Understanding the Gothic in 'Jekyll and Hyde'
I can write about the gothic in ‘Jekyll and Hyde’.
Understanding the Gothic in 'Jekyll and Hyde'
I can write about the gothic in ‘Jekyll and Hyde’.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- Jekyll is a typical gothic protagonist: egotistical and isolated.
- The story dramatises Jekyll's inner struggle between good and evil and the same duality within society.
- Liminal and altered states are a gothic convention that is central to this story.
- Drawing on gothic conventions allows Stevenson to explore transgressive behaviour and illicit desires.
- Using multiple narrators is a gothic trope that plays with ideas of verisimilitude, linking to science vs. supernatural.
Keywords
Verisimilitude - The appearance of being true or real.
Liminality - At a boundary or transitional point between two contrasting elements.
Illicit - Illegal or disapproved of by society.
Trope - A commonly used literary device is known as a trope. A gothic trope would be isolated settings.
Transgressive - Involving violation of moral or social boundaries.
Common misconception
Stevenson just replicates or reiterates common gothic conventions.
Many common gothic conventions are used but subverted too (the setting of Regent's Park subverts gothic settings).
To help you plan your year 11 english lesson on: Understanding the Gothic in 'Jekyll and Hyde', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 11 english lesson on: Understanding the Gothic in 'Jekyll and Hyde', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
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The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 english lessons from the Jekyll & Hyde: society as the villain unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
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
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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