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Year 11
Edexcel

Considering doors and windows as key motifs in Stevenson's 'Jekyll and Hyde'

I can analyse the significance of doors and windows in ‘Jekyll and Hyde’.

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Year 11
Edexcel

Considering doors and windows as key motifs in Stevenson's 'Jekyll and Hyde'

I can analyse the significance of doors and windows in ‘Jekyll and Hyde’.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Windows and doors are motifs in ‘Jekyll and Hyde’, linking to themes of liminality, duality and secrecy.
  2. The door used by Hyde is “blistered” which suggests the degradation and corruption that character represents.
  3. The door to Jekyll’s home is opened by a well dressed servant in keeping with his role as a proper Victorian gentleman.
  4. Windows provide an ambiguous motif in that they look transparent, but they can be made into a barrier.
  5. The door to Jekyll’s room has to be forced open showing how hard it is to arrive at the truth.

Keywords

  • Duality - The term duality refers to the state of combining two different things.

  • Threshold - A threshold is the point between two rooms or the level at which something starts.

  • Liminal - We describe things as liminal when they exist in an uncertain space between two distinct spaces.

  • Respectable - If you are respectable, your character, appearance or behaviour is socially acceptable.

Common misconception

That Stevenson presents good and evil as complete opposites.

Remind students how easily Hyde and Jekyll blur into one.


To help you plan your year 11 english lesson on: Considering doors and windows as key motifs in Stevenson's 'Jekyll and Hyde', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Encourage students to make links across the text e.g. the door in Chapter 1 and the door in Chapter 7.
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Teacher tip
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Equipment

You will need access to a copy of 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' by Robert Louis Stevenson for this lesson.

content-guidance

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', what is the name of the man who frequently goes walking with Mr. Utterson?
Correct Answer: Mr. Enfield, Enfield, Mr Enfield, Mr enfield, mr enfield
Q2.
What adjective beginning with 'R' describes someone whose behaviour and appearance is socially acceptable?
Correct Answer: respectable, Respectable, respectable., Respectable.
Q3.
In chapter 7 of 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', why are Utterson and Enfield worried about Dr. Jekyll?
Correct answer: They are worried about his health.
They are worried he is being blackmailed.
They are worried that he will turn into Mr Hyde.
Q4.
In 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', what two weather phenomenon are frequently used to suggest secrecy and violent emotions?
Rain and snow.
Correct answer: Fog and wind.
Frost and storms.
Q5.
Whose house is full of "wealth and comfort" in 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'?
Correct answer: Dr. Jekyll's
Mr. Utterson's
Dr. Lanyon's
Mr. Enfield's
Q6.
In 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', why does Utterson think Jekyll might be committing forgery on behalf of Mr. Hyde?
Just before his death, Sir Danvers Carew gave him some relevant information.
He can't understand why Jekyll continues to be friends with Hyde.
Correct answer: He saw the handwriting on Jekyll's note was very similar to a note from Hyde.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What noun beginning with 't' refers to the point between two rooms?
Correct Answer: threshold, Threshold, threshold., Threshold.
Q2.
In 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', who opens the door when visitors come to call at Jekyll's house?
Correct answer: A servant.
Mr. Hyde.
Mr. Utterson.
Q3.
In reference to 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', what word is missing from the following quotation: "Blistered and..."?
Ruined.
Liminal.
Corrupt.
Correct answer: Distained.
Q4.
In reference to 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', what is the missing word from the following quotation? "a door covered with baize"
blue
silk
velvet
Correct answer: red
Q5.
In chapter 7 of 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', why is it significant that Jekyll is described as looking "like a prisoner?"
He looks miserable.
He has been found guilty.
He is guilty of killing Sir Danvers Carew
Correct answer: He is trapped by his own rash decisions.
Q6.
What grammatical structures help us trace motifs across a text?
Correct answer: Discourse markers.
Rhetorical questions.
Single paragraph outlines.
Compound and complex sentences.