Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Study Guide
Instructions: Complete any 4 of
the following 7 question clusters. Use your best judgment
to choose the clusters that seem most likely to enhance your
understanding of the text and to best address your own
interests and expertise. FYI, the "smaller" questions
within each cluster are intended as prompts or suggestions
and not as a definitive outline. You are not
expected to answer each systematically (or to cover as much
ground as the prompts themselves), but only to
provide substantive and well-supported responses to the
stories, responses that goes beyond "what" (i.e. plot,
setting, characters) and into "why it matters."
Narrator. How many different people
tell the story of Dr. Jekyll? Why do you think Stevenson
chose to structure the narrative as a compilation of
fragmented (and not always chronological) accounts? What
effect does this structure have on our reading
experience? Who does not get to contribute to the
telling of the story, and why is this significant? How
reliable do the various narrators appear to be, and why
do you think this? Do they reveal any blindnesses or
biases? Do they add credibility to the "strange" story?
How so?
Setting. How do elements of setting
contribute to the structure and/or thematic concerns of
the story? In what ways are elements of setting
symbolic? Which elements recur throughout the novel?
How does Stevenson contrast interior and exterior
settings, and to what end? What function do windows and
doors serve? Hearths? Mirrors?
Argument. Does the novel have a "message" (or
messages) or take a position (moral, ideological, or
otherwise)? What is it? Is the message or position
expressed straightforward, or is it ambiguous (either in
the sense of being indeterminate or of being
contradictory)? If so, does one meaning seem to prevail?
Why? What is the effect on the reader? Are there any
"key lines" which seem to encapsulate the argument?
Beginnings. Look closely at the first
paragraph or two. What can we infer about the story
based on the opening lines? What themes, questions, or
thematic concerns are introduced? What kind of mood is
established? What images or motifs are introduced? What
can you expect or predict about the story before you read
any further? Why does the novel begin with a description
of Utterson (as opposed to Jekyll himself)? What do we
learn about Utterson and how does his story complement
the primary story line?
Putting the story in context.
How does your knowledge of the historical, literary, or
cultural context enhance your understanding of the story?
Illuminate its motive/s? What events, situations,
debates, or anxieties might the author be responding to?
And what does the author have to say about these things;
what does the author seem to be opposing or advocating?
How does this work fit or not fit with other works by the
same author? With other works written during this
period? With whom is the author in dialogue?
Implications for readers today. Is
there anything in the story that you think might speak
especially powerfully to people in our own time and
culture? What and why? Do you think that it speaks to
today's readers for similar reasons and in similar ways,
or in different ones? How so? Is there anything in the
story that---due to differences in cultural
context---might be especially difficult for contemporary
readers to appreciate or sympathize with? What and
why?
Potpourri
Is there any else that you think might be important in
understanding how the story works that we have not
covered above? What and why?
