale and dwarfish’- A- adjective, compound sentence- basic, simple = not evolved
- ‘Ape like fury’- A- animalistic imagery, simile- unevolved
- ‘Like some damned juggernaut’- P- Simile, personification- Going against the natural
order in victorian society
- ‘Something downright detestable’-H- plosive ‘d’s, alliteration- inescapable, instinctive evil
- ‘Hardly human’- P- alliteration- Shock: uncontrollable/ wild/ ruthless, unlike a Victorian
gentleman
- ‘Snarled aloud into a savage laugh’- A- ‘snarled’ verb ‘savage’ adjective- fear,
unpredictable, animalistic, unevolved
- ‘Hunted, housless, known murderer’-P- rule of three- Shock: uncontrollable/ wild/
ruthless, unlike a Victorian gentleman
- ‘Hissing intake in breath’- a- animalistic imagery, personification- Religious reference
(snake)
- ‘Troglodytic’- not fully formed/half human, half evolved/going against God
- ‘Satan’s Signature’-W- sibilance, religious references- malice and brutal
- ‘Husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice’- A-animalistic imagery
- ‘Unknown disgust, loathing and fear’-H- rule of three
- ‘Foul soul’ H- Religious references, adjectives- Distasteful= evil to the core
- ‘My soul sickened’- H- repetition, sybalence- threat/ sinful= evil to the core
‘Looked at my prisoner’:
- Enfield describes how the Sawbones ‘looked at my prisoner’ with disgust. The fact that
Hyde is described as a prisoner could be interpreted in many ways.
- The literal interpretation in the context of the situation is that Hyde cannot escape the
wrath of those reacting to his crime. He was forced to pay a lengthy sum of money in
compensation to the girl and her family, and couldn’t escape this punishment, or else risk
his reputation.
- Another interpretation is that Hyde is dangerous and needs to be contained, like the wild
animal that he is often described as. This could foreshadow the later disappearance of
Hyde just prior to the murder of Sir Danvers Carew.
- A third interpretation could be that Jekyll is imprisoned with Hyde and Hyde is so
dangerous that he has taken Jekyll prisoner. This links to the later chapters in the novella
where Jekyll begins to transform without the need of the potion.
Metonymy:
- Looks neglected
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