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About what do Dr Lanyon and Dr Jekyll disagree?

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Themes

Dark secrets, dangerous experiments and an unsettling double life run through Jekyll and Hyde, creating themes that explore temptation, guilt and what happens when control is lost.

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Fascinating Fact:

Addiction and loss of control are suggested by Jekyll’s growing dependence on the drug, and his discovery that he can no longer choose when to become Hyde.

In GCSE English Literature, you need to analyse how themes such as duality, respectability, repression and addiction run through Jekyll and Hyde, and how Stevenson links them to Victorian fears.

Key Terms

Theme: A central idea that is explored and developed throughout a text, such as guilt, secrecy or addiction.
Duality: The idea that something has two sides, like Jekyll’s outward respectability and Hyde’s violent, hidden nature.
Repression: When feelings or desires are pushed down or hidden because they are seen as unacceptable in society.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What are the main themes in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?

The main themes include the duality of human nature, Victorian respectability and repression, the dangers of uncontrolled science, good versus evil, and addiction leading to loss of control.

How is the theme of duality shown in Jekyll and Hyde?

Duality is shown through Jekyll and Hyde being two sides of one man, the contrast between respectable houses and sinister streets, and the gap between public appearance and private behaviour.

How can I write about themes in a Jekyll and Hyde GCSE essay?

Choose one clear theme, select short quotations that show it, explain the language in detail, and link your points to Victorian society and readers’ reactions.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Which personal psychological theory does Dr Jekyll set out to test with his potion?

The dual nature of humanity

The relative weakness of evil compared to good

The existence of another species of human

All of the above

In his confession, Jekyll writes: "man is not truly one, but truly two". Note the repetition of the word "truly", reinforcing the theme of the search for truth

2 .

"I began to perceive more deeply than it has ever yet been stated, the trembling immateriality, the mist-like transience, of this seemingly so solid body in which we walk attired." What does Dr Jekyll mean by this statement?

That the human body does not exist at all

That the human body is unchangeable

That the human body is not as solid and unchangeable as it seems

That the human body is entirely solid

Dr Jekyll is working at the very edge of scientific knowledge and begins to doubt the solidity of physical existence. This is one reason why it is important that Mr Hyde does not share the same body as Dr Jekyll

3 .

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is much concerned with evidence and the use of evidence in order to arrive at the truth. Which of the following is an instance of this theme in the novella?

Dr Jekyll's/Mr Hyde's insistence on transforming before the eyes of Dr Lanyon

The two written testimonies which form the last two chapters of the novella

Mr Utterson's misunderstanding of the reasons lying behind Dr Jekyll's will and his repeated attempts to discover the truth

All of the above

While Mr Utterson is suspicious throughout the tale, his suspicions are misdirected and all of his efforts are unable to provide the evidence he needs in order to understand the dreadful events which have been taking place. Dr Jekyll's entire self-experiment with the duality of the person is also an instance in which the theme of evidence arises

4 .

When he turns his back on Mr Hyde, one of Dr Jekyll's key changes in behaviour is to become less reclusive and to hold dinner parties once again. This behaviour exemplifies which theme in the text?

The pursuit of truth

The nature of reality

The base nature of humanity

The relationship between respectability and openness

The impetus which leads to the nightmarish life of Mr Hyde is Dr Jekyll's desire to be able to separate his disreputable side from the respectable old man which he is becoming

5 .

"Yes, I preferred the elderly and discontented doctor, surrounded by friends and cherishing honest hopes; and bade a resolute farewell to the liberty, the comparative youth, the light step, leaping pulses and secret pleasures, that I had enjoyed in the disguise of Hyde." With what does this quotation associate youth?

Freedom and pleasure

The company of friends

Hope and honesty

Discontentedness

Dr Jekyll enjoys Mr Hyde's youthful vigour. One of his fears is of aging, which he associates with discontentedness, boredom and eventual death

6 .

Which of the following does NOT relate to the theme of the savage or brutal nature of man?

Mr Poole's references to Mr Hyde as an "it"

Mr Poole's comparison of Mr Hyde's movement to that of a monkey

Dr Jekyll's reference to Mr Hyde as a "creature"

Mr Hyde's possession of a key to the lab door

The lower, evil nature of man is represented in the novel as animalistic and ruled by the passions, rather than rational thought

7 .

Friendship is important in the text. Mr Utterson is described at the beginning as "the last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of down-going men". How does friendship relate to the novella's conclusion?

Dr Lanyon's death of shock is caused by his deep love for his old friend

Dr Jekyll leaves Mr Utterson the packet containing the will and two testimonies because the lawyer is his last remaining friend

Mr Hyde commits suicide because he feels he has betrayed a friend

All of the above

Dr Jekyll signs his letter to Utterson, "Your unworthy and unhappy friend, Henry Jekyll"

8 .

Dr Jekyll's increasing inability to control Mr Hyde relates to which of the following themes?

Friendship

The search for truth

Repression

Science and the inexplicable

Mr Hyde represents all that is repressed in Dr Jekyll; when Mr Hyde is temporarily restrained by Jekyll, he eventually bursts forth in greater power and murderous rage

9 .

About what do Dr Lanyon and Dr Jekyll disagree?

The ethics of keeping a person such as Mr Hyde behind bars

The aims, purposes and methods of science

The ethics of testing potions on a human being

The ethics of conducting animal experiments

Dr Lanyon describes some of Dr Jekyll's work as "unscientific balderdash". Dr Jekyll describes his own work as being "towards the mystic and the transcendental", which were not considered traditional scientific pursuits

10 .

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is structured as a mystery story in which the great surprise is not revealed until near the end of the novella. To which theme does this structure most directly relate?

The dual nature of humanity

Friendship

The discovery of truth

The struggle between good and evil

Both Mr Utterson's and Dr Jekyll's professions, as a lawyer and a scientist respectively, are involved in the search for the truth

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Themes

Author: Sheri Smith (PhD English Literature, English Teacher & Quiz Writer)