How well does "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" illustrate an idea of privacy in the first chapter?

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Liam Barber                                                                                                                                                                N6

GCSE English Coursework

Prose Study

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde

“There are some things that are best kept private.”

To what extent does the opening chapter illustrate this view?

The novella, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde” is one of the most well know in the English language. Throughout the novella, Stevenson refers to privacy, but often indirectly. This idea of privacy fits perfectly with the Victorian society in which the novella is set. Victorians valued their reputation highly and so in order to sustain their level of reputation they often kept their darker side covered up to the rest of the public. There are several reasons that the Victorian society were able to create this privacy. Firstly, Stevenson describes Soho as a place build up with narrow, dark streets which were covered in a heavy fog. This set up made concealing actions easier. The reader must also understand that the media in Victorian times was nothing like it is today, people usually discovered news from word of mouth rather than from the media which resulted in news becoming old before it had time to spread far. It is also important to realise that there were two Edinburghs in the time that Robert Louis Stevenson was brought up, one a very respectable and religious town and the other was known for being quite the opposite. Having two very different areas to the same city could have influenced Stevenson to include this idea into Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

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The opening chapter is entitled, “The Story of the Door” which could possibly suggest to the reader that the chapter is about privacy. Stevenson includes the idea of doors throughout the opening chapter. “Not crossed the doors of one for twenty years”, “Two doors from one corner” and “Nothing but a door” are all examples of this repetition. The repetition of the word “door” could be included because doors create a barrier or boundary between two places, this physical barrier can be used to hide items or actions from other people seeing, this supports the argument that the chapter ...

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