GCSE English Literature

1. Victorian Gentlemen
Objective: To begin to understand why Stevenson was interested in
man’s different side.

2. Jekyll and Hyde is about a group of gentlemen.
• A man’s social class was one part of being a gentleman- they were
from the upper classes of Victorian society.
• His profession (job) was very important- army officers, church
ministers, doctors and lawyers were counted as gentlemen.
• Gentlemen were expected to have strong morals and be kind,
particularly towards poor people.

4. Victorian gentlemen tried to hide their darker
side
• In Victorian middle and upper class society, it was important to look
respectable. Because of this, people hid their true feelings, especially
if these were immoral or improper.
• Reputation was very important to Victorian gentlemen. They did not
want their good name ruined.
• To protect their reputation, people often kept their behaviour secret.
• They didn’t like to talk about anything that might damage their
reputation.

5. Gentlemen were obsessed with their
reputation
• Gentlemen were determined to keep their reputations.
• Gentlemen would often walk through public places such as Hyde Park
in London. This helped them to keep up their appearance.
• Gentlemen were expected to not show too much emotion. Any
desires they had, like sex or alcohol, they had to hide.
• Many gentlemen were snobbish about places like brothels or pubs
even though they visited them secretly (hypocrisy).
• They paid large amounts of money to keep activities like going to the
pub or a brothel private. This made it easier for them to be
blackmailed.