Themes, Symbols and Motifs in Jekyll and Hyde

Theme: fundamental, over-arching ideas explored throughout the text.

Motif: recurring structures, devices, descriptions etc that help the reader recognise major themes.

Symbols: are objects used to represent ideas

TIP 1: remember to consider the effect the novel would have had on readers at the time as well as now (and the effect on you).

Theme: Science and Religion

▪ Jekyll and Hyde (1886)

▪ The Origin of Species (1859)

▪ Religion (Christianity) was dominant in England from Medieval times.

▪ Religion provided society and worshippers with comfort, a sense of life after death, an origin (Adam and Eve).

▪ Charles Darwin’s theory began to undermine society’s faith in religion.

Theme: Science and Religion (2)

▪ Stevenson is concerned with the nature of humankind. He shows this by showing the sides of peoples’ personalities and their contradictory natures.

▪ There are signs in the story of the impact of science:– Jekyll uses science to split his evil

personality from his good one– Jekyll’s cabinet is full of salts and potions– Dr Lanyon stops seeing Jekyll when he

became ‘too experimental’– The sinister side of science is alluded to in

the darkness of the laboratory door.

▪ The primitive origin of man is expressed in Hyde (‘animal’ and ‘ape-like’.

Why is Science and Religion important?

You aren’t assessed for context so how can

this help?

It adds tension for readers at the time because people were worried about our origins.

Because they were worried about evolution and where people came from, this science and religion imagery is used because it plays on their fears – this adds tension for reader at the time.

Today, we commonly see science motifs (recurring images) as a sign of ‘crazy experiments’ which also creates an element of danger = tension.

TIP 2: unlike Of Mice and Men, you are not assessed for being able to analyse the text in context. However, if you know how people at the time were feeling, it will help you to understand why and how moments were tense.

Theme: The Duality of Man/ The divided self

▪ Stevenson (and Jekyll) believed that mankind was ‘not truly one, but two’.

▪ Jekyll explores the idea that he had a good and evil side (or civilised v animalistic); he wanted to be evil but that would risk his reputation.

▪ Hyde liberated Jekyll’s evil desires.

▪ Signs of duality: the good and evil side of Jekyll’s house; Hyde’s size and appearance; the area of London and the neighbourhood

Why is the theme of duality important for tension?

Society was becoming increasingly concerned with the nature of mankind. There was an increase in crime. People stopped trusting others – they might have seemed decent on the outside but who knew what was going on in their heads?

People are hypocrites! This is proven by the fact that they despise Hyde because they sense evil but the don’t seem to criticise their own evil (e.g. their desire to kill him).

TIP 3: you have to be able to explore the structure of the text (novel and/or extract). The theme of secrets is good because you can explain how secrets are used to build tension throughout the narrative.

Theme: secrets and reputation

▪ Secrets are vital in the story for driving the narrative and creating suspense.

▪ Mr Enfield and Mr Utterson agree to never talk of the story of the door again – they agree to keep a secret.

▪ Jekyll’s secret is that Hyde enables him to “save” his reputation.

▪ Dr Lanyon writes a letter only to be opened when Dr Jekyll dies.

▪ Motifs are associated with secrets – the laboratory door; the weather…

▪ Appearances often Hide a sordid underside.

Motif: urban terror

▪ London was a very dangerous place in Victorian England.

▪ Jack the Ripper – an unidentified serial killer (c. 1888) who killed prostitutes in London slums

▪ In the years after the publication of J&H, urban places as seen in the novel would have taken on this greater level of meaning.

▪ Before Jack the Ripper, London was still considered dangerous for similar reasons.

WARNING!Jekyll and Hyde isn’t tense “because Jack the Ripper was around”

In the years after the publication he was – and this would have given the events of the book a greater level of

terror.

Motif: urban terror

▪ The unknown identity = Hyde?

▪ The description of the places in J&H point convey a sense of fear and tension– ‘a fog rolled in’– ‘long for the sight of a policeman’– 3am– Alone

TIP 4: you have to be able to explore the impact of language and language motifs.

Motif: silence

▪ Heightens tension/senses

▪ Characters fail or refuse to articulate themselves– Enfield and Utterson refuse to talk of the incident again– Lanyon refuses to explain why he and Jekyll don’t talk– Jekyll refuses to explain his knowledge of Edward Hyde

to Utterson

▪ Victorian society favoured decorum and manners - they did not speak of the sordid or undesirable.

▪ When confronted with the supernatural, language fails. It cannot be explained.

▪ OR perhaps explaining the terrible events in too much detail takes something away from it.

Symbols are used in language to represent

things - they are a feature of language

which must be explored.

Symbol: the laboratory door (duality, secrets, reputation)

▪ Jekyll lives in an outwardly expensive, reputable house.

▪ Jekyll’s laboratory is entered around the back of the housing block, by a ‘sinister‘ looking door.

▪ From the outside, you wouldn’t know they are part of the same house.

▪ The doors sumbolise the entrances of good and evil– Hyde always uses the laboratory door– The trampling of the little girl happened

outside the lab door– Jekyll’s certainty that he was going to be

rid of Hyde was confirmed by the crushing of the key

Symbol: Hyde’s description

▪ His small size represents the fact that the evil in Jekyll has been repressed for years. His stature grows as his evil acts worsen.

▪ He also grows as evil’s dominance over Jekyll takes over.

▪ Many Victorians believed in the science of Phsyigonomy – judging a person’s character from their physical appearance.

▪ His description reinforces the idea of secrets, that appearances often hide something sordid.

▪ He represent the ‘beast in man’ (Darwin)

A note on structure

▪ Jekyll and Hyde uses 3 narrators (Utterson, Lanyon and Jekyll).

▪ The various narrative perspectives authenticate the narrative – because it is told by many people it gives the story a greater sense of reliability and realism.