Jekyll and Hyde - Quotes and Analysis

"with ape-like fury, [Hyde] was trampling his victim under foot, and hailing down a storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly shattered" (Pages 20-21)
1. "ape-like", "trampling": animalistic, frenzied, uncontrollable fits of violence. Supports themes of Hyde being inhuman and uncivilized.
  1. Links to Utterson's earlier description "without bowels of mercy" -> something inherently human that Hyde lacks
2. "hailing down a storm of blows": imagery of a storm - fierce, dangerous, huge. Nature is unpredictable -> similar to Hyde's actions, e.g. Hyde attacking Sir Danvers out of nowhere
3. "bones audibly shattered": aural imagery helps to effectively illustrate the horror of the scene. The fact that the maid can hear it from so far above emphasizes the power behind Hyde's actions
  1. Causes reader to imagine these sounds - experience the horror in a more personal way
"the moon shone on his face as [Sir Danvers] spoke", "beautiful", "innocence (Page 20)
1. Moon imagery: suggests a spiritual nature to his being, maid regarding him with awe
  1. Reflects class hierarchy at that time - people of lower class regarded those above them as so superior as to almost be godly
2. Highlighting his elegance and difference from Hyde - complete contrast to Hyde's reckless violence
"a figure to whom power was given" (Page 13)
1. Foreshadows the control that Hyde will have over the lives of others, especially Jekyll
2. Reader is apprehensive, not sure who it is
3. "given" - didn't initially have it
  1. Figure is not God (always powerful) - may indicate Satan, who made his own evil kindgom
  2. Jekyll gave power to Hyde - physically, and over time, mentally
4. Utterson is defenseless/helpless
  1. Reminiscent of slavery
"temptation of a discovery" (Page 54)
1. "temptation": like a drug - refers to theme of addiction
  1. Foreshadows Jekyll's eventual dependance on the potion
  2. Dramatic irony - we already know he becomes addicted, as seen in "The Last Night" when Jekyll had London ransacked for a certain salt used in it
2. "of a discovery": could reflect his ambition - both scientific and personal
  1. "theory to the test of practice" - using scientific terminology at the beginning of passage, however the phrase "heady recklessness" signifies a loss of professionalism, and a childish lack of foresight
  2. Blinded by his aspirations
"unknown disgust, loathing, and fear" (Page 15)
1. Rule of three - emphasizes how strongly Utterson is repulsed from Hyde, and confirm suspicions gathered from the beginning of the passage that there is something innately wrong with Hyde
2. No good feelings can come from meeting him
  1. On page 13 Utterson expresses his "inordinate curiosity to behold the features of the real Mr. Hyde" and expects the mystery to "lighten"
    1. Instead he becomes even more disturbed, effectively showing how Hyde is full of negativity and confusion, and how you will never find/associate any light in him
      1. Ironic - Jekyll (the supposed light) is the same person
"I let my brother go to the devil in his own way" (Page 1)
1. Biblical allusion - when Cain answers to God that he isn't his brother's keeper
2. Utterson minds his own business - doesn't get involved with others' affairs -> observing, neutral
  1. In contrast, he cares deeply about Jekyll's situation throughout the novella - showing his more sympathetic side - not just a cold lawyer, and his loyalty to his friends
"I could not think that this earth contained a place for sufferings and terrors so unmanning" (Page 30)
1. "this earth": the terrors are something otherworldly, above the sins of mankind and too horrifying to be contained in such a place
2. Reader is extremely unsettled as Jekyll doesn't name these evils - ambiguity
"the smile was struck out of his face and succeeded by an expression of such abject terror and despair, as froze the very blood of the two gentlemen below" (Page 33)
1. "struck": sudden, violent, like a slap, unexpected
2. "such abject terror and despair": as horrifying as possible, to the extreme
  1. "froze the blood": cold terror - secondhand horror. Utterson and Enfield are caught off guard by this sudden terror - to have been that shocking it must have been otherworldly/of the Devil
3. Horrifies and leaves the reader unsettled - recurring theme of an unspeakable, abstract evil presence associated with Jekyll
4. Theme: loss of control
"man is not truly one, but truly two" (Page 52)
1. Best encompasses the important theme of duality - this idea is the catalyst for Jekyll's actions
2. Idea of two sides of a personality was highly discussed during the 19th century - e.g. 'Frankenstein' and 'The Descent of Man'
"sold a slave to my original evil" (Page 54)
1. Recurring theme of slavery, master v.s. slave
2. "original evil": could be the other side of Jekyll's good nature, or the original evil of sin from the Bible
3. "Sold": not consenting, given away by someone else (Jekyll's ambition?). Powerful imagery of Jekyll sealing his fate as a slave to his evil - Hyde.
4. Reader feels sympathetic as we know how Jekyll met his end, and how he wasn't able to completely separate the good and evil sides of him
"Jekyll had more than a father's interest; Hyde had more than a son's indifference" (Page 59)
1. Jekyll: paternal instincts, still had some sort of watchful mentoring eye on Hyde despite his cruel actions
2. Hyde: uncaring, doesn't view the opinions and interest of Jekyll as anything worth caring about - complete disregard
  1. Because of the fact that ultimately - Hyde was more in control?
3. Ironic- father is supposed to be the disciplining, controlling figure, however Jekyll in the end has no control over Hyde
"I should like to very much...I dare not" (Page 32)
1. "dare": caution, for fear of a negative consequence
  1. Unsettling, as Jekyll himself harbors a dark, dangerous secret that may cause him - or others - to suffer negatively if he lets himself go out
2. Theme: control - Jekyll is conscious of the fact that he may turn back into Hyde
3. Idea of restricting oneself from things they may like to do but can't - in this era, keeping a respectable, controlled face was important, links to Utterson not going to the theatre even though he "enjoyed" it -> both are stopping themselves from indulging in pleasures
"I want you to hear, and I don’t want you to be heard. And see here, sir, if by any chance he was to ask you in, don’t go" (Page 36)
1. These grim warnings cause the reader to mirror the apprehension and fear of Utterson to some extent
  1. Poses the questions - what would happen if he did? Why not?
2. Hints at something dangerous being inside
3. Poole hiding the presence of Utterson - trying to show him without Hyde's words being biased due to the presence of someone else
"Instantly the spirit of hell awoke in me and raged" (Page 60)
1. Personification helps to illustrate the violent re-entry of Hyde into Jekyll's life
  1. "spirit of hell": theme of inhumanity, devil spawn (Hyde)
2. "raged": fierce anger, uncontrollable and destructive
3. "awoke": from sleep - never left in the first place -> Hyde is now a permanent part of Jekyll
"She had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy; but her manners were excellent" (Page 22)
1. Evil hiding behind a mask - like Hyde hiding behing Jekyll
2. Hyde's evil is contagious - even his housekeeper has "an evil face"
3. "smoothed": hypocritical so often that her face has been smoothed by it - perfected it?

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Jekyll and Hyde - Quotes and Analysis

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