Mr. Cleon M. McLean
Department of English
Ontario High School

• Similar to the Romantic painting, “The
Raft of the Medusa”, which invites the viewer to share in the misery of its subjects, just so Stevenson’s novel invites the reader to solve the mystery of the peculiar Mr. Hyde.
•
Thank you, Brianna Villapando

In a tête-à-tête (a private conversation) with Mr. Enfield,
Mr. Utterson says of Mr. Hyde,
If he be Mr. Hyde…I shall be
Mr. Seek
(
)

The venerable Doctor Jekyll must quest to find/have a balanced life, or he will find that
“… between these two [ Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde ] , I [ Jekyll ] choose
” now felt I had to
(Stevenson 48).

•
•
•
Disreputable
—having a bad reputation
–
E.g., The disreputable Mr. Hyde killed the
Parliamentarian, Mr. Carew.
Venerable
—commanding respect because of great age or dignity
–
E.g., The venerable Dr. Jekyll worked like a 14 th century alchemist in his pursuit of the improbable.
Doppelgänger —a ghostly double or counterpart of a living person.
– E.g., Mr. Hyde is Dr. Jekyll’s doppelgänger.

•
Countenance
—appearance, especially the look or expression of the face.
•
Disposition
—the predominant or prevailing tendency of one's spirits; natural mental and emotional outlook or mood; characteristic attitude.
–
E.g.,
Mr. Hyde had a rather unsettling disposition.
• Paradigm
— an example serving as a model; an exemplar.
– The archangel Michael and fallen-angel Satan are a paradigm for the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde contrast, respectively.

•
•
Reclusive
—to be in solitude; hermitlike
Bequeathed
—to dispose of personal position by last will.
–
E.g., Dr. Jekyll bequeathed his estate to
Mr. Hyde.

•
•
•
•
•
•
Pathos
(emotional appeal, esp. pity)
Logos
(logical appeal)
Mythos
(underlying system of beliefs)
Ethos
(distinguished character sentiment or morality)
Bathos :
From the Greek word for “deep,” bathos is the comedy created when, for example, a character who attempts some grand feat, trips and falls.
The Sublime :
The idea of loftiness is very much desirable in literary, so the sublime is the sort of ascension (with a mixture of pain and danger) into more than just the beautiful.

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sep a rate
Para ll el
Begi nn ing…not begging int e rest
Where=place=
donde
Were=past tense verb=
estan
Convey
—means to say
Portray
—means to show

•
•
Compare apples with apples!
E.g.:
–
WRONG : The Enlightenment Period was a time of
logos—
i.e., the mind, whereas Romantic writers wrote about
mythos—
i.e., the heart.
–
RIGHT : Enlightenment writers approached literature with a conscious interest in
logos
—i.e., the mind; whereas Romantic writers favored
mythos
—i.e., the heart.

•
•
•
Do NOT say that the author
forces
the reader. This is clearly a negative act. Rather, you may say that the author invites/encourages the reader.
Dr. Jekyll is the embodiment of virtues, while Mr. Hyde is evil personified.
Kindly use transitional phrases at the beginning of ALL of your body paragraphs.
This will at least remind the reader that you are conscious of structure.

•
•
•
What is different about the two sayings:
–
–
Man’s lighter and darker natures. (wrong, because it means man has 2 light and 2 dark sides)
Man’s light and dark natures.
The reader savors the process of the investigation, for it delves fathoms deeper into the human psyche than the shallow end of the solved mystery.
Axiom: Instant gratification takes too long.

•
•
Gothic genre is NOT Victorian! It is
Romantic.
Keep things parallel, especially with respect to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
–
WRONG : Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are bad and good personified.
–
RIGHT : Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are good and bad personified,
respectively
.

•
•
•
Capitalize “G” in Gothic
Good: Mr. Hyde is the character
that
…
•
Better: Mr. Hyde is the character
who
…
Note: You should
never
use “which” to refer to a person. E.g., The man which is outside.
