Context
Author and decade of publication for Jekyll and Hyde
Robert Louis Stevenson in the 1880s (1886)
What was Jekyll's profession and social status?
A wealthy, respected physician and gentleman
What is meant by Duality?
The central theme suggesting every human has an internal conflict between civilised restraint and primal impulse.
"It was like some damned Juggernaut"
"damned" - connotes evil, wickedness & spiritual ruin
"Juggernaut" - connotations of unstoppable, powerful and inhuman
simile
Just as a juggernaut is an enormous, unstoppable, and destructive force that rolls relentlessly forward crushing everything in its path, so too is Hyde portrayed as an inhuman, mechanical monster moving with unyielding brutality over the child.
What does the word 'dogmatic' mean?
The rigid, unyielding adherence to a set of rules, beliefs, or moral doctrines—refusing to accept any alternative point of view.
The 19th-century scientific theory of evolution and degeneration that inspired the novella's premise
Darwinian evolution and the fear of atavism/degeneration
What was the immediate physical reaction Mr. Hyde provoked in everyone who meet him?
Instant physical revulsion, dread, and hatred
Give an example of how the theme Science vs. Religion is presented
Jekyll's transcendental experiments and Lanyon's approach which is rational, orthodox and respects natural and divine limits
"with ape-like fury"
"ape-like" - animalistic/Darwinian imagery
WC connotes savage, unbridled anger and taps into contemporary fears of devolution
"fury" - explosive, blind and uncontrollable rage showing that Hyde operates purely on destructive impulse rather than logical thought
Provide synonyms for "evil" as it applies to the nature of Mr Hyde
Malevolence, depravity, moral corruption, wicked or turpitude.
Which 19th-century societal factor heavily influenced Stevenson's depiction of dual urban geography, contrasting respectable daytime London with dark, menacing Victorian slums?
Rapid urbanisation and stark class segregation of Victorian London
How does Hyde's physical form change as he commits more violent acts throughout the novella?
He grows larger, stronger, and increasingly overtakes Jekyll
The primary method characters use behind closed doors to protect their social reputations
Secrecy
"A great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven, but the wind was continually charging and routing these embattled vapours..."
Metaphor ("chocolate-coloured pall")
Personification ("the wind was continually charging and routing these embattled vapours")
Word Choice / Military Imagery ("charging", "routing", "embattled")
What is the significance of the locked door and the window in Chapter 7 (at the window) in relation to Jekyll's imprisonment?
The locked door symbolises the psychological and moral barriers that Victorian society—and Dr. Jekyll himself—use to lock away forbidden desires, secrets, and the darker side of human nature.
The window represents the brief, desperate boundary between civilised society and monstrous confinement; when the window is abruptly slammed shut, it symbolises the final, terrifying severing of human connection and Jekyll's total surrender to Hyde.
The narrative structure featuring nested personal accounts from Lanyon and Jekyll
Epistolary
What was Mr. Utterson's profession and key traits that made him a reliable investigator?
A dry, stoic, non-judgmental lawyer
The Victorian social pressure cooker that acts as the catalyst for Hyde's creation
Repression
"thin trees in the garden were lashing themselves along the railing"
Personification
Just as a person in deep distress strikes out wildly against their physical constraints, so too are the garden trees personified as desperate and frantic, whipping themselves violently against the iron railings in the gale
Mr. Utterson is presented as the reliable and sensible backbone of the novella, but how does Stevenson subtly critique him throughout the text?
While Utterson functions as the investigative lens of the novella, his quest for the truth is fundamentally crippled by denial. Rather than being purely reluctant out of caution, Utterson actively suppresses unsettling revelations because acknowledging the truth would mean confronting the moral rot at the heart of Victorian respectability—preferring the safe illusion of ignorance to the terrifying reality of human duality
What does the Victorian London setting (wealthy squares vs. sordid backstreets/Soho) reflect?
The deep hypocrisy at the heart of Victorian society and the divided Victorian psych
The character who acts as a foil to Jekyll
Dr. Hastie Lanyon
Lanyon represents conventional, material Victorian science, while Jekyll pursues dangerous, metaphysical and unorthodox experiments.
What social issue do the violent acts (like trampling a child or murdering Carew) externalise?
Repressed bourgeois aggression and moral collapse
“All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil.”
"commingled" implies a chemical or physical blending where the individual components cannot be easily separated again. This highlights the core theme of the novel: good and evil are not entirely separate, but inextricably bound together within the human psyche
How does Stevenson use the motif of the cane (used to murder Sir Danvers Carew) to symbolise upper-class status, institutional power, and its violent corruption?
The heavy, expensive heirloom cane—shattered during the assault—symbolises how elite Victorian respectability and legal authority are weaponised and broken by the savage impulses operating beneath the surface of the respectable gentleman.