Romane LEFEBVRE 2nd09

Essay about Jekyll and Hyde

1) To what extent can we say that Jekyll and Hyde is a Gothic manifesto?
2)Work on the importance of the motif of secrecy in the book.

Intro & conclusion / Partie 1 / Partie 2

Intro

“The Story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” is a book by Robert Louis Stevenson published in the 17th
century during the Victorian period (Queen Victoria’s reign). At that time, English society was
based on appearances and reputation. Expectations were high and this was very important for
people in public.
In this story, the idea of secrecy is presented in several ways, as the plot of the novel revolves
around the secrets that are kept from the characters, and the public.
First of all, we will discuss the link between gentlemen and secrets in the Victorian period.
After that, we will see how Stevenson uses the motif of secrecy in the story and what this creates.
Part 1

In Victorian society, a person was only as good as he was viewed by others. Reputation was
everything but cannot be trusted as they are only based on appearances. That’s why people,
especially gentlemen, had a lot of secrets and why a man’s secrets could be used to ruin him.

1. Gentlemen and secrets : First of all, we will show that all the people, even the most
respectable, hiding a secret
a) Qu’est ce que gentlemen ? Paraître, réputation
b) majorité des persos ont des secrets (Enfield,
Each man seems to be bound by his secrets
There is a tension throughout the text as the reader knows that Jekyll’s secrets would ruin his
reputation if they are exposed to society. Enfield recalls threatening to expose Hyde to the
whole of London as an alternative to killing him. Stevenson uses olfactory imagery (images
linked to smell) in the metaphor “make his name stink from one end of London to the other”
to show how Jekyll’s reputation could be tarnished. As he was well known in society it is
evident the whole of London would find out what he had done. Stevenson is presenting the
idea that asking untoward questions leads to a cascading effect throughout society which
causes all reputation to be destroyed. The use of colour imagery and antithesis between “Dr.
Jekyll grew pale” and ''blackness” in “The large handsome face of Dr. Jekyll grew pale to
the very lips and there came a blackness about his eyes. ‘I do not care to hear more,’ said he.
‘This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop’” highlights a damaging transformation as
well as a need to keep it a secret. Jekyll’s secret is obviously his alter ego Hyde
Each character has their own secrets that unravel as the novel progresses, which leads to
conflicts and dramatic action in the story The plot of the novel revolves around the secrets
that are kept from the characters, and the audience Jekyll’s secret is obviously his alter ego
Hyde
Each character has their own secrets that unravel as the novel progresses, which leads to
conflicts and dramatic action in the storyEach man seems to be bound by his secrets
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Jekyll is hugely concerned about reputation

1. He goes as far as creating Hyde to cover up his evil deeds   
Jekyll is hugely concerned with maintaining his reputation – he wants to hide his sins rather
than face them – thus the creation of Hyde
Jekyll associates Hyde with freedom – “sea of liberty” and believes his reputation will
not be harmed – “safety was complete”.  He sees Hyde as someone completely
separate to himself – “I did not even exist!”
Utterson is more concerned about preserving Jekyll’s reputation than bringing Hyde to trial
for the murder of Carew 

Reputations cannot be trusted as they are only based on appearances

In Victorian society, a person was only as good as he was viewed by others. Reputation was
everything

11. How does the author create a sens of secrecy and use it (door, lettres)

Stevenson uses the motif of locked doors/closed doors to represent secrecy – therefore the
smashing of the cabinet at the end of the novel symbolises the breakdown of Jekyll’s walls
of secrecy
Each character has their own secrets that unravel as the novel progresses, which leads to
conflicts and dramatic action in the story
Most of the mysteries in the story are kept a secret until the very end, which build up
suspense
 Each secret in the story is not exposed through conversation, but documents and letters that
are pieced together like a puzzle and put together by the reader, and eventually the
characters
Stevenson keeps secrets from the audience through narrative gaps – makes us more
suspicious, more on edge about the things left unsaid or unexplained
Lanyon and Jekyll choose to write about their experiences in letters – only to be revealed at
the end of the novel – adding to the suspense and secrecy The novella is presented to be set
in a climate of secrecy by Stevenson’s use of the metaphor“I feel very strongly about putting
questions; it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgment. You start a question, and
it’s like starting a stone. You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting
others...”.
12. Builds suspense
13. Adds to mystery
14. Documents are used to share information rather than the freedom of conversation
15. We really learned that Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are the same person in the chapter 9
16. Isolation and shame lock the secrets into place
Dr Jekyll’s revelation in Chapter 10 highlight this

Stevenson keeps secrets from the audience through narrative gaps – makes us more
suspicious, more on edge about the things left unsaid or unexplained
Lanyon and Jekyll choose to write about their experiences in letters – only to be revealed at
the end of the novel – adding to the suspense and secrecy
Stevenson uses the motif of locked doors/closed doors to represent secrecy – therefore the
smashing of the cabinet at the end of the novel symbolises the breakdown of Jekyll’s walls
of secrecy
The idea of secrecy is presented in this story through many different ways

Most of the mysteries in the story are kept a secret until the very end, which build up
suspense
Each secret in the story is not exposed through conversation, but documents and letters that
are pieced together like a puzzle and put together by the reader, and eventually the
characters
The idea of keeping and revealing secrets is a major dramatic technique used by Stevenson
in the novel. In the novel, secrets abound: on the first reading, the reader is constantly torn
between suspecting the identity of Hyde and then having these suspicions challenged (of
course, after reading it for the first time the secret is lost). Secrets drive the narrative
forward; the reader wonders why Utterson and Enfield refuse to speak openly about their
fears, the reader is also intrigued by the curious dark nature of the laboratory door, the
reader is left wondering who has locked themselves up in the study, and the reader is
challenged by the secretive nature of the narrative structure, especially the aspects delivered
through secretive letters at the end.

Vidéo
“The gost of some old, the cancer of some concealed disguise” - Utterson Chapter 2
Semantic field of sinister suffering: Ghost, cancer, sin, concealed, disguise
“must have secrets of his own, black secrets...compared to which Jekyll’s worst would be like
sunshine” Chapter 2 (sunshine VS black / Godness VS Evil = duality)

Impact of the secret on Jekyll “The large handsome face of Dr Jekyll grew pale to the very lips, and
there came a blackness about his eyes” Chapter 3 – Utterson
At the mention of Hyde’s name physiological reaction of distress / Fear reaction of Jekyll
Sinister shift on his features. Pale like a ghost and dark … “eyes as the window to the soul” for the
victorians = Feature of the Gothic
*Jekyll is terrified about his secret being revealed

“ I have had a shock”, he said “and I shall never recover” Chapter 6 – Lanyon
Euphemistic tone of ‘shock’ - this refers to seeing Jekyll morph into Hyde
‘I cannot bring my mind to set on paper. I saw what I saw, I heard what I heard, and my mind is
sickened at it’ Chapter 9 – Lanyon (after his death)

‘I am careless...as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that
unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end’ Chapter 10- Jekyll
Finality of price to be paid with the secret. Tragic glimpse into the damage for our protagonist
‘Unhappy Henri Jekyll’ is he more unhappy because of his choices to hide pleasures and live them
through Hyde?
Secrets are signalled to the reader from the very start of the novel. In the first chapter – ‘The Story
of the Door’ – Mr Utterson and Mr Enfield retell a very disturbing and harrowing story of a man
who looked so ugly it he even made the doctor turn ‘sick with the desire to kill him’. This first
instance raises the level of tension for the audience; it is not the characters keeping the secret here,
but Stevenson himself. His story-telling technique means that he paints a picture of the ‘ape-like’
man who has the qualities of ‘Satan’ but refuses to tell the readers who he is. The device
immediately intrigues the readers – they want to know more about this man. They do not feel the
same sense of repulsion as the characters do; instead they are drawn to the figure of Hyde. Because
Stevenson has decided to keep Hyde’s true identity a secret, the readers are drawn to this dangerous
character in order to find out more. The device is effective because the readers know they are safe,
and they can see how this threat develops because of their distance from the story. This is doubly
effective because this fear would have been very real at the time. 1880s London was a very
dangerous place and in the years that followed the publication of the novel, notorious murderers like
Jack the Ripper plagued London’s streets. Therefore, the secret of Hyde’s identity takes on an extra
layer of significance: the readers are drawn to a character in the story because of his secretive
nature, but this is the very sort of person they feared in their real lives.
This chapter also uses symbolism to convey the theme of secrets in the novel. The laboratory door
(the symbol of Jekyll’s secret life and dual existence) is representative of the secrets held in the
novel. Enfield foreshadows the secrets connected with the house by claiming that he knows a ‘very
odd story’ connected with the door. The physical appearance of the door reinforces its sinister,
secretive nature. The door was ‘equipped with neither bell nor knocker’ which suggests that
whoever lives there does not wish to be disturbed. This level of privacy also indicates a level of
secret-keeping. When the reader connects this with the idea that the block is described as ‘sinister’
and ‘black’, the reader knows to make the link between this secretive place and potential evil. The
tension created by the evil secrets in the novel is heightened further when Enfield tells the story of
the girl being trampled. The crime is foreshadowed by the fact that we are told the story took place
on a night where one would ‘long for the sight of a policeman’ and then the man responsible for the
horrific scene that takes place disappears off into the secretive, sinister looking house to pay the
people in order to keep his identity a secret.  The idea that the house is used for criminal and
secretive purposes can be made no clearer in this chapter, and the apparent lawlessness of the scene
adds tension and suggests a lack of capable law enforcing will be a theme in the book (we later see
this with the Carew Murder Case).
As the novel develops, some readers may begin to suspect the relationship between Jekyll and
Hyde. Jekyll certainly keeps the motivation for his will a secret, even from Utterson who is one of
his closest friends. Whilst the reader might not suspect that Jekyll actually is Hyde, they are
certainly suspicious of the secret he is keeping for him. The relationship between Jekyll and Hyde
takes a sinister turn in the chapter called ‘The Incident at the Window’. In this chapter, Enfield and
Utter son saw an ‘expression of such abject terror and despair’. The saw the same effect on Jekyll
that Hyde was described as having on them, but then the situation worsens because they begin to
realise that they didn’t see Jekyll reacting to the sight of Hyde but transforming into Hyde. This is
hinted at through the phrase ‘they saw it but for a glimpse…but that glimpse had been sufficient’.
Stevenson’s secret-keeping technique is beginning to reveal some of the truth. The readers are
realising the potential truth behind the identity of Jekyll and Hyde at the same time as the
characters, but where the characters refuse to ever mention it again – they ‘walked once more in
silence’ – the reader is free to think of and discuss all of the possibilities.
In the final chapter, ‘Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case’, the reader learns the truth behind
the secrets. The narrative perspectives (Utterson, Lanyon and now Jekyll) has kept the secret well
hidden, even though the drama has been maintained because enough has been revealed to make us
suspect what is going on. Jekyll reveals the truth, claiming that he always felt a ‘duplicity of life’
and the ‘curse of mankind’ that he should be tormented with a conscience that was both good and
evil. The theme of the duality of man is key to the novel and it echoes with readers because the
sense that public and private lives were separate was very important in Victorian England.
Stevenson plays on all of the contemporary reader’s concerns about not really knowing people
beyond their public faces (just like the laboratory door) and never really being sure of the evil they
could be involved in. Jekyll’s final revelation of the truth is dramatic on a number of levels: it is the
final climax of the story so the reader is pleasured by knowing the truth, but it also reflects very real
concerns of Victorian Society.

• Stevenson plays on all of the contemporary reader’s concerns about not really knowing
people beyond their public faces (just like the laboratory door) and never really being sure of
the evil they could be involved in. Jekyll’s final revelation of the truth is dramatic on a
number of levels: it is the final climax of the story so the reader is pleasured by knowing the
truth, but it also reflects very real concerns of Victorian Society.

Links used :

https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/jekyll/section2/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DChfog79OPw
https://prezi.com/gltjqnbtyy9d/secrecy-in-jekyll-and-hyde/?
frame=6559070a58b21f4663a5db0a666d51416e0280e3
https://fr.scribd.com/document/284950908/J-H-Exemplar-Answers-2
https://schoolworkhelper.net/themes-in-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/
https://coggle.it/diagram/XigYyGYss-ISIVgV/t/secrecy-and-silence
https://quizlet.com/gb/517525025/secrecy-and-mystery-dr-jekyll-mr-hyde-themes-english-
literature-gcse-91-flash-cards/