Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Q) Starting with this extract, write about how Stevenson presents Dr Jekyll in
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
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The adjective
“deathly” contrasts the earlier image of Jekyll as a “smooth faced man of fifty”, which
could suggest that Jekyll is wearing a mask under which to hide the beast within him
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This means that Stevenson has to authenticate the plot with documents such as wills
and cheques, showing the reader that Jekyll cannot be trusted
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Whereas he once invited people into his home joyfully, he
now invites Utterson in with a “cold hand”, the adjective “cold” connoting images of
death and endings
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This evokes ideas of the duality of man
and how both Jekyll and Stevenson believed that “man is not truly one but truly two”
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This perhaps reflects the double lives
of Victorian men, as many gave in to the temptation of prostitutes and immoral
sexual acts at night, whilst retaining their “Christian” reputation amongst their peers
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In this extract, Stevenson presents Jekyll as a man in fear of losing his reputation
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The verb “shuddered”
evokes images of his whole body pulsating with fear, which adds to the earlier image
of him feeling very physically unwell
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From this, we can see that Jekyll is an intelligent
man and well aware of the importance of his image
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This reflects the importance of reputation and also helps the
reader understand how Hyde gave away so much of his money when threatened
with a “scandal”
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Jekyll is presented as a desperate character through his use of blasphemies like “I
swear to God… I swear to God”
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The
repetition of this phrase could also suggest that he is being consumed by Hyde
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Hyde is also said
to have scribbled “terrible blasphemies” on Jekyll’s books, which again highlights
how Jekyll is turning into Hyde involuntarily and is losing control
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Such blasphemies would have been incredibly shocking in polite company and out of
character for Jekyll, which highlights his desperation and all-consuming illness
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The word “cannot” implies
that he is being blackmailed, controlled or manipulated, rather than withdrawing this
information of his own accord
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for even in the houses the fog began to lie thickly”
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The use of “fog” suggests that some things were covered
up or swept under the carpet - it also conveys the dirtiness of London in this era and
how the most secretive corners of the city (like Soho, where Hyde lived) were not
spoken of in polite society, making Hyde something of an anomaly
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This shrouds Jekyll in mystery and makes the reader question his past,
allowing Stevenson to build tension and suspense
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Throughout this novel, Jekyll is portrayed as a reputable yet unreliable man with a
dark secret to hide
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His new “feverish manner” contrasts the earlier image of
Jekyll and shows how he is gradually losing control through his addiction of turning
into Hyde

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