What is jesuitical spite

Judicial spite means using casuistry reason to cause harm to one side. The comparison between Eel and an actual eel is not the only metaphorical turn that occurs in Chekhov's descriptions of this distinctive canine. Eel is also personified as a creature capable of "the most Jesuitical spite and malice" (49). How he is described references both a lower-order animal (the eel) and higher-order cunning (the Jesuits, a group of Catholic priests), creating a memorable image from comparisons that would normally have strikingly different connotations.