Useful vocabulary
Context
Fin-de-siecle
fears
End C19 anxiety migration, disease, promiscuity, moral
degeneration, decadence
Victorian values
1837-1901: outwardly displayed values restraint,
religious morality, strict social code conduct
Darwin and
evolution
Humans evolving from apes & amphibians  worries
a out hu a it s re ersio to pri iti e state
Physiognomy
Cri i ologists theorised or ri i al ould e
recognised by physical characteristics
Victorian
London
Became biggest city in the world and global capital for
politics, finance and trade under Victoria
Urban terror
London wealthier, but poverty and crime grew;
overcrowded city rife with crime. Crowd as something
that could hide criminals = trope Victorian literature
Robert Louis
Stevenson
Deacon Brodie
Born and raised in Edinburgh; dual identity British and
Scottish. Raised in wealthy New Town area of
Edinburgh, but spent youth exploring darker side of
town
Respe ta le e er of Edi urgh s so iet a d to
councillor; secret life as burglar, womaniser, gambler;
hanged 1788. As youth Stevenson wrote play about
him.
Themes
Characters
Aberration
Abnormal
Abhorrent
Disgusting
Allegory
Story with a moral parallel
Allusion
Reference
Anxiety
Nervousness
Atavism
Evolutionary throwback
Consciousness
Awareness
Debased
Become lower
Degenerate
Disgusting
Depraved
Morally corrupt
Duality
Two aspects explored
Duplicity
Lying or dissembling
Epistolary
Story written in letter form
Ethics
The moral rules you live your life by
Eugenics
Dr Henry Jekyll
Respected doctor
Mr Edward Hyde
Violent and cruel; dark side of
Jekyll
Gabriel John
Utterson
Prominent respected lawyer
Dr Hastie Lanyon
Reputable London doctor
Mr Poole
Jek ll s lo al ser a t
Mr Enfield
Distant cousin of Utterson
Mr Guest
Utterso s clerk and confidant
Population control
Sir Danvers Carew
Well respected nobleman
Evolution
Slow change over many years
Techniques
Feral
Wild
Genre
Type of writing
Metamorphosis
Change
Perversion
Corruption from original
Professional
Belonging to a profession; respectable
Respectability
Socially acceptable
Duality of human
nature
The idea that humans are made from more than one
aspect
Science and the
unexplained
The advance of science during the Victorian period was a
source of pride and fear
Supernatural
That which is beyond the normal; unexplained
Restraint
Holding oneself back
Reputation
The way people are viewed by society; very important
out ard appeara e, does t al a s ap to i ard
Savage
Wild
Rationality
Basing your world view on facts
Subconscious
Part of the mind not fully aware
Urban terror
Fear of crime in the big, anonymous city
Suppression
Holding something down
Secrecy and
silence
Throughout the novella secrets are kept
Supernatural
Beyond the natural
Unorthodox
Against the usual
Gothic
Popular, often sensationalist, genre which often gives
voice to taboos and that which we are afraid to confront
Victorian
During the reign of Queen Victoria
Imagery
Painting a picture with words
Simile
Co pariso usi g like or as
Sensory
Language which involves the senses
Metaphor
Comparison by saying something is
something else
Pathetic
fallacy
The weather reflects the emotions or
setting
Alliteration
Words beginning with the same letter
in the same sentence
Antithesis
Two contrasting ideas balanced in a
sentence
Oxymoron
Something is used to describe its
opposite
Key quotes
Plot
1. Story of the door
Passing a strange-looking door whilst out for a walk,
Enfield tells Utterson about incident involving a man
(Hyde) trampling on a young girl. The man had a key to
the door (which leads to Dr Jek ll s la orator
1. Story of the door
The a tra pled al l o er the hild s od a d left her s rea i g o the grou d. It sou ds othi g to hear,
ut it as hellish to see.
2. Search for Mr Hyde
Utterson looks at Jek ll s ill a d dis o ers that he has
left his possessions to Hyde in the event of his
disappearance. Utterson watches the door and sees Hyde
unlock it, then goes to warn Jekyll. Poole tells him that the
servants have been told to obey Hyde.
2. Search for Mr Hyde
Utterson: If he e Mr H de, I shall e Mr Seek
H de: s arled aloud i to a sa age laugh
Utterson o Jek ll: he as ild he he as ou g, a lo g hile ago
3. Dr Jekyll was quite
at ease
Utterson goes to a di er part at Jek ll s house a d tells
him about his concerns.
3. Dr Jekyll was quite at ease
Jek ll: the
here
4. The Carew murder
case
An elderly gentleman is murdered in the street by Hyde. A
letter to Utterson is found on the body. Utterson
recognises the murder weapon as a broken walking cane
of Jek ll s. He takes the poli e to Jek ll s house to fi d
H de, ut are told he has t ee there for t o o ths.
4. The Carew murder case
H de:
Utterson goes to Jek ll s house a d fi ds hi looki g
deadl si k . He asks a out H de ut Jek ll sho s hi a
letter that sa s he o t e a k. Utterso elie es the
letter has been forged by Jekyll to cover for Hyde.
5. Incident of the letter
Hyde has disappeared and Jekyll seems more happy and
sociable until a sudden depression. Utterson visits Dr
Lanyon on his death-bed, who hints that Jekyll is the cause
of his illness. Utterson writes to Jekyll and receives a reply
that suggests he is has falle u der a dark i flue e .
Lanyon dies and leaves a note for Utterson to open after
the death or disappearance of Jekyll. Utterson tries to
revisit Jekyll but is told by Poole that he is living in
isolation.
6. Remarkable incident of Dr
Lanyon
7. Incident at the
window
Utterson and Enfield are out for alk a d pass Jek ll s
window, where they see him confined like a prisoner.
Utterso alls out a d Jek ll s fa e has a look of a je t
terror a d despair . Sho ked, Utterso a d E field lea e.
7. Incident at the window
Jek ll s e pressio of a je t terror a d despair
8. The Last Night
Poole visits Utterso a d asks hi to o e to Jek ll s
house. The door to the laboratory is locked and the voice
inside sounds like Hyde. Poole says that the voice has
been asking for days for a chemical to be brought. They
break down the door and find a twitching body with a vial
in its hands. There is also a will which leaves everything to
Utterso a d a pa kage o tai i g Jek ll s o fessio .
8. The Last Night
Patheti falla : the i d
The o te ts of La o s letter tells of how he received a
letter from Jekyll asking him to collect chemicals, a vial
a d ote ook fro Jek ll s la orator a d gi e it to a a
who would call at midnight. A grotesque man arrives and
drinks the potion which transforms him into Jekyll,
causing Lanyon to fall ill.
9. Dr Lanyon’s narrative
Jekyll tells the story of how he turned into Hyde. It began
as a scientific investigation into the duality of human
ature a d a atte pt to destro his darker self .
Eventually he became addicted to being Hyde, who
increasingly took over and destroyed him.
10. Henry Jekyll’s full
statement of the case
5. Incident of the letter
6. Remarkable incident
of Dr Lanyon
9. Dr Lanyon’s
narrative
10. Henry Jekyll’s full
statement of the case
o e t I hoose, I a
e rid of Mr H de – I ask ou to help hi
ith ape-like fur … tra pli g his i ti
for
sake, he I a
o lo ger
u der foot Da ers Care
Hyde: described by Utterson as parti ularl s all a d parti ularl
i ked-looki g
H de: hau ti g se se of u e pressed defor it
Utterson: it as H de ho di tated the ter s i
our ill a out that disappeara e – he
Clerk: H de a d Jek ll s ha d riti g: the t o ha ds are i
a
ea t to
urder ou
poi ts ide ti al
No that the e il i flue e had ee
ithdra
, a e life ega for Dr Jek ll
Dr La o : he had his death- arra t
ritte legi l upo his fa e
La o : I ha e had a sho k a d I shall e er re o er
Jek ll: I
ea fro
he eforth to lead a life of e tre e se lusio
ade talki g diffi ult, a d fle ked the lood i to the fa e
Poole: all this last eek, hate er it is that li es i that a i et has ee r i g ight a d da for so e sort of
edi i e – this drug is a ted itter ad – eepi g like a o a or a lost soul
H de: dressed i
lothes far too large for hi , lothes of the do tor s ig ess
La o : his fa e e a e sudde l
La o : like a
a restored fro
La o : What he told
la k, a d the features see ed to
elt a d alter
death
e i the e t hour I a
ot ri g
i d to set o paper
Jek ll: I stood alread o
itted to a profou d dupli it of life – though so profou d a dou le-dealer, I was in
o se se a h po rite; oth sides of e ere i dead ear est
Jek ll: I looked upo that ugl idol i the glass, I as o s ious of o repug a e, rather of a leap of el o e
Dile
a: to ast i
lot ith Jek ll as to die to those appetites hi h I had lo g se retl i dulged a d had of
late begun to pamper. To cast it in with Hyde was to die to a thousand interests and aspirations, and to become,
at a lo a d for e er, despised a d frie dless.