Theme & Key Quotes: Reputation

Theme: Reputation

Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” puts a great emphasis on the importance of reputation in Victorian society. He portrays this theme through the dual lives of Dr. Jekyll.

Dr Jekyll’s Status

Dr. Jekyll is portrayed as a man focused on maintaining his social standing. For instance, when he transforms into Mr. Hyde, the transformation is both physical and hierarchical, dropping from the honorable doctor to the notorious criminal.
Key quote to illustrate this: “I was the first that could plod in the public eye with a load of genial respectability, and in a moment, like a schoolboy, strip off these lendings and spring headlong into the sea of liberty.”

Hyde’s Anonymity

Mr. Hyde, manifesting all of Dr. Jekyll’s dark desires, enjoys anonymity. He is able to commit acts of violence with no regards to its implications on his reputation.
Key quote exemplifying nasty behaviour of Hyde: “Pale and dwarfish. He gave an impression of deformity without any nameable deformity.”

Inner Conflict

The difference between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a symbol of the struggle that many people have between maintaining a good reputation and surrendering to their base instincts.
Key quote to show the duality of Jekyll and Hyde: “Man is not truly one, but truly two.”

Fear of Loss of Reputation

Other characters in the novel are also concerned about reputation. Dr. Lanyon and Mr. Utterson fear for their friend’s reputation, emphasizing the societal importance of reputation.
Memorable Quote: “I am painfully situated, Utterson; my position is very strange - a very strange one. It is one of those affairs that cannot be mended by talking.”

Through this theme, Stevenson critiques the Victorian society’s focus on outward respectability, hinting at the hypocrisy and suppression of individual desires that it leads to.