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Beyond duality and repression, Jekyll and Hyde explores the dangerous power of science, the tension between science and religion, and the pervasive role of secrecy in Victorian society. These themes are interconnected and essential for achieving top marks.
Jekyll's experiment is an act of scientific transgression — he crosses boundaries that should not be crossed.
"I not only recognised my natural body from the mere aura and effulgence of certain of the powers that made up my spirit, but managed to compound a drug by which these powers should be dethroned" (10)
Jekyll does not merely observe or theorise — he interferes with human nature itself. His experiment challenges the boundary between what science can do and what science should do.
Jekyll's story follows the pattern of the Faustus myth — a scholar who makes a deal with the Devil in exchange for forbidden knowledge:
| Faustus | Jekyll |
|---|---|
| Seeks forbidden knowledge | Seeks to separate good and evil |
| Makes a deal with the Devil | Creates Hyde — his personal devil |
| Enjoys the power at first | Enjoys the freedom of being Hyde |
| Gradually loses control | Transformations become involuntary |
| Destroyed by his own ambition | Dies trapped between two identities |
Examiner's tip: Referencing the Faustus parallel shows sophisticated literary knowledge. You could write: "Stevenson draws on the Faustian tradition to present Jekyll's experiment as a hubristic act of transgression — like Faustus, Jekyll gains forbidden knowledge but at the cost of his soul."
The novella engages with real Victorian scientific concerns:
| Scientific development | Relevance to the novella |
|---|---|
| Darwin's evolution (1859) | Hyde's animalistic nature — the "beast within" |
| Degeneration theory | Hyde as a regression to a more primitive human form |
| Vivisection debates | Jekyll experiments on himself — the ethics of human experimentation |
| Germ theory (1860s-80s) | The idea that invisible, dangerous forces exist beneath the surface |
| Psychology (emerging) | The novella anticipates Freud's theories of the unconscious |
Stevenson presents Jekyll's science as dangerous because it operates without moral constraints:
Scientific curiosity → Experiment → Release of evil → Loss of control → Destruction
Jekyll's experiment fails not because the science is wrong but because he ignores the moral implications. The novella asks: just because we can do something, does that mean we should?
"I hesitated long before I put this theory to the test of practice." (10)
Jekyll hesitates — he knows the risk — but his curiosity and desire override his caution. This is the Promethean impulse — the drive to push beyond limits, regardless of consequences.
| Jekyll's science | Lanyon's science |
|---|---|
| Radical, boundary-pushing | Conservative, orthodox |
| Willing to transgress moral limits | Stays within ethical boundaries |
| Leads to discovery but destruction | Leads to safety but ignorance |
| "transcendental" (2) | "unscientific balderdash" (2) |
Neither model is presented as ideal. Jekyll's radical science creates Hyde. Lanyon's orthodox science cannot even comprehend what Jekyll has done — the shock kills him.
The Victorian era saw an intense conflict between science and religion. Darwin's theory of evolution challenged the biblical account of creation, and many Victorians felt that science was threatening to replace God.
Jekyll's experiment is a form of playing God — he attempts to alter human nature, which in Victorian religious terms is God's creation and therefore sacred and inviolable.
Stevenson uses religious language and imagery throughout:
| Quote / reference | Religious significance |
|---|---|
| Hyde described as "really like Satan" (2) | Hyde is explicitly compared to the Devil |
| "if I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also" (10) | Jekyll sees himself in biblical terms — a sinner being punished |
| "O God!" repeated by Lanyon (9) | When science fails, characters turn to religion |
| Jekyll's experiment as "playing God" | Transgression of divine authority |
| The Carew murder — motiveless evil | Hyde embodies evil for its own sake — Satanic |
The novella can be read as a retelling of the Fall of Man (Genesis):
| Genesis | Jekyll and Hyde |
|---|---|
| God creates a perfect world | Victorian society creates order and morality |
| The serpent tempts Eve | Scientific curiosity tempts Jekyll |
| Eve eats the forbidden fruit | Jekyll drinks the potion |
| Humanity gains knowledge of good and evil | Jekyll gains direct experience of evil |
| Humanity is expelled from Eden | Jekyll is destroyed — expelled from respectable society |
Examiner's tip: You do not need to identify the novella as a strict biblical allegory. Instead, note how Stevenson draws on religious imagery to deepen his exploration of transgression and its consequences. This shows understanding of how writers use intertextuality.
Interestingly, there are no clergymen in the novella. The world of Jekyll and Hyde is populated by doctors, lawyers, and scientists — the professional Victorian male elite. Religion exists as a moral framework but not as an active presence. This reflects the growing secularisation of Victorian intellectual life.
Secrecy is not just a theme in Jekyll and Hyde — it is the novella's structural foundation. The entire narrative is built around things that are hidden:
| What is hidden | Who hides it | How it is revealed |
|---|---|---|
| Jekyll's connection to Hyde | Jekyll | Gradually, through clues and confessions |
| The nature of the experiment | Jekyll | Jekyll's full statement (Ch 10) |
| The transformation scene | Lanyon (sealed letter) | Lanyon's narrative (Ch 9) |
| Jekyll's "pleasures" | Jekyll | He never specifies what they are |
| The truth about the handwriting | Utterson (suppresses it) | The reader infers it |
| Hyde's identity | Jekyll | The final chapters |
The novella is full of physical symbols of secrecy:
"the door was shut and locked" — a phrase that recurs throughout the novella
Stevenson shows that secrecy has devastating consequences:
Secrecy protects reputation → But prevents help → Evil goes unchecked → Destruction
If Utterson had investigated the handwriting evidence, if Enfield had asked more questions, if Jekyll had confided in someone — the tragedy might have been averted. But Victorian propriety demands silence, and that silence enables evil.
One of Stevenson's most powerful choices is what he does not tell us. Jekyll says he "concealed my pleasures" but never specifies what those pleasures were.
This deliberate vagueness is significant:
Examiner's tip: The vagueness about Jekyll's pleasures is a deliberate authorial choice worth analysing. You could write: "Stevenson's refusal to specify Jekyll's hidden 'pleasures' makes the novella more unsettling and universal — every reader can project their own fears and secrets onto the blank space, which reinforces Stevenson's argument that duality is a fundamental human condition, not a peculiarity of one man."
Science, religion, and secrecy are not separate themes — they are deeply interconnected:
Victorian repression (society demands secrecy)
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Jekyll's frustration (cannot be himself)
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Scientific experiment (science used to escape moral constraints)
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Hyde released (the "beast" freed from the cage)
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Religious transgression (playing God — altering human nature)
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Loss of control (science cannot contain what it has unleashed)
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Destruction (Jekyll dies, Lanyon dies, the secret is finally revealed)
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