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Essay Title​ - Hyde
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Antithesis of Jekyll (Theme: Setting/Reputation)
Physicality (Theme: Appearance vs Reality)
Evil effect on other people
Temptation (Theme: Repression & Desire)
Paragraph 1​ – Setting/Reputation – Dishonourable antithesis of Jekyll
OVERALL ​– Reader given an impression of Hyde as dishonourable, seemingly the opposite of Jekyll’s character of
a reputable member of society
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HYDE (House) ‘​certain sinister block…thrust forward its gable on the street​’
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Sibilance – allusions to snake/secrecy
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Personification of building suggests inhabitant is dangerous/unpredictable
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Contrast to: JEKYLL (House) ‘​a square of ancient handsome houses​’
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HYDE (House) ‘​showed no window​’ ‘​neither bell nor knocker​’
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Symbolism of the window
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You can’t look in – ideas of secrecy and hidden truths
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You can’t look out – Hyde is detached from society, lacking human empathy
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No visitors wanted or expected – hostile nature of Hyde
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Secrecy – dual frontage of house shows Hyde and crimes are distanced from Jekyll
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Contrast to: JEKYLL (House) ‘​a great air of wealth and comfort​’
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CONTEXT – symbolism of house reflects attitudes of most Victorian gentlemen
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Expected to have strong morals but there was a rise in number of ‘gin palaces’ and Opium dens
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Jekyll’s double frontage on his house allows him to keep his reputable exterior while Hyde still
thrives
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Is he impersonating deformity to match his deformed morality? Do
people subconsciously form an opinion of his physicality due to his violent nature – assumption that he
is like an animal/the devil?
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CONTEXT – Victorian ideas of physiognomy
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Compared to JEKYLL ‘​A large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast
perhaps​’
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Compound adjectives reflect how Jekyll is a composite of two parts – his good (‘well’ and
‘smooth’) and his evil side which he has ‘made’
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‘Slyish cast’ also implies he is more than just his reputable exterior
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Jekyll’s unblemished reputation is symbolised by his face being unmarked, showing him as the
good, respectable side to his character
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HYDE ‘​troglodytic​’ ‘​ape-like fury​’
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Animalistic imagery – violent
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CONTEXT – Darwin’s ‘Theory of Evolution’ – Hyde seen as devolved
READER RESPONSE: – Is he seen as more moral in some respects as he is honest with himself and society? Subverts
the idea that Jekyll is the good/moral counterpart
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They are unable to explain why or how he
makes them feel such hatred towards him
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And it’s not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment​’
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We can sense evil but not define it – invites reader to conjure up an evil image for themselves

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Stevenson proclaims people are able to detect the physical presence of spiritual afflictions –
they are naturally drawn to good
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Utterson regarded him​’
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Triplet – emphasizes the intense evil aura Hyde has
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Seems to have corrupted Mr
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Many people worried
about the exploration of science – maybe Stevenson is warning of the wide-spread effect that scientific
experimentation will have on morality of society as a whole?
READER RESPONSE​ – Fear
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Paragraph 4​– Repression and Desire – Temptation
OVERALL ​– Hyde goes one step further with the characters of Jekyll and Lanyon – appears to actively tempt them to
stray away from morality
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Hyde corrupting him
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‘blackness’ – symbolises guilt/shame
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CONTEXT – refers to the evil snake in the Garden of Eden who tempts Adam to eat the
forbidden fruit

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