Jekyll and Hyde

Who is Mr. Utterson, and what is his personality like?

He is Jekyll’s lawyer and friend; he is quiet, serious, trustworthy, tolerant, and loyal.

Who is Richard Enfield, and how is he connected to Utterson?

He is Utterson’s distant relative and companion on their regular Sunday walks.

Where does the story mainly take place?

London, including Jekyll’s house and laboratory, Hyde’s rooms in Soho, Lanyon’s home in Cavendish Square, and Regent’s Park.

What does the mysterious door look like, and where does it lead?

It is dirty, damaged, and neglected; it leads into the laboratory building connected to Jekyll’s house.

What does Enfield see Hyde do around three in the morning?

Hyde collides with a young girl and calmly tramples over her, leaving her screaming but not seriously injured.

How do Enfield, the girl’s family, and the doctor react to Hyde?

They feel intense disgust and anger, and they threaten to create a scandal unless he compensates the family.

How does Hyde compensate the girl’s family?

He pays one hundred pounds: ten pounds in gold and ninety pounds by cheque.

Why is the cheque Hyde gives the family suspicious?

It is signed by a well-known, respectable man, later revealed as Jekyll; however, the bank confirms it is genuine.

What explanation does Enfield suggest for Hyde’s connection to the cheque’s signer?

Blackmail; he suspects Hyde is threatening a respectable man with a hidden scandal.

Why is Hyde difficult for people to describe?

He creates a strong impression of deformity and evil, but people cannot identify a specific physical defect.

What does Jekyll’s original will say?

Hyde will inherit Jekyll’s possessions if Jekyll dies or disappears for more than three calendar months.

Why does Jekyll’s will worry Utterson?

He suspects Hyde is controlling Jekyll and fears Hyde might murder him to inherit sooner.

Who is Dr. Lanyon, and why has he grown apart from Jekyll?

He is an old friend and doctor who rejects Jekyll’s unconventional scientific theories as “unscientific balderdash.”

How does Lanyon look at the beginning compared with after his terrible shock?

Initially he is healthy, cheerful, and energetic; afterward he becomes pale, thin, aged, and terrified.

Why does Utterson watch the mysterious door, and what does “Mr. Seek” mean?

He wants to meet Hyde; his joke about becoming “Mr. Seek” expresses his determination to find and investigate him.

How does Utterson feel when he first meets Hyde, and what address does Hyde give him?

Utterson feels disgust, fear, and uneasiness; Hyde gives him an address in Soho.

Who is Poole, and what does he reveal about Hyde’s privileges?

Poole is Jekyll’s longtime butler; he says Hyde has a key and that the servants must obey him.

How is Jekyll described when Utterson stays after his dinner party?

He is a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of about fifty, showing intelligence and kindness.

How does Jekyll react when Utterson questions him about Hyde and the will?

He becomes pale and uncomfortable, refuses to explain, and asks Utterson to leave the private matter alone.

What does Jekyll claim about controlling Hyde, and what promise does he request?

He claims he can get rid of Hyde whenever he chooses and asks Utterson to protect Hyde’s rights if Jekyll is gone.

Who is Sir Danvers Carew, and who witnesses his murder?

Carew is a respected elderly Member of Parliament and Utterson’s client; a maid watching from an upstairs window witnesses his murder.

How does Hyde murder Carew, and what happens to the weapon?

He beats him with a heavy cane and tramples him with “ape-like fury”; the cane breaks in two.

What connects Carew’s murder to Utterson and Jekyll?

Carew carries an envelope addressed to Utterson, and the broken cane was a gift Utterson had given Jekyll.

Who is Inspector Newcomen, and what does he find in Hyde’s Soho rooms?

He is the investigating police inspector; he finds the other half of the cane and the remains of a burned cheque book.

What are Hyde’s Soho rooms and housekeeper like?

The rooms are luxuriously furnished but hurriedly ransacked; the elderly housekeeper shows unpleasant excitement when she learns Hyde is in trouble.

Why do the police struggle to catch Hyde?

He disappears, has few acquaintances, has no available photograph, and is difficult to describe consistently.

Where does Utterson visit Jekyll after the murder, and how does Jekyll look?

In Jekyll’s cabinet, his private room above the laboratory; Jekyll looks deathly sick and shaken.

What does Jekyll say about Hyde after Carew’s murder?

He swears he is finished with Hyde, will never see him again, and believes Hyde has a dependable means of escape.

What does the letter supposedly written by Hyde say, and why is its delivery suspicious?

It says Hyde can escape without Jekyll’s help; Jekyll claims it was hand-delivered, but Poole says no messenger came.

Who is Mr. Guest, and what does he discover about the letter?

He is Utterson’s head clerk and a handwriting expert; he notices that Hyde’s writing is almost identical to Jekyll’s except for its slope.

What does Utterson suspect after Guest compares the handwriting?

He suspects Jekyll forged Hyde’s letter to protect a murderer.

How does Jekyll behave during his temporary recovery after Hyde disappears?

For more than two months, he becomes social, charitable, religious, active outdoors, and apparently happier.

What happens to Jekyll’s social life in January?

After a dinner on January 8, he withdraws again; Utterson is refused entry on January 12, 14, and 15.

What does Lanyon tell Utterson after his shock?

He says he will never recover and refuses to discuss Jekyll, whom he now regards as dead to him.

What does Jekyll’s letter to Utterson say about his isolation?

He says he has brought danger and punishment upon himself and asks Utterson to respect his silence and leave him alone.

What instructions accompany Lanyon’s sealed account, and why does Utterson obey them?

It must remain unopened until Jekyll’s death or disappearance; Utterson respects his friend’s instructions despite his curiosity.

What happens when Utterson and Enfield speak to Jekyll at the window?

Jekyll looks like a sad prisoner and refuses a walk; his smile suddenly becomes terror and despair, and the window closes.

Do Utterson and Enfield see a complete transformation at the window, and what does Utterson say afterward?

No; they see a terrifying change in expression before it closes. Utterson says, “God forgive us, God forgive us.”

Why does Poole seek Utterson’s help on the last night?

He fears Jekyll has been murdered because the voice and figure in the cabinet do not seem to belong to his master.

What has Poole repeatedly been sent to obtain, and what does the desperate written order demand?

A particular chemical salt; the order rejects new supplies as unsuitable and begs for some of the old stock, regardless of expense.

Where does Poole see the masked figure, and why does he think it is Hyde?

He sees it searching among crates in the laboratory; it is much smaller than Jekyll and runs upstairs when surprised.

What explanation does Utterson first suggest for the changed voice and masked figure?

He suggests Jekyll may have an illness that changes his appearance and voice, but Poole insists the figure is not his master.

What do Utterson and Poole hear inside the cabinet, and how do they prepare to enter?

They hear light pacing and have heard weeping; Poole takes an axe, Utterson carries a poker, and Bradshaw and a boy guard the back entrance.

What happens when Utterson demands entry to the cabinet?

A voice begs for mercy; Utterson recognizes Hyde’s voice, and Poole breaks down the door with five axe blows.

What do Utterson and Poole discover after breaking into the cabinet?

Hyde’s body in Jekyll-sized clothes, with a crushed vial and a smell of poison indicating suicide; no separate body of Jekyll is found.

What important objects do Utterson and Poole notice in the cabinet?

Chemical salt, a large mirror, a religious book containing blasphemies in Jekyll’s handwriting, and a broken, rusty key to the outside door.

What documents are found in the cabinet, and whom does the new will name?

A revised will naming Utterson instead of Hyde, a note directing him to Lanyon’s narrative, and Jekyll’s confession.

What does Jekyll’s urgent letter ask Lanyon to do?

Go to Jekyll’s cabinet, retrieve a particular drawer from the press marked E, take it home, and give it to a visitor at midnight.

What is in the drawer Lanyon retrieves?

White powders or crystalline salts, a vial of blood-red liquid, and a notebook recording dates and experiments.

What is the difference between the experimental notebook and the religious book?

The notebook contains dates and notes such as “double” and “total failure”; the religious book contains blasphemous remarks written by Hyde.

Who arrives at Lanyon’s house at midnight, and what is strange about his appearance?

Hyde arrives, anxious for the drawer and wearing clothes much too large for him.

What happens when Hyde mixes the chemicals, and what choice does he offer Lanyon?

The mixture bubbles and changes from reddish to dark purple to watery green; Hyde offers to leave without explaining or let Lanyon witness the truth.

What does Lanyon witness after Hyde drinks the mixture?

Hyde transforms physically into Henry Jekyll, revealing that they are forms of the same person.

Why does witnessing the transformation destroy Lanyon’s peace of mind?

It overturns his scientific beliefs and reveals that his old friend is also Carew’s murderer; he becomes terrified, loses sleep, and soon dies.

What does Jekyll reveal about his early life and hidden desires?

He was wealthy and talented but concealed pleasures that conflicted with the respectable public reputation he wanted.

What does Jekyll mean by saying that man is “not truly one, but truly two”?

He believes human nature contains conflicting good and evil sides, which he hopes to separate through science.

Why does Jekyll create the transforming potion?

He wants to separate his conflicting sides and indulge forbidden desires without damaging his respectable identity.

How does Jekyll feel during and immediately after his first transformation?

He suffers intense pain, nausea, and terror, then feels younger, lighter, freer, and less restrained.

Why is Hyde smaller and younger-looking, and why does Jekyll initially welcome his reflection?

Jekyll believes his evil side is less developed; he recognizes Hyde as part of himself and welcomes the freedom he represents.

Does Jekyll’s experiment create a perfectly good Jekyll and a perfectly evil Hyde?

No; Hyde represents evil without moral restraints, while Jekyll remains a mixture of good and evil.

How does Jekyll arrange a protected double life for Hyde?

He rents Soho rooms, grants Hyde access to his house, orders the servants to obey him, and names him in the will.

How does Jekyll excuse Hyde’s wrongdoing, and why does he remain responsible?

He tells himself Hyde alone is guilty, but Jekyll knowingly creates, enables, and repeatedly releases him.

How does Jekyll explain the similar handwriting and the cheque used after the girl’s trampling?

They share the ability to write; after using Jekyll’s cheque, he opens Hyde’s own account and changes the slope of his signature.

What is the first major sign that Jekyll is losing control?

He goes to sleep as Jekyll and wakes as Hyde without taking the drug, recognizing Hyde’s small, hairy hand.

How do Hyde and the drug change as Jekyll continues his double life?

Hyde grows stronger, transformations become harder to control, and larger doses are sometimes needed to restore Jekyll.

Why does Jekyll’s first attempt to give up Hyde fail?

Although he stops for two months, he keeps Hyde’s clothes and rooms and eventually gives in to temptation.

What does “My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring” refer to?

Hyde’s intensified violence after a period of restraint, leading to Carew’s murder.

What does Jekyll do after Carew’s murder to try to stop Hyde?

He resolves to stop transforming, destroys the laboratory door’s key, and devotes himself to charity and religion.

What happens in Regent’s Park, and why does Jekyll need Lanyon’s help afterward?

He involuntarily becomes Hyde in public; as a wanted murderer with no safe access to his chemicals, he needs Lanyon to retrieve them.

Why do Jekyll’s letters convince Lanyon and Poole to help even though he is trapped as Hyde?

Hyde can still write in Jekyll’s handwriting and send instructions in his name.

What happens whenever Jekyll sleeps near the end, and how does the drug’s purpose change?

He wakes as Hyde; the drug is now needed to restore Jekyll temporarily rather than simply to release Hyde.

How does Hyde torment Jekyll during their final struggle?

He writes blasphemies in Jekyll’s books, burns letters, and destroys his father’s portrait, but fears killing their shared body.

Why do replacement supplies of salt fail to work?

Jekyll concludes that an unknown impurity in the original salt made the potion effective, and he cannot reproduce it.

What is Jekyll’s final emotional state, and what does he expect when the last powder wears off?

He is remorseful, terrified, exhausted, and resigned; he expects his identity to disappear permanently into Hyde.

What does Jekyll mean by calling the end of his confession his “true hour of death”?

He believes this is the end of his ability to exist and think as Henry Jekyll, even if Hyde lives briefly afterward.

How does the story end, and why is there no separate body of Jekyll?

The novel ends with Jekyll’s confession; the body already found in Hyde’s form is their shared body, so its death ends both identities.

What are the story’s main themes?

Good and evil within one person, public reputation versus private behavior, the dangers of unchecked experimentation, temptation, and responsibility for one’s choices.