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

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The description of Jekyll’s house introduces an element of clear symbolism. The doctor lives in a well-appointed home, described by Stevenson as having “a great air of wealth and comfort.” The building secretly connects to his laboratory, which faces out on another street and appears sinister and run-down. It is in the laboratory that Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde. Like the two secretly connected buildings, seemingly having nothing to do with each other but in fact easily traversed, the upstanding Jekyll and the corrupt Hyde appear separate but in fact share an unseen inner connection. A "fog rolled over the city:" highlighting the air of mystery in the novel, as well as foreshadown another appearance of Hyde and apprehension as we wait for Hyde to act out once more The lawyer took that rude but weighty instrument into his hand, and balanced it. "Do you know, Poole," he said, looking up, "that you and I are about to place ourselves in a position of some peril ?"

When the novel opens, Mr. Utterson (a lawyer) and his friend Richard Enfield (a distant kinsman) are out for their customary Sunday srroll in London. People who know both men find it puzzling that the men are friends; seemingly, they have nothing in common. Yet both men look forward to their weekly Sunday walk as if it were "the chief jewel of each week." Mr. Utterson, the lawyer, is a cold man, very tall and lean, and has a face "never lighted by a smile." Enfield is much more outgoing and curious about life, and it is on this particular Sunday walk that he raises his cane and indicates a peculiar-looking door. He asks Utterson if he's ever noticed the door. With a slight change in his voice, Utterson says that he has, and then Enfield continues; the door, he tells Utterson, has "a very odd story." This little spirit of temper was somewhat of a relief to Mr. Utterson. "They have only differed on some point of science," he thought; and being a man of no scientific passions ( except in the matter of conveyancing) , he even added: "It is nothing worse than that!" He gave his friend a few seconds to recover his composure, and then approached the question he had come to put. "Did you ever come across a protege of his—one Hyde ?" he asked. displeasing smile" - even his smile makes people want to gag! Hyde is so evil that his smile seems "sly" and evil, scaring anyone he looks at. Now, sir," said he, "you come as gently as you can. I want you to hear, and I don't want you to be heard. And see here, sir, if by any chance he was to ask you in , don't go ." Mr. Utterson is a wealthy, well-respected London lawyer, a reserved and perhaps even boring man who nevertheless inspires a strangefondness in those who know him. Despite his eminent respectability, he never abandons a friend whose reputation has been sullied or ruined.

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Your master seems to repose a great deal of trust in that young man, Poole," resumed the other musingly. Because I fear," replied the lawyer solemnly. "God grant I have no cause for it!" And with that he brought the paper to his eyes and read as follows: O, dear no, sir. He never dines here," replied the butler. "Indeed we see very little of him on this side of the house; he mostly comes and goes by the laboratory ." 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:

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 Bless me, Poole, what brings you here?" he cried ; and then taking a second look at him, "What ails you?" he added; "is the doctor ill?" At the "hour of 12," the midnight hour connoting the evil, crime and darkness that comes out during the night, Utterson walks to see Dr Lanyon As science was considered new and unpredictable in the Victorian period, this led to increased anxieties about it. Stevenson uses the Victorians’ fear and uncertainty of science to make Jekyll’s experiment appear more frightening to his readership. I've been afraid for about a week," returned Poole, doggedly disregarding the question, " and I can bear it no more ."Step 1: Read the extract and understand where it is in the novel: would the reader know about the Jekyll and Hyde persona? What advantage does this give the modern reader and disadvantages to the contemporary (from origin of the book) reader? Stevenson suggests that “he gives a strong feeling of deformity” though he does not specify what this deformity is

The man's appearance amply bore out his words; his manner was altered for the worse ; and except for the moment when he had first announced his terror, he had not once looked the lawyer in the face. Even now, he sat with the glass of wine untasted on his knee, and his eyes directed to a corner of the floor. "I can bear it no more," he repeated. A close observer might have gathered that the topic was distasteful; but the doctor carried it off gaily. "My poor Utterson," said he, "you are unfortunate in such a client. I never saw a man so distressed as you were by my will; unless it were that hide-bound pedant , Lanyon, at what he called my scientific heresies . Oh, I know he's a good fellow—you needn't frown—an excellent fellow, and I always mean to see more of him; but a hide-bound pedant for all that; an ignorant, blatant pedant. I was never more disappointed in any man than Lanyon." 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.After a little rambling talk, the lawyer led up to the subject which so disagreeably pre-occupied his mind. You will not find Dr. Jekyll; he is from home ," replied Mr. Hyde, blowing in the key. And then suddenly, but still without looking up, "How did you know me?" he asked.