Here are 4 pages of in depth information on the context of Jekyll and Hyde, it is quite a confusing aspect of the book so I have used a bullet point structure to make the information easier to process. I have covered information on the author, victorian times and different aspects of science and re...
Jekyll and Hyde Context Revision
AO3 6/30 marks: show understanding of the relationships between texts and contexts in
which they were written.
Robert Louis Stevenson
- Edinburgh 1850
- Brought up by his nurse who was extremely religious
- Came from a very wealthy family
- Was frequently threatened about if he were naughty he would be sent to hell
- Developed a belief that everyone has two opposing sides to their character
- ‘myself and the other fellow’
- The private persona and the public persona are often very different
- He experienced two aspects of his own life as a young man
- A law student (not the career he wanted to follow)
- A writer (career he wanted)
- He explored poorer parts of Edinburgh, mixing with working class people and
prostitutes while living an outwardly respectable life
- This reflects Jekyll’s life, respectable by day, debauched by night.
Stevenson’s nightmares
- Major Thomas weir was a well-respected and devout man
- He led a religious group called the saints
- Led a double life committing many sins.
- He claimed to have met the devil
- His last words: ‘let me alone, I have lived as a beast and must die as a beast’
- William Deacon Brodie was cabinet maker by day
- Gambler and burglar by night
- Stevenson had one of his cabinets in his bedroom
- Brodie would copy keys and burgle the wealthy
- He wasn’t suspected because of his outwardly respectable life
The Author
- RSL’s 2 earlier published books, treasure island and kidnapped (well-known
children’s books)
- RLS wrote J and H to make money and he succeeded as it was extremely popular
- Even though it was not considered to be good literature for its time (1886)
- He had to redraft J and H as his wife said it was indecent and the original would
never be published
- Although J and H contains hints about the depraved behaviour of J and H but what
they do is never made explicit
Gothic genre and detective stories
- Gothic genre of fiction was very popular when RLS wrote J and H (1886)
- He includes gothic features:
- Deserted London streets, Pathetic fallacy (fog), Mysterious and dilapidated buildings,
locked doors and windows, Secrets, Violence
- Detective novels were also gaining popularity
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