Also, while Mr. Enfield is describing the incident that he witnessed, he tells Mr. Utterson of how many people were sickened by the sight of Mr. Hyde. He says, ‘…I saw that Sawbones turned sick and white with the desire to kill him,’ he is also then described by Mr. Enfield as being ‘…really like Satan.’ This tells us that there is something very different about Mr. Hyde as he is already being compared to the devil, and that he will commit crimes like this in the future. Hyde immediately provokes some many violent responses from all that come in to contact with him, that everyone who meets him is guilty of hypocrisy, as they are rejecting the fact that wanting to kill Hyde is a part of them. Here Stevenson is trying to get a social point across, as Hyde is very different to those in his society, because he doesn’t seem too obsessed about his appearance and others’ perceptions of him, where as everyone else was. Also, Hyde seems to attack innocent people without any motive except for the pleasure, which is something not even animals would do, therefore he is shown to be an outcast in his society. The literary techniques that the author uses to illustrate this point of nobody liking Hyde and him being an outcast are authentication, as he reveals the plot through accounts, diaries and letters. This involves the reader in the intimate revelation of the true feelings of the characters. Stevenson also uses imagery, to convey the other characters’ hatred for Mr. Hyde, he writes, ‘…killing was out of the questions…we were keeping the women off him as best we could, for they were as wild as harpies. I never saw a circle of such hateful faces…’ This gives the image of women and men all encircling Hyde with faces of hatred, as though they want to kill him.
A social and cultural point that Stevenson is attempting to put across in this novella is secrecy in the Victorian society. The Victorians considered secrecy to be very important and Stevenson uses a couple of symbols to illustrate this in the first chapter. Firstly, we are told that the dreary house ‘…showed no window…’ and then we are told that Mr. Hyde enters and disappears behind the mysterious cellar door. The author’s short and economical descriptions help to emphasise this. Another social and cultural point is that Stevenson does not mention anything about women, and focuses everything around men, which tells us that at the time women were not seen as equals in their society.
During the second chapter we are told the story from Mr. Utterson’s point of view and get our first detailed description of Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson describes Mr. Hyde as having animalistic features, as the author writes, ‘…with a hissing intake of the breath.’ This indicates he has animal like characteristics, and also links with the snake in the Garden of Eden. The snake was seen as being the lowest form of being, as it lost its legs after deceiving Adam and Eve to eat the fruit off the sacred tree. This therefore shows that Mr. Hyde is not seen as an equal to others in his society and that he is evil. This example of biblical language shows how religion was a very important part of the culture in Stevenson’s society. Another example of Hyde’s animalistic characteristics is when Mr. Hyde, ‘…snarled into a savage laugh…’ while talking to Mr.Utterson.
Stevenson also gives the impressions that Mr. Hyde is deformed, as he writes, ‘Mr Hyde was pale and dwarfish; he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation…’ This shows that there is something that is not right about Mr. Hyde’s appearance, and I believe that Stevenson is using these literary techniques to suggest that Mr. Hyde is an animal like being, who does not belong in the Victorian society, as we are led to think by the author that normal, decent people know that there is something morally wrong with him. Utterson also tells us that Mr. Hyde inspires ‘…disgust, loathing and fear…’ even though Mr. Hyde seems to behave very civilly towards Utterson and nothing like the animal he is described as. Mr. Utterson uses very graphic and negative adjectives in his description of Hyde, such as deformity and malformation, to create a visual image in our minds. Also, the description is very short and economical; Stevenson describes Hyde using hardly any words, which make the image more vivid. Also, at the time Charles Darwin’s theories were having a huge impact on society, as it was believed that humans were created by God and not evolved from monkeys. This animal imagery link may have been influenced by Darwin’s theories, which show Mr. Hyde to be less evolved and more primitive than those surrounding him.
In the third chapter, we also encounter the theme of appearance versus reality. This is a cultural point that Stevenson is trying to get across as he is trying to show that the Victorians judged others on their appearance. The author makes a conclusion on how Dr. Jekyll is in reality by his appearance, as he writes, ‘…you could see by his looks that he cherished for Mr. Utterson a sincere and warm affection.’ The technique used by Stevenson is using the second person to involve the reader.
In the next chapter the theme of duality is seen again, in the foreground Sir Danvers is brutally murdered but this is intertwined with a vivid, beautiful description of the setting and Sir Danvers, this makes the murder look worse. The word selection is the key literary technique. While describing the setting and Sir Danvers the adjectives used by the author are sympathetic and benign. This is shown when Stevenson writes, ‘…it seemed to breathe such an innocent and old-world kindness of disposition…’ However while describing the brutal attack on Danvers by Hyde, the author chooses very contradictory words and hyperbolic language to exaggerate the attack. ‘…with ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot, and hailing down a storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly shattered…’ This description again shows the animal like characteristics of Hyde, as he is described as being an ape. Stevenson is trying to make the morale point that society knows an evil being, especially by its looks, as Hyde is described as being ‘…disgusting looking…’
After the murder, Utterson goes to visit Jekyll. The setting is personified to make the presence of the fog more effective and pathetic fallacy is used here to reflect the mood of the novella. ‘The fog still slept on the wing above the drowned city…’ This may also be a historical point, telling us that the fog was almost permanently over London during the 19th century. The use of the words ‘…still…’ and ‘…drowned…’ show that this fog was always there and covered the whole city.
At the beginning of the next chapter, we learn that time has passed since the end of the last chapter. Mr. Utterson writes to Jekyll in order to find out why his ‘…quarrel with Lanyon was incurable…’ Jekyll’s long reply brings to light the theme of secrecy in Victorian society, as Jekyll writes, ‘I could not think that this earth contained a place for sufferings and terrors so unmanning…’ This shows that Jekyll is hiding something, as he does not directly tell Utterson what is wrong with him, but reveals that something has changed for the worse. The literary technique used here to show this is hyperbolic language, as it exaggerates what has happened to him, to emphasise the point that there is something that is not right.
In chapter nine, while Utterson and Poole are going to Dr. Jekyll house to investigate the strange noises coming from the basement, the setting is described to tell us historically of the bad weather in Victorian times. In order to show this, the author uses personification to describe the wind’s ferocity. ‘The wind made talking difficult…It seemed to have swept the streets…bare…’ This shows how vicious the wind was. This description of the weather is also pathetic fallacy as it is a sign of bad things to come.
Once Utterson arrives at the house with Poole, they see the servants ‘…huddled to together like a flock of sheep.’ Utterson immediately says, ‘What, what? Very irregular, very unseemly: your master would be far from pleased.’ This is a society note, as it shows that the Victorians had a preoccupation with the sense of duty. The author illustrates the surprise of Utterson through the repetition of what and very. This shows that he would not have expected the servants to stop work even at such a time of crisis in their household. The way Utterson speaks to Poole shows that he has a higher class than him. Poole is shown to be speaking cockney, giving the impression that he is not very educated, where as Mr. Utterson speaks very good English. Utterson is always known as Mr. Utterson while talking however Poole is never spoken to as Mister Poole. This subtle difference in the direct speech shows that Mr. Utterson is of a higher class than Poole.
The idea of Hyde not being human and having something morally wrong with him is also illustrated when Utterson speaks to the person within the basement, and the author writes, ‘ A voice answered from within: “Tell him I cannot see anyone,” it said…’ This shows that the person in die the basement is certainly not Jekyll and probably Hyde, as Hyde is seen to be subhuman through out the novella. Another society note is the continuous references to God during the story, for example, ‘…cry out upon the name of God…cries to Heaven…’
The addiction of drugs and the dangers off them are a morale point discussed in this chapter. The author uses colloquial language and words commonly associated with drug addiction. ‘Every time I brought the stuff back…it was not pure…this drug is wanted bitter bad…’ The ‘stuff’ is colloquial language that in this context is used to imply the drugs. The word pure and the phrase ‘…wanted biter bad…’ are talking about the condition of the drug and the addiction of Mr. Hyde to it. This is a social point, showing that the Victorians didn’t really care about casual drug taking.
The final chapter is written by Henry Jekyll himself, and is the most revealing of the novella. Jekyll talks about the consequences of his experiment in great detail. Jekyll’s confessions are written at the end in order to build up tension and suspense, and is another feature of gothic writing. The first important point Stevenson is trying to make is about he perfectionist Victorian society. ‘…the worst of my faults was a…gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happiness of many, but such as I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high…’ This quote shows that Jekyll was a perfectionist, as his worst fault was not too bad, and others would have been happy with a small fault, but he was not. This tells us that the Victorians were a perfectionist, fickle society that was preoccupied with appearance. The duplicity of Victorian society is also shown, and the quote ‘Though so profound a double-dealer…’ shows that in public and in private he behaved as though he were two people. The alliteration in ‘…double dealing…’ gives the impression of two lives. Another quote backing up this point is, ‘…man is not truly one, but truly two.’
The dangers and addiction to drugs are highlighted once more in this chapter. ‘The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea…’ The assonance in racking pangs, show the symptoms of Jekyll’s transformations into Hyde. This shows that the Victorians used drugs to get away from the stresses of their daily lives. This is therefore a social point.
Henry Jekyll also describes the public reaction towards his new form (Hyde). The public react in disgust upon seeing him, as they can sense his evil and that there is something morally wrong with him. ‘…I wore the semblance of Edward Hyde none could come near me…’ The word wore shows that he could shed this image of Hyde easily, by transforming back from the evil man. Jekyll also writes about how the drugs didn’t change him, but changed him emotionally. The power of drugs is shown here, and Jekyll is surprised. This also suggests that the Victorians didn’t really know much about the effects of drugs. The alliteration of the ‘d’ represents the drugs. ‘The drug…discriminating…diabolical…divine…doors…disposition…’
For all of Jekyll’s bad points, he tries to redeem himself by doing good deeds, and partially manages to succeed. The alliteration of the ‘r’ represents the word ‘redeem’. ‘I resolved…redeem…resolve.’ This is a moral point, as it shows that Jekyll is trying to become a moral man. However soon after this, in the form of Hyde, he says, ‘I sat in the sun on a bench; the animal within me licking the chops of memory.’ This demonstrates that Hyde is evil and there is definitely something morally wrong with him. Animal imagery is again used to describe him. Also, ‘…licking the chops of memory,’ is a metaphor.
Soon after this point, Jekyll completely loses control of Hyde. Jekyll is resigned to the fact that he is going to transform into Hyde permanently, and doesn’t care about what happens to him. He also knows that he is going to die soon. The serious effects of drugs are shown here by the deterioration of Jekyll.
