Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)
Things to Consider:
Duality of Human Existence
Victorian Morality
Conditions in Urban London
Discussion Questions (See Part Two Q's ): 887:
How, according to the editors, is Jekyll and Hyde "an
expression of quintessentially fin de sèicle anxieties" (887)?
Novel Questions:
How does the description of setting contribute to the
mood of the work?
891:
Explain: "He must be deformed
somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although
I couldn't specify the point" (891).
895:
How does Utterson respond to his
initial meeting with Hyde? Why?
Why does Utterson call Poole Poole, but Poole calls him Mr.
Utterson?
896:
Why does Utterson say, "Things cannot continue as they
are" (896)? Why doesn't he trust Hyde?
How does Jekyll's will fit in here? (See also 892).
898:
Why does Hyde kill Dr. Carew?
902:
How has Jekyll's "character" been
"exposed" by Carew's murder?
905:
Explain:
"If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers
also" (905).
Other Discussion Questions:
886:
How did Stevenson rebel against his conservative family
upbringing?
888:
Who exactly are Utterson and Enfield?
Explain: "It is the mark of a modest man to accept
his friendly circle ready-made from the hands of opportunity"
(888).
890:
Why does Enfield conceal the name on the check?
Explain the comparison of questions and stones.
891:
Explain: "Your tale has gone home" (891).
892:
What is the significance of the fact that Utterson,
Lanyon, and Jekyll are all bachelors?
900:
Why would even "the most honest" experience "terror of
the law" (900)?
903:
Explain the significance of the similarity in Jekyll's
and Hyde's handwriting.
904:
How does Hyde's "disappearance" affect Jekyll?
Explain.
Why does Lanyon suddenly look so death-like?
907:
Why does Jekyll suddenly get such a horrified look on his
face?
Why does Utterson say, "God
forgive us" (907)?
Part Two:
Discussion Questions: 912:
What is the significance of Hyde's
clothes being too big? (cf. 921)
Lanyon's Narrative: 918:
Why does Hyde ask Lanyon to watch his transformation?
Jekyll's Narrative: 919:
What does Jekyll mean by "the perennial war among my
members" (919)?
920:
In what ways are Jekyll's
discoveries incomplete?
921:
Is Mr. Hyde truly "pure
evil" (921)? Explain.
923:
Is it true that "It was Hyde,
after all, and Hyde alone, that was guilty" (923)?
Explain.
924:
Why does Jekyll spontaneously become Hyde?
928:
Explain the significance of
Jekyll's use of both 1st and 3rd person on this page (e.g.
"He, I say,—I cannot say, I"(928)).
929:
Describe the different kinds of hate that Jekyll and Hyde
feel for each other.
Explain: "It was that unknown impurity which lent
efficacy to the draught" (929).
Other Discussion Questions:
909:
Why does Poole suspect that Jekyll has been murdered?
Why does Utterson remain skeptical?
921:
Explain Jekyll's "response" to first "encountering"
Edward Hyde.
922:
Explain Jekyll's claim that the potion "was neither
diabolical nor divine; it but shook the doors of the
prison-house of my disposition; and ... that which stood
within ran forth" (922).
925:
Explain: "While Jekyll would suffer smartingly in
the fires of abstinence, Hyde would be not even
conscious of all that he had lost" (925).
Explain the significance of Jekyll's use of 1st person in
describing Hyde's crimes.