Throughout chapter 8 of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson employs an external narrative voice and dialogue, in order to describe the weather of London, analyse themes of the novella, and explore the fears of people living in London, during the 1800s. Throughout the chapter, the weather is dark and wild, much like the events that are yet to come in the novella. The door of the cabinet in which Hyde is hiding explores themes of class division, while the exploiting the fears of people living in the Victorian era. Thus, chapter 8 reaches the climax of the narrative, through external narration, to allow readers to explore themes present throughout the novella.
The weather on the night of in chapter 8 foreshadows …show more content…
In other words, the weather is wild and unpredictable, much like Hyde’s actions throughout the chapter. Additionally, the thrashing of the trees against the railing foreshadows the demise of Hyde, as the trees destroying themselves links to the discovery of the body, where “Utterson knew that he was looking at the body of a self-destroyer”. The wild and stormy weather with the addition of the self-destroying trees links to Jekyll trying to stand against the storm of suspicions about his connection with Hyde, as well as his battle for control against Hyde, until his death. This wild weather is juxtaposed by weather earlier in the novella, where it is described as “bright with sunset”, during the period where Hyde has disappeared. This description of the weather, through and external narrative voice allows assumptions to be made about future events in the novella, as the character of Utterson does not typically observe minor aspects such as the weather. Throughout the novella, the internal narrative voice of Utterson is factual, and one that does not draw conclusions, without proper evidence, as he is a reasonable, level-headed epitome of Victorian gentlemanliness. Due to this level-headedness, Utterson is not suersticious, so would not note the wild weather, and view it as a warning about possible foreboding events. An external narrator is used throughout …show more content…
An example of this is when Poole, Jekyll’s long-serving butler “knocked with a somewhat uncertain hand, on the red baize of the cabinet door”. This description of the red baize on the cabinet door is a motif used throughout the narrative, usually on the outer covering to the laboratory door, which was solely used by Hyde, to enter the house. The baize represents the theme of class division, baize was typically used to cover doors, to block the noise made by servants, to prevent disturbing the master of the house. This divide between Jekyll and his staff, demonstrates a prominent prejudice, during the 1800s, where London was divided into the wealthy classes and the poorer classes, which led to the divide between upper class people on the west side of London, while the poverty-stricken and criminals lived on the east side of London. However, baize used in the 1800s, to cover doors, was typically green, so the red baize covering the door to the cabinet shows that something is wrong and that immoral acts have taken place behind it. Additionally, as it is Poole, who is in the main part of the house, while Jekyll is locked on the other side, in the room, it demonstrates that the baize is not there to prevent Jekyll from hearing the servants, but to prevent the servants of the house from hearing the events taking place behind the door. The external narrative voice used to describe
The weather on the night of in chapter 8 foreshadows …show more content…
In other words, the weather is wild and unpredictable, much like Hyde’s actions throughout the chapter. Additionally, the thrashing of the trees against the railing foreshadows the demise of Hyde, as the trees destroying themselves links to the discovery of the body, where “Utterson knew that he was looking at the body of a self-destroyer”. The wild and stormy weather with the addition of the self-destroying trees links to Jekyll trying to stand against the storm of suspicions about his connection with Hyde, as well as his battle for control against Hyde, until his death. This wild weather is juxtaposed by weather earlier in the novella, where it is described as “bright with sunset”, during the period where Hyde has disappeared. This description of the weather, through and external narrative voice allows assumptions to be made about future events in the novella, as the character of Utterson does not typically observe minor aspects such as the weather. Throughout the novella, the internal narrative voice of Utterson is factual, and one that does not draw conclusions, without proper evidence, as he is a reasonable, level-headed epitome of Victorian gentlemanliness. Due to this level-headedness, Utterson is not suersticious, so would not note the wild weather, and view it as a warning about possible foreboding events. An external narrator is used throughout …show more content…
An example of this is when Poole, Jekyll’s long-serving butler “knocked with a somewhat uncertain hand, on the red baize of the cabinet door”. This description of the red baize on the cabinet door is a motif used throughout the narrative, usually on the outer covering to the laboratory door, which was solely used by Hyde, to enter the house. The baize represents the theme of class division, baize was typically used to cover doors, to block the noise made by servants, to prevent disturbing the master of the house. This divide between Jekyll and his staff, demonstrates a prominent prejudice, during the 1800s, where London was divided into the wealthy classes and the poorer classes, which led to the divide between upper class people on the west side of London, while the poverty-stricken and criminals lived on the east side of London. However, baize used in the 1800s, to cover doors, was typically green, so the red baize covering the door to the cabinet shows that something is wrong and that immoral acts have taken place behind it. Additionally, as it is Poole, who is in the main part of the house, while Jekyll is locked on the other side, in the room, it demonstrates that the baize is not there to prevent Jekyll from hearing the servants, but to prevent the servants of the house from hearing the events taking place behind the door. The external narrative voice used to describe