GE.T-Jekyll Literature: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

AQA 8702 · Calculators not allowed · about 105 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer BOTH questions. You should spend about 50 minutes on each. You are advised to plan your response. 4 additional marks are NOT available for spelling, punctuation and grammar on the 19th-century novel question.

Extract: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Chapter 1 (Story of the Door)

From The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886, public domain). In this extract, near the start of the novel, Mr Enfield describes his impression of Mr Hyde to Mr Utterson.

"He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something down-right detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point. He's an extraordinary looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way. No, sir; I can make no hand of it; I can't describe him. And it's not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment."

Mr Utterson again walked some way in silence and obviously under a weight of consideration. "You are sure he used a key?" he inquired at last.

"My dear sir..." began Enfield, surprised out of himself.

"Yes, I know," said Utterson; "I know it must seem strange. The fact is, if I do not ask you the name of the other party, it is because I know it already. You see, Richard, your tale has gone home. If you have been inexact in any point, you had better correct it."

"I think you might have warned me," returned the other with a touch of sullenness. "But I have been pedantically exact, as you call it. The fellow had a key; and what's more, he has it still. I saw him use it, not a week ago."

Starting with this extract, explore how Stevenson presents Mr Hyde as a mysterious and disturbing character.

Write about: how Stevenson presents Hyde in this extract; how Stevenson presents Hyde in the novel as a whole.

(Total for Question 1 is 30 marks)

How does Stevenson explore the idea of the divided self, or duality, in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Do not use the printed extract to answer this question.

Write about: how Stevenson presents duality through Jekyll and Hyde; the methods Stevenson uses to explore this idea across the novel.

(Total for Question 2 is 30 marks)

Mark scheme · GE.T-Jekyll Literature: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Question 1

Level 6 (26-30): Critical, exploratory, conceptualised response to the task and text; analyses the effects of Stevenson's methods with precise use of subject terminology; exploratory, well-linked comments on the relationship between text and context.
Level 5 (21-25): Thoughtful, developed response; examines the effects of Stevenson's methods with apt subject terminology; thoughtful consideration of context.
Level 4 (16-20): Clear, explained response; clear explanation of the effects of Stevenson's methods with relevant terminology; clear understanding of context.
Level 3 (11-15): Some explained response; identifies some of Stevenson's methods; some awareness of context.
Level 2 (6-10): Supported, relevant comments; comments on Stevenson as a writer making choices; some awareness of context.
Level 1 (1-5): Simple comments; simple awareness that Stevenson is making choices; simple comment on context.
Indicative content:
- The repeated vagueness ('something wrong', 'something displeasing', 'something down-right detestable') makes Hyde unsettling because he cannot be pinned down.
- Enfield's inability to describe him ('I can make no hand of it') creates mystery and unease.
- The 'strong feeling of deformity' without a specifiable point suggests a moral rather than purely physical wrongness.
- Stevenson uses the framing of one character reporting to another, distancing the reader from Hyde and building suspense.
- The detail of the key hints at Hyde's disturbing connection to the respectable Jekyll, planting the novel's central mystery.
- Context: Victorian anxieties about duality, degeneration and the fear that respectable society concealed hidden vice; influence of ideas about the divided self.
- In the novel as a whole, Hyde is repeatedly described through others' reactions and remains partly unknowable until the final revelation.

Question 2

Level 6 (26-30): Critical, exploratory, conceptualised response; analyses Stevenson's methods across the novel with precise terminology; exploratory links to context.
Level 5 (21-25): Thoughtful, developed response; examines methods with apt terminology; thoughtful use of context.
Level 4 (16-20): Clear, explained response; clear explanation of methods with relevant terminology; clear understanding of context.
Level 3 (11-15): Some explained response; identifies some methods; some awareness of context.
Level 2 (6-10): Supported, relevant comments; comments on choices; some awareness of context.
Level 1 (1-5): Simple comments; simple awareness of choices; simple comment on context.
Indicative content:
- The central premise of one body housing two selves literalises the idea of the divided self.
- Settings mirror duality: the respectable front and neglected back of Jekyll's house; the contrast of foggy, labyrinthine London.
- Stevenson's structure withholds the truth until Jekyll's final 'Full Statement', so the reader pieces together the duality gradually.
- Contrasting descriptions of Jekyll (large, respectable) and Hyde (small, youthful, detestable) embody the split between civilised and primitive selves.
- Language of good and evil, and Jekyll's own reflection that 'man is not truly one, but truly two', states the theme directly.
- Context: Victorian concerns with public respectability versus private desire, and contemporary interest in the unconscious and human nature.
- A critical response might consider whether Stevenson suggests the two sides can ever be separated, given Jekyll's eventual loss of control.

Literature: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

GE.T-Jekyll Literature: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Extract: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Chapter 1 (Story of the Door)

Question 1

Question 2