Jekyll and Hyde - essay questions formatted for Cambridge GCSE or A Level
Essay questions:
1. Explore how Jekyll changes throughout the novel.
2. How does Stevenson explore the theme of (add theme) in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?
3. What is the importance of weather in the novel?
4. How does Stevenson effectively portray (add character) throughout The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?
5. How far are you able to feel sympathy for Dr Jekyll?
6. What is the importance of setting in this novel?
7. Write about the importance of symbols and symbolism in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
8. How does Robert Louis Stevenson create mystery and suspense in Jekyll and Hyde?
9. Explore any ONE or TWO moments in the novel when Stevenson makes Mr Hyde’s behaviour particularly horrifying.
10. To what extent is Jekyll able to control Hyde?
Passage questions:
1. Chapter 1, the description of the by-street and the door, starting “It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a by-street” going to “drive away these random visitors or to repair their ravages.”
How does Stevenson make this passage significant in the novel as a whole?
2. Chapter 3, the first appearance of Dr Jekyll, starting at Jekyll “now sat on the opposite side of the fire - a large, smooth-faced man of fifty” going to “this is a private matter, and I beg of you to let it sleep.”
How does Stevenson make this first appearance of Dr Jekyll so important?
3. Chapter 4, description of the journey to Hyde’s house in Soho, starting from “it was by this time about nine in the morning, and the first fog of the season” and going to “ ‘Ah!’ said she, ‘he is in trouble! What has he done?’ ”
How does Stevenson’s writing here make this area of London so sinister?
4. Chapter 8, the journey to Jekyll’s house, starting at “It was a wild, cold, seasonable night of March” going to “knocked with a some-what uncertain hand on the red baize of the cabinet door.”
How does Stevenson’s writing build tension and suspense at this moment in the novel?
5. Chapter 8, waiting outside Jekyll’s cabinet door, starting at “As Bradshaw left, the lawyer looked at his watch” going to “Down with the door, Poole!”
How does Stevenson’s writing build tension and suspense at this moment in the novel?
6. Chapter 10, Jekyll’s explanation of the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, starting at “Instantly, the spirit of hell awoke in me and raged” going to “ground the key under my heel!”
How does Stevenson’s writing emphasise the difference between Jekyll and Hyde at this moment in the novel?