The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (annotated)

Product Information

Utterson, the lawyer, tells his friend Enfield that sometimes it's best to mind one's own business, but he does want to know the name of the man who ran down the child. Enfield tells him that "it was a man of the name of Hyde." Asked to describe Hyde, Enfield finds it difficult because the man had "something wrong with his appearance, something displeasing, something downright detestable." Your master seems to repose a great deal of trust in that young man, Poole," resumed the other musingly.

Stevenson suggests that “he gives a strong feeling of deformity” though he does not specify what this deformity is Two weeks later, Jekyll throws a well-attended dinner party. Utterson stays late so that the two men can speak privately. Utterson mentions the will, and Jekyll begins to make a joke about it, but he turns pale when Utterson tells him that he has been “learning something of young Hyde.” Jekyll explains that the situation with Hyde is exceptional and cannot be solved by talking. He also insists that “the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde.” But Jekyll emphasizes the great interest he currently takes in Hyde and his desire to continue to provide for him. He makes Utterson promise that he will carry out his will and testament. Analysis: Chapters 2–3 Changed? Well, yes, I think so ," said the butler. "Have I been twenty years in this man's house, to be deceived about his voice? No, sir; master's made away with; he was made, away with eight days ago, when we heard him cry out upon the name of God; and who's in there instead of him, and why it stays there , is a thing that cries to Heaven, Mr. Utterson!" Utterson sighs, and the two men make a pact never to speak of the horrible incident again, shaking hands to seal their agreement.First published by Stevenson in 1886, three years after his success Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has had a huge influence on the popular imagination, and especially comic book characters like The Hulk and Batman’s Two-Face. Yes, I preferred the elderly and discontented doctor, surrounded by friends and cherishing honest hopes; and bade a resolute farewell to the liberty, the comparative youth, the light step, leaping impulses and secret pleasures, that I had enjoyed in the disguise of Hyde. I made this choice perhaps with some unconscious reservation, for I neither gave up the house in Soho, nor destroyed the clothes of Edward Hyde, which still lay ready in my cabinet. For two months, however, I was true to my determination; for two months I led a life of such severity as I had never before attained to, and enjoyed the compensations of an approving conscience. But time began at last to obliterate the freshness of my alarm; the praises of conscience began to grow into a thing of course; I began to be tortured with throes and longings, as of Hyde struggling after freedom; and at last, in an hour of moral weakness, I once again compounded and swallowed the transforming draught. It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a by-street in a busy quarter of London. The street was small and what is called quiet , but it drove a thriving trade on the week-days. The inhabitants were all doing well, it seemed, and all emulously hoping to do better still, and laying out the surplus of their gains in coquetry; so that the shop fronts stood along that thoroughfare with an air of invitation, like rows of smiling saleswomen. Even on Sunday, when it veiled its more florid charms and lay comparatively empty of passage, the street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood, like a fire in a forest; and with its freshly painted shutters, well-polished brasses, and general cleanliness and gaiety of note, instantly caught and pleased the eye of the passenger.

Utterson is very interested in the case and asks whether Enfield is certain Hyde used a key to open the door. Enfield is sure he did. Whenever Hyde appears to the authors, and even the reader, there is always a negative reaction. For example, when Hyde "tramples" the little girl in Chapter 1, the reader is told of how the: That is the same drug that I was always bringing him," said Poole; and even as he spoke, the kettle with a startling noise boiled over. Enfield had "taken a loathing to my gentlemen at first sight" - even a well liked man like Enfield abhors Hyde, and feels the pulls of hatred towards him, the very emotions Hyde expressed when trampling the girl. Mr. Utterson reflected; and then, raising his head, "If you will come with me in my cab," he said, "I think I can take you to his house."When the body is definitely identified as being that of Sir Danvers, Inspector Newcomen of Scotland Yard is immediately appalled, suggesting, therefore, the public fame connected with the murdered man. Thus, this is not just a murder, but the murder of a renowned man of government, and his murder affects the entire nation more than would, say, the murder of a common citizen; the murder of a high public official directly interferes with the smooth and safe operation of the government. Hyde's home: similarly, his house reflects his personality; "a dingy place, a gin palace" summarises how disgusting Hyde appears to others and the "gin palace" reflects his sins. This horrible revelation caused Jekyll to make a serious attempt to cast off his evil side — that is, Edward Hyde — and for some time, he sought out the companionship of his old friends. However, the Edward Hyde side of his nature kept struggling to be recognized, and one sunny day while sitting in Regent's Park, he was suddenly transformed into Edward Hyde. It was at this time that he sought the help of his friend Dr. Lanyon. He hid in a hotel and wrote a letter asking Dr. Lanyon to go to the laboratory in his house and fetch certain drugs to Lanyon's house. There, Hyde drank the potion described in Lanyon's letter. The drug caused him to change to Dr. Jekyll, while Dr. Lanyon watched the transformation in utter horror. That night I had come to the fatal cross-roads . Had I approached my discovery in a more noble spirit, had I risked the experiment while under the empire of generous or pious aspirations, all must have been otherwise, and from these agonies of death and birth, I had come forth an angel instead of a fiend. The drug had no discriminating action; it was neither diabolical nor divine; it but shook the doors of the prison-house of my disposition; and like the captives of Philippi, that which stood within ran forth . At that time my virtue slumbered; my evil, kept awake by ambition, was alert and swift to seize the occasion; and the thing that was projected was Edward Hyde. Hence, although I had now two characters as well as two appearances, one was wholly evil, and the other was still the old Henry Jekyll, that incongruous compound of whose reformation and improvement I had already learned to despair. The movement was thus wholly toward the worse. It can make no change. You do not understand my position," returned the doctor, with a certain incoherency of manner . "I am painfully situated, Utterson; my position is a very strange—a very strange one. It is one of those affairs that cannot be mended by talking."

Doors: closed doors like the "door" in which Hyde enters after trampling the door are a symbol of secrecy and sin as what happens behind closed doors is known by no one. This makes the first chapter extremely significant, as well as the Last Night as it suggests that the secrets will be revealed because the door is broken down In the opening chapter, Stevenson overcomes this challenge by highlighting his characters’ inability to express and come to terms with the events that they have witnessed. “There is something wrong with [Hyde’s] appearance,” Enfield says. “I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point.” In other words, Hyde’s ugliness is not physical but metaphysical; it attaches to his soul more than to his body. Enfield and, later, Utterson, whose minds are not suited to the metaphysical, can sense Hyde’s uncanniness but cannot describe it. Their limited imaginations fail them as they approach the eerie and inexplicable; as rational clashes with irrational, language breaks down. With that he blew out his candle, put on a great-coat, and set forth in the direction of Cavendish Square, that citadel of medicine , where his friend, the great Dr. Lanyon , had his house and received his crowding patients . "If any one knows, it will be Lanyon," he had thought. Mirror: the mirror emphasises the fact that Hyde is Jekyll's double and that all humans are "comingled out of good and evil."I thought it was madness," he said, as he replaced the obnoxious paper in the safe, " and now I begin to fear it is disgrace. " Hyde is described throughout in terms of animalistic imagery which increases as the novella develops: “savage”, “snarled”, “with ape-like fury” and “hardly human” all allude to his aggressive, predatory and primitive nature All of the general views or above definitions of a "Jekyll and Hyde" personality come almost entirely from the last two Chapters of the novel. Until then, the novel is presented as a closely knit mystery story. Sir," said the butler, turning to a sort of mottled pallor, " that thing was not my master, and there's the truth . My master" here he looked round him and began to whisper—"is a tall, fine build of a man, and this was more of a dwarf ." Utterson attempted to protest. "O, sir," cried The city was "brilliantly lit by the full moon:" the moon once again acts as an illuminator for the audience, revealing more information and truth

That's very well said," returned the lawyer; "and whatever comes of it, I shall make it my business to see you are no loser ." A "chocolate covered pall lowered over heaven" is an example of pathetic fallacy as it identifies the feelings Utterson cannot express because he is a respectable gentleman I will see, Mr. Utterson," said Poole, admitting the visitor, as he spoke, into a large, low-roofed, comfortable hall, paved with flags, warmed (after the fashion of a country house) by a bright , open fire, and furnished with costly cabinets of oak. "Will you wait here by the fire, sir? or shall I give you a light in the dining room?"

Already a member?

This is a very strange tale, Poole; this is rather a wild tale, my man," said Mr. Utterson, biting his finger . " Suppose it were as you suppose, supposing Dr. Jekyll to have been—well, murdered, what could induce the murderer to stay? That won't hold water; it doesn't commend itself to reason ." O Poole!" the lawyer cried, "he was alive and here this day. He cannot have been disposed of in so short a space, he must be still alive, he must have fled! And then, why fled? and how? and in that case, can we venture to declare this suicide? Oh, we must be careful. I foresee that we may yet involve your master in some dire catastrophe ." Mr. Enfield and the lawyer were on the other side of the by-street; but when they came abreast of the entry, the former lifted up his cane and pointed.