Jekyll and Hyde

1
Jekyll and HydeFrankenstein Notes
2
Robert Louis Stevenson
3
Background

• Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on November 13, 1850
• Died from a brain hemorrhage in Vailima, Samoa,
  on December 3, 1894
• Plagued by ill health throughout life which
  interrupted formal education
• No desire for the family business (lighthouse
  engineering), so studied law at Edinburgh
  University from 1867-1872
• Went against parents religion and became a
  bohemian
• Married Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne in May of
  1880
• Also wrote Treasure Island in 1883

4
Mary Shelley
5
Background

• Born in London, England, on August 30,1797
• Died of a brain tumor in London, England, on
  February 1, 1851
• Daughter of ardent feminist Mary Wollestonecraft
  who died giving birth to Mary Shelley
• Little formal education
• Married Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1816
• Wrote Frankenstein the summer of 1816 (age 19)
  for a ghost-story contest that her neighbor Lord
  Byron created
• Half-sister committed suicide

6
Background (cont..)

• William Godwin (father) disowned Mary
• First child died soon after birth
• Husband drowned in Gulf of La Spezia in 1822
• Received marriage proposals from Trelawney, John
  Howard Payne, and Washington Irving but never
  remarried

7
Gothic Literature

• Subgenre of the Romantic movement of the 19th
  Century
• Began in 1764 with the novel The Castle of
  Otranto written by Horace Walpole
• Giorgio Vasari, the famous art critic of the
  Renaissance, termed this style Gothic because
  he believed it was crude and barbaric
• Incorporates elements both of romance and horror
• Prominent features include terror, mystery, the
  supernatural, ghosts, hereditary curses, Gothic
  architecture, castles, and death

8
Romanticism

• Emotion more important than reason
• Wanted social, political, and economic change
• Late Romantics-turned to radical
• Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe

9
Common Themes

• Ambition
• Losing a sense of oneself
• Abortion
• Importance of Reputation
• Dangerous Knowledge
• Monstrosity

10
Jekyll and Hyde
11
Main Characters

• Dr. Henry Jekyll - A respected doctor and friend
  of both Lanyon, a fellow physician, and Utterson,
  a lawyer.
• Mr. Edward Hyde -  A strange, repugnant man who
  looks faintly pre-human. Hyde is Jekylls dark
  side, released from the bonds of conscience and
  loosed into the world by a mysterious potion.
• Mr. Gabriel John Utterson -  A prominent and
  upstanding lawyer, well respected in the London
  community.
• Dr. Hastie Lanyon -  A reputable London doctor
  and, along with Utterson, formerly one of
  Jekylls closest friends.
• Mr. Poole -  Jekylls butler. Mr. Poole is a
  loyal servant, having worked for the doctor for
  twenty years.

12
Summary

•   Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an unusual and
  mysterious novel describing how a talented
  scientist develops his own drug that changes his
  personality. The story starts out with an old man
  that is in a rush and tramples over a young and
  innocent girl. Later in the novel the reader
  finds out that this old man is actually Dr.
  Jekyll. Then Dr. Jekyll consumes his drug which
  brings out his evil side and whom is called Mr.
  Hyde. While being in this state of Mr. Hyde he
  murders a respectable man and a Member of
  Parliament named Sir Danvers Carew. Sir Danvers
  Carew is a client of Mr. Utterson (a lawyer and
  friend of Dr. Jekylls). Mr. Utterson suspected
  that Mr. Hyde killed this man and had the police
  investigate this death more in depth.

13
Summary (cont..)

• Mr. Utterson knew Dr. Jekyll associated with Mr.
  Hyde and wondered if Dr. Jekyll had heard
  anything about the situation.  Dr. Jekyll replied
  with something along the lines of I no longer
  keep in contact with him.  Therefore there wasnt
  much the investigators could gooff of and some
  time passed and then Dr. Jekyll wrote to Mr.
  Utterson. The letter contains and reveals
  everything Dr. Jekyll describes the potion that
  he has been taking and says that he no longer has
  a critical ingredient and will permanently stay
  as Mr. Hyde. With this note Dr. Jekylls life
  comes to an end and the novel as a whole.

14
Frankenstein
15
Main Characters

• Victor Frankenstein  -  The doomed protagonist
  and narrator of the main portion of the story.
  Studying in Ingolstadt, Victor discovers the
  secret of life and creates an intelligent but
  grotesque monster, from whom he recoils in
  horror.
• The monster -  The eight-foot-tall, hideously
  ugly creation of Victor Frankenstein.
• Alphonse Frankenstein -  Victors father, very
  sympathetic toward his son.
• Elizabeth Lavenza -  An orphan, four to five
  years younger than Victor, whom the
  Frankensteins adopt.

16
Main Characters (cont..)

• Henry Clerval -  Victors boyhood friend and also
  begins to follow in Victors footsteps as a
  scientist.
• William Frankenstein -  Victors youngest brother
  and the darling of the Frankenstein family.
• Robert Walton  -  The Arctic seafarer who picks
  the bedraggled Victor Frankenstein up off the
  ice, helps nurse him back to health, and hears
  Victors story. Robert writes to his sister
  describing Victor Frankensteins story.
• Mrs. Margaret Saville Sister of Robert Walton,
  ship captain, Mrs. Saville is significant because
  she is the recipient of the letters describing
  Frankenstein's story.

17
Summary

• http//www.sparknotes.com/sparknotes/video/franken
  stein