Knowledge Organiser: Jekyll (character)

Part of Jekyll (character) · Section 17 of 17

Topic SummaryUnit: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeGCSE

This topic summary covers Knowledge Organiser: Jekyll (character) within Jekyll (character) for GCSE English Literature. Revise Jekyll (character) in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for GCSE English Literature with 13 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 17 of 17 in this topic. Use this topic summary to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.

Knowledge Organiser: Jekyll (character)

Key Terms
  • Duality: two contradictory selves in one person
  • Unreliable narrator: Jekyll confesses and excuses simultaneously
  • Dissociation: "Henry Jekyll stood aghast before the acts of Edward Hyde"
  • Hamartia: the belief that respectability and desire can be separated
  • Complicity: Jekyll architects everything Hyde is able to do
Arc: REPRESSED → ADDICTED → ERASED
  • Repressed: Victorian life forces desires underground; experiment is planned
  • Addicted: transformations become involuntary; control is gone
  • Erased: writes the truth knowing Hyde takes over permanently
Anchor Quotes
  • "man is not truly one, but truly two"
  • "a profound duplicity of life"
  • "Henry Jekyll stood at times aghast before the acts of Edward Hyde"
  • "I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end"
AO3 Context (Integrated)
  • Victorian gentleman ideal: surface conduct defines worth
  • Calvinist doctrine: original sin cannot be excised
  • Deacon Brodie: Edinburgh double-life Stevenson knew
  • AO3 only scores when connected to a specific text moment

Practice questions for Jekyll (character)

In which chapter of the novella does Jekyll directly narrate his own story for the first time?

  • A. Chapter 1 — he introduces himself to Utterson
  • B. Chapter 5 — he explains the potion to Dr Lanyon
  • C. Chapter 10 — his Full Statement of the Case
  • D. Chapter 8 — he shouts through the locked door of the cabinet
1 markfoundation

Identify ONE technique Stevenson uses in the following extract, and explain its effect on the reader: "I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life."

2 marksstandard

Quick recall flashcards

What are the three stages of Jekyll's arc?
REPRESSED → ADDICTED → ERASED. Repressed: decades of Victorian respectability drive desires underground; the experiment is planned, not impulsive. Addicted: control fails; transformations become involuntary; the potion that was meant to separate becomes the trap. Erased: one final act of authorship — Jekyll writes the truth knowing Hyde will take over permanently before anyone reads it. Stevenson gives Jekyll the last word, then takes it away.
Mnemonic for Jekyll's arc: what does R-A-E stand for?
REPRESSED → ADDICTED → ERASED. R: Repressed — Victorian life drives desires underground; the experiment is planned. A: Addicted — transformations become involuntary; the drug meant to separate becomes the trap. E: Erased — Jekyll writes the truth knowing Hyde takes over permanently. Remember: each stage is Stevenson's structural argument about the cost of compartmentalisation, not just a sequence of events.

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