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feedback on my Dr jekyll answer pls!!

The queestion is, how doeas Stevenson present Hyde as a frightening outsider in the novel as a whole?

My answer:

Hyde represents the subconsious side of Dr Jekyll's persona. This connects to the idea Stevenson supported about thee duality of a character.
He believed that our subconscious side is more primal and closer to nature, therefore he depicts Hyde in an non-human way, in fact he's often portrayed as an animal in various parts of the novella.
When Carew's murder his about to happen we see Hyde burst in an "ape like fury", in another scene, Utterson encounters Mr Hyde. As he pats on his shoulder we see Hyde "shrink back from him in an hissing intake of breath", once again a laguage representing animal features has bee used to reflect Hyde's actions.
This animalistic Representation of him suggests that htere is nothing human in him , therefore cannot be considered part of the society f the upper class. In this way he takes the role of a freightening outsider .

Furthermore, the idea of primal subconsciousness recalls the works and studies of Freud, a pioneer of psychoanalysis, who Stevendson happens to have a strong intrerest in the same subject. Perhaps Stevenson is trying to tell us that tha duality of a character lies under the polish ways of the Victorian society, just like it is represented by the character of Dr Jekyll.

Even so, Hyde is represented as a frightening outsider through hi appereance as well. We know that he is deformed - in a deep and sinister way. He walks with a limp and appears short. Looking at him evokes disgust and a sense of horror at anyone that faces him. Once again he's sdescribe as different, from any other character, which leads us to consider him far from normal, especially in his appereance.
During Victorian time deformities were seen as a mark of evil therefore connected to sin and abnormality. We see Hyde described as "having Satan's signature onto hi face" when Utterson recalls the image of him.

On a specific occasion we see Hyde represented as a social outsider. When Hyde is asking him about Dr Jekyll we see that Hyde doesn't ude a "fitting language" meaning that he dosesn't stick to the decorum and social rules imposed by the Victorian society. Something that is a sign of low class status and disrespect. In this way Hyde is portrayed as a social outcast.

Finally, I would like to mention that in the novel all the characters are upper-class gentlemen, all of them except for Mr Hyde.
We see him as an outsider also from a class point of view as he lives in the poor side of London, Soho.
Soho is an area afflicted by criminality, where low status and poor people lived and a place where "no gentlemen would have ventured".
Through this parallel the theme of duality is found in both the city and the main character of Dr Jekyll, and Stevenson is using Hyde to reflect the bad side of London.
Overall Hyde isn't constrained nor by the law nor by social standards of the time, this makes him a daunting outsider.
Really good ideas and useful context and lots of it and good embedded quotes. To improve I would suggest looking at the language really closely like the effect of specific words and techniques and language devices used and perhaps the effect of it all on the reader? I really liked this book last year. Well done you seem to have really good ideas and understanding of the novel
Reply 2
Original post by Issakatie
Really good ideas and useful context and lots of it and good embedded quotes. To improve I would suggest looking at the language really closely like the effect of specific words and techniques and language devices used and perhaps the effect of it all on the reader? I really liked this book last year. Well done you seem to have really good ideas and understanding of the novel


Thanl you for the advice i need to improve that part! And yess I like the book very much I was doing pride and prejudice but changed to this one, it's so much better
I hate Jekyll and Hyde! It's sooo hard and complex :frown:

But the whole idea and message that Stevenson is trying to get across is quite interesting ngl. It's still vvv hard. How do you revise for Jekyll and Hyde, because your exam style response is amazing!
Reply 4
Original post by ReadilySalted
I hate Jekyll and Hyde! It's sooo hard and complex :frown:

But the whole idea and message that Stevenson is trying to get across is quite interesting ngl. It's still vvv hard. How do you revise for Jekyll and Hyde, because your exam style response is amazing!


Hi well im a private candidate self teaching so I don't have class notes cause yeah i dont have a teacher. What I use is the guide from mr bruff, bbc bitesize, and to revise I made mindmaps for each character and notes for like the themes, structure and form

If you need notes let me know I feel like I have quite a lot would be happy to help!
Your ideas are there, but what your failing to do is expand on the quotes.

You need to pluck individual words from the quotes you've used and explain the connotations.
Reply 6
Original post by JargonRaygun
Your ideas are there, but what your failing to do is expand on the quotes.

You need to pluck individual words from the quotes you've used and explain the connotations.


Okay thank you, I'll try memorize more quotes, what level do you think I am at more or less?
Original post by annajpg
The queestion is, how doeas Stevenson present Hyde as a frightening outsider in the novel as a whole?

My answer:

Hyde represents the subconsious side of Dr Jekyll's persona. This connects to the idea Stevenson supported about thee duality of a character.
He believed that our subconscious side is more primal and closer to nature, therefore he depicts Hyde in an non-human way, in fact he's often portrayed as an animal in various parts of the novella.
When Carew's murder his about to happen we see Hyde burst in an "ape like fury", in another scene, Utterson encounters Mr Hyde. As he pats on his shoulder we see Hyde "shrink back from him in an hissing intake of breath", once again a laguage representing animal features has bee used to reflect Hyde's actions.
This animalistic Representation of him suggests that htere is nothing human in him , therefore cannot be considered part of the society f the upper class. In this way he takes the role of a freightening outsider .

Furthermore, the idea of primal subconsciousness recalls the works and studies of Freud, a pioneer of psychoanalysis, who Stevendson happens to have a strong intrerest in the same subject. Perhaps Stevenson is trying to tell us that tha duality of a character lies under the polish ways of the Victorian society, just like it is represented by the character of Dr Jekyll.

Even so, Hyde is represented as a frightening outsider through hi appereance as well. We know that he is deformed - in a deep and sinister way. He walks with a limp and appears short. Looking at him evokes disgust and a sense of horror at anyone that faces him. Once again he's sdescribe as different, from any other character, which leads us to consider him far from normal, especially in his appereance.
During Victorian time deformities were seen as a mark of evil therefore connected to sin and abnormality. We see Hyde described as "having Satan's signature onto hi face" when Utterson recalls the image of him.

On a specific occasion we see Hyde represented as a social outsider. When Hyde is asking him about Dr Jekyll we see that Hyde doesn't ude a "fitting language" meaning that he dosesn't stick to the decorum and social rules imposed by the Victorian society. Something that is a sign of low class status and disrespect. In this way Hyde is portrayed as a social outcast.

Finally, I would like to mention that in the novel all the characters are upper-class gentlemen, all of them except for Mr Hyde.
We see him as an outsider also from a class point of view as he lives in the poor side of London, Soho.
Soho is an area afflicted by criminality, where low status and poor people lived and a place where "no gentlemen would have ventured".
Through this parallel the theme of duality is found in both the city and the main character of Dr Jekyll, and Stevenson is using Hyde to reflect the bad side of London.
Overall Hyde isn't constrained nor by the law nor by social standards of the time, this makes him a daunting outsider.


Do you know your books you do at English literature gcse can you chose from pride and prejudice etc or does your teacher chose it for you
Original post by annajpg
Okay thank you, I'll try memorize more quotes, what level do you think I am at more or less?


At the moment I would award it a low/mid grade 6.

To improve:
More elaborative explanation of the points your presenting.
Explore the quotes you've used and link back to the question.
Explore writing theories and contextual factor application in your writing.
Reply 9
Original post by fentydrug
Do you know your books you do at English literature gcse can you chose from pride and prejudice etc or does your teacher chose it for you

i am a private candidate so I dont really have a teacher, therefore yeah i chose the books by myself and did the ones I found the most interesting.
I'm glad I stopped revising for pride and prejudice it was boring as hell and too complicated for my taste haha
Reply 10
Original post by JargonRaygun
At the moment I would award it a low/mid grade 6.

To improve:
More elaborative explanation of the points your presenting.
Explore the quotes you've used and link back to the question.
Explore writing theories and contextual factor application in your writing.


yeah I agree with your prediction, tbh I need to improve the analysis of language techniques for real that would take me straight to a 7 I feel like :rolleyes:
Original post by annajpg
i am a private candidate so I dont really have a teacher, therefore yeah i chose the books by myself and did the ones I found the most interesting.
I'm glad I stopped revising for pride and prejudice it was boring as hell and too complicated for my taste haha


Oh but in a school or college do you know if the teacher would chose it for you
Original post by annajpg
yeah I agree with your prediction, tbh I need to improve the analysis of language techniques for real that would take me straight to a 7 I feel like :rolleyes:


If you just follow in the ball park region of the advice I gave you will undoubtedly get an 8.
Reply 13
Original post by fentydrug
Oh but in a school or college do you know if the teacher would chose it for you


oh I don't really know, but I saw some people had the chance to pick on their own. It depends I guess? not sure, I'm not the right pperson to ask hahs
Original post by annajpg
Hi well im a private candidate self teaching so I don't have class notes cause yeah i dont have a teacher. What I use is the guide from mr bruff, bbc bitesize, and to revise I made mindmaps for each character and notes for like the themes, structure and form

If you need notes let me know I feel like I have quite a lot would be happy to help!


Wow that is quite impressive! Well done! And that would be amazing and soo helpful, if you don't mind will you pm me some notes :biggrin: Would love to see them
Reply 15
Original post by ReadilySalted
Wow that is quite impressive! Well done! And that would be amazing and soo helpful, if you don't mind will you pm me some notes :biggrin: Would love to see them


Yeah it's a pisstake really! I have already done my Alevels but had to take gcses for uni, mind I'm Italian and when I moved to the UK they enrolled me for alevels only -.-

Anyway yes ill send you some pics
Good answer

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