Quote overview table

"Trampled calmly over the child's body and left her..."

Quote

"Trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground" (Chapter 1).

Context

In Enfield's anecdote, Hyde collides with a young girl in a foggy London street at night, stepping over her without remorse, which prompts him to pay compensation only after threats from witnesses.

Analysis

• Character development/transformation shown - Reveals Hyde's initial emergence as a figure of detached brutality, foreshadowing his growing dominance over Jekyll's controlled persona.
• Literary techniques employed by author - The oxymoron in "trampled calmly" juxtaposes violence with composure, heightening the horror through contrast and emphasising Hyde's inhuman lack of empathy.
• Symbolism, foreshadowing, or imagery significance - Symbolises the trampling of innocence, foreshadowing Hyde's broader disruption of social order and evoking primal, unchecked instincts.
• Connection to broader themes - Ties to duality of human nature, showing how repressed evil surfaces without conscience, challenging Victorian ideals of self-control.
• Contextual importance within narrative structure if relevant - As an early incident, it builds suspense through second-hand narration, delaying direct encounters to amplify mystery.

Contextual connection

This scene reflects Victorian anxieties about urban crime and moral decay in rapidly industrialising London, where Stevenson's portrayal of Hyde echoes contemporary fears of degenerate underclasses influenced by emerging criminology theories.

"Really like Satan"

Quote

"Really like Satan" (Chapter 1).

Context

Enfield describes Hyde's unsettling presence after the trampling incident, comparing him to the devil while recounting the event to Utterson during their Sunday walk.

Analysis

• Character development/transformation shown - Establishes Hyde as an archetypal villain from the outset, hinting at his supernatural evil that will increasingly consume Jekyll's identity.
• Literary techniques employed by author - The simile "like Satan" uses hyperbolic religious allusion to evoke terror, drawing on biblical imagery to make Hyde's malevolence feel timeless and absolute.
• Symbolism, foreshadowing, or imagery significance - Symbolises ultimate corruption, foreshadowing Hyde's role in dragging Jekyll into moral abyss, with Satanic imagery amplifying his otherworldly threat.
• Connection to broader themes - Reinforces good vs evil by positioning Hyde as a demonic force against rational humanity, exploring how evil lurks within civilised society.
• Contextual importance within narrative structure if relevant - Placed in early dialogue, it heightens intrigue through indirect description, contributing to the novella's episodic build-up of revelations.

Contextual connection

Drawing from Victorian fascination with Gothic horror and religious morality, this comparison mirrors the era's preoccupation with sin and redemption, influenced by Stevenson's Calvinist upbringing in Scotland.

"The man seems hardly human"

Quote

"The man seems hardly human" (Chapter 1).

Analysis

• Character development/transformation shown - Portrays Hyde's early dehumanisation, setting up his evolution into a dominant force that eclipses Jekyll's humanity.
• Literary techniques employed by author - Understatement in "hardly human" and the hedging verb "seems" create ambiguity, engaging readers' imagination through suggestive rather than explicit description.
• Symbolism, foreshadowing, or imagery significance - Symbolises repressed primal urges, foreshadowing Hyde's full emergence as a beastly alter ego that defies human norms.
• Connection to broader themes - Links to repression, illustrating how Victorian society suppresses base instincts, only for them to manifest in monstrous forms.
• Contextual importance within narrative structure if relevant - As part of initial testimony, it sustains mystery, delaying full revelation to build narrative tension across chapters.

"Ape-like fury"

Quote

"Ape-like fury" (Chapter 4).

Context

During the brutal murder of Sir Danvers Carew, Hyde attacks the elderly gentleman with a cane in a moonlit street, his rage exploding in a public display of savagery.

Analysis

• Character development/transformation shown - Marks Hyde's escalation from minor cruelty to overt murder, showing his increasing control and Jekyll's diminishing restraint.
• Literary techniques employed by author - The compound adjective "ape-like" employs zoomorphic imagery, with "fury" adding explosive alliteration to convey raw, instinctive violence.
• Symbolism, foreshadowing, or imagery significance - Symbolises evolutionary regression, foreshadowing Hyde's total dominance and evoking animalistic descent from civilised man.
• Connection to broader themes - Connects to duality of human nature, highlighting the fragile divide between rational self and primal impulses.
• Contextual importance within narrative structure if relevant - As a mid-point climax, it shifts the plot from mystery to horror, accelerating towards Jekyll's confession.

Contextual connection

This draws on Charles Darwin's theories of evolution popular in the 1880s, reflecting Victorian debates about humanity's animal origins and the fear of atavism (reversion to primitive states) in a supposedly advanced society.

"Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was..."

Quote

"Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil" (Chapter 10).

Context

In Jekyll's final confessional letter, he reflects on his experiment's failure, admitting Hyde's complete embodiment of wickedness as his personality splits irreparably.

Analysis

• Character development/transformation shown - Culminates Hyde's arc as the victorious dark side, showing his full separation from Jekyll's moral core.
• Literary techniques employed by author - Superlative "pure evil" and isolating "alone" use emphatic syntax to strip Hyde of nuance, creating a stark, declarative tone.
• Symbolism, foreshadowing, or imagery significance - Symbolises unalloyed corruption, fulfilling earlier hints of his demonic nature in a final, absolute revelation.
• Connection to broader themes - Ties to good vs evil, emphasising how unchecked duality leads to evil's triumph over good.
• Contextual importance within narrative structure if relevant - As the novella's resolution, it provides closure through epistolary form, circling back to initial mysteries.

Contextual connection

This reflects Stevenson's exploration of Calvinist doctrines of innate sin, prevalent in 19th-century Scotland, while critiquing Victorian hypocrisy in maintaining outward respectability amid inner turmoil.

Example analysis paragraph

Quote used: "Ape-like fury" (Chapter 4)

Grade 9 PEE paragraph

Point

• Stevenson employs zoomorphic imagery in Hyde's "ape-like fury" to illustrate his regression to primal instincts, underscoring the novella's exploration of duality through evolutionary regression.

Evidence

• "Ape-like fury"

Explanation

• The compound adjective "ape-like" evokes Darwinian ideas of human descent from animals, suggesting Hyde embodies repressed savagery that civilisation barely contains, creating a visceral image of uncontrolled rage.
• This technique heightens Gothic horror by blending scientific realism with supernatural elements, revealing Stevenson's authorial intent to warn of morality's fragility in modern society.
• Alternative interpretations might see it as social commentary on class degeneration, where Hyde represents the "criminal" underclass threatening Victorian order.

Grade 7 PEE paragraph

Point

• Through the description of Hyde's "ape-like fury," Stevenson shows his animalistic violence as part of human duality.

Evidence

• "Ape-like fury"

Explanation

• The word "ape-like" compares Hyde to a beast, emphasising his loss of humanity during the murder and building tension through vivid imagery.
• This reveals the author's method of using short, intense phrases to contrast Hyde's savagery with Jekyll's refinement.
• It develops the theme by showing how evil escalates when unrestrained.

Grade 5 PEE paragraph

Point

• The quote "ape-like fury" shows Hyde acting like an angry animal during the murder.

Evidence

• "Ape-like fury"

Explanation

• It means Hyde is wild and not human-like, which makes his attack on Carew scary and shows he has no control.
• This helps explain why Hyde is the evil side of Jekyll.