Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Violence Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

And then all of a sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on (as the maid described it) like a madman. The old gentleman took a step back, with the air of one very much surprised and a trifle hurt; and at that Mr. Hyde broke out of all bounds and clubbed him to the earth. And next moment, with ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot and hailing down a storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway. (4.1)

Mr. Hyde is unpredictably and excessively violent. His violence is repeatedly likened to animalistic savagery.

Quote #5

The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death. (10.4)

Transforming between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is not a smooth and seamless process, but rather immensely violent. This signifies the enormity of change that is occurring.

Quote #6

I was conscious, even when I took the draught, of a more unbridled, a more furious propensity to ill. It must have been this, I suppose, that stirred in my soul that tempest of impatience with which I listened to the civilities of my unhappy victim; I declare, at least, before God, no man morally sane could have been guilty of that crime upon so pitiful a provocation; and that I struck in no more reasonable spirit than that in which a sick child may break a plaything. But I had voluntarily stripped myself of all those balancing instincts by which even the worst of us continues to walk with some degree of steadiness among temptations; and in my case, to be tempted, however slightly, was to fall. (10.18)

Mr. Hyde has absolutely no scruples or morals; beating Sir Danvers to death is like a child breaking a plaything—an act of no consequence.