JEKYLL + HYDE - F/L/S - KEY ESSAY NOTES:
1. the hypocrisy of middle-class men
2. dangers of repression + suppression of homosexual desires
3. why society needs a rebirth - Fin De Siecle - due to the devolution of society - so that
humans can be given the opportunity to show their duality - without fear of public
denouncement
Form:
● semi-autobiographical - a way of Stevenson damaging his own reputation - to help
liberate other middle-class men - a form of self-harm
● epistolary form - series of letters - allows for multiple perspectives - Stevenson tries to
shy away from a complete middle-class perspective - Jekyll’s statement (lacks emotion) -
confesses to a lawyer - trusts the law but not religion - seen Lanyon’s reaction -too
judgemental
Ending:
● Jekyll/Hyde are allowed to die - Stevenson gives them the chance to be freed from
Victorian London - there is no current society where they will be free from judgement +
regulations - Stevenson allows Jekyll + Hyde to flee from the locus horribilis
● Stevenson allows the home to reject its status as the locus horribilis - he returns to
Christianity - to emphasise how repressed the middle-class are is - to ensure he’s
respected in death - even Jekyll must conform - “You must suffer me to go in my own
dark way” - emotive language
● Stevenson + his readership both question whether the villain is Christianity, the
hypocrisy of the middle class or Jekyll’s inability to reject his guilt-ridden
consciousness?
Key Motif:
● glass - readers can actually look within themselves - humanity isn’t binary - the middle-
class can actually look inside themselves to realise how corrupt they are “Hyde would
pass away like a stain of breath upon a mirror” - simile
1. the hypocrisy of middle-class men
2. dangers of repression + suppression of homosexual desires
3. why society needs a rebirth - Fin De Siecle - due to the devolution of society - so that
humans can be given the opportunity to show their duality - without fear of public
denouncement
Form:
● semi-autobiographical - a way of Stevenson damaging his own reputation - to help
liberate other middle-class men - a form of self-harm
● epistolary form - series of letters - allows for multiple perspectives - Stevenson tries to
shy away from a complete middle-class perspective - Jekyll’s statement (lacks emotion) -
confesses to a lawyer - trusts the law but not religion - seen Lanyon’s reaction -too
judgemental
Ending:
● Jekyll/Hyde are allowed to die - Stevenson gives them the chance to be freed from
Victorian London - there is no current society where they will be free from judgement +
regulations - Stevenson allows Jekyll + Hyde to flee from the locus horribilis
● Stevenson allows the home to reject its status as the locus horribilis - he returns to
Christianity - to emphasise how repressed the middle-class are is - to ensure he’s
respected in death - even Jekyll must conform - “You must suffer me to go in my own
dark way” - emotive language
● Stevenson + his readership both question whether the villain is Christianity, the
hypocrisy of the middle class or Jekyll’s inability to reject his guilt-ridden
consciousness?
Key Motif:
● glass - readers can actually look within themselves - humanity isn’t binary - the middle-
class can actually look inside themselves to realise how corrupt they are “Hyde would
pass away like a stain of breath upon a mirror” - simile
