Jekyll and Hyde

Jekyll and Hyde

1. Themes

   • 'The duality of human nature'
   • Science and the unexplained
   • The law and the unexplained
     • represents the standards of conventional society and the law
       • doesn't have the imagination to understand what Jekyll is doing.
   • The names 'Jekyll' and 'Hyde'
     • Jekyll = Je Kill = I kill
       • In the last chapter, Jekyll describes how he tried to get rid of (kill) the Hyde in him.
     • Hyde = Hide
       • hidden from view, or the rough skin of an animal. Jekyll is in some way trying to kill the hidden Hyde and his animal nature.
   • The size and age of Jekyll and Hyde
     • Jekyll is much bigger than Hyde. This is seen particularly when Hyde's small body is found in the much larger clothes of Dr Jekyll. Hyde is a smaller part of Jekyll, but that if people repress the bad in them it will take over and destroy them.
     • Hyde is younger and more energetic than Jekyll. This suggests evil is something that develops later in life, after a period of childhood innocence.
     • Suggests Stevenson felt there is something primitively energetic and exciting about mankind's baser nature; that the 'higher', respectable nature of social humans is repressed and tame.

2. Plot Summary

3. Characters

   • Dr Jekylll
   • Dr Lanyon
   • Mr Utterson
   • Mr Hyde
   • Mr Enfield
   • Poole
   • Sir Danvas Carew