Part 6: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Character

ead the excerpts from chapter eight of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Excerpt 1:

Poole, who had kept all the way a pace or two ahead, now pulled up in the middle of the pavement, and in spite of the biting weather, took off his hat and mopped his brow with a red pocket-handkerchief. But for all the hurry of his coming, these were not the dews of exertion that he wiped away, but the moisture of some strangling anguish; for his face was white and his voice, when he spoke, harsh and broken.

Excerpt 2:

Mr. Utterson’s nerves, at this unlooked-for termination, gave a jerk that nearly threw him from his balance; but he recollected his courage and followed the butler into the laboratory building through the surgical theatre, with its lumber of crates and bottles, to the foot of the stair. Here Poole motioned him to stand on one side and listen; while he himself, setting down the candle and making a great and obvious call on his resolution, mounted the steps and knocked with a somewhat uncertain hand on the red baize of the cabinet door.

How are Poole and Mr. Utterson similar?

Both struggle with fear and discomfort.

Read these excerpts from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Excerpt 1, from Chapter 1:

[A]ll these were points against [Hyde], but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust, loathing and fear with which Mr. Utterson regarded him. "There must be something else,” said the perplexed gentleman. "There is something more, if I could find a name for it. God bless me, the man seems hardly human!

Excerpt 2, from Chapter 8:

"Ay, ay,” said the lawyer. "My fears incline to the same point. Evil, I fear, founded—evil was sure to come—of that connection. Ay truly, I believe you; I believe poor Harry is killed; and I believe his murderer (for what purpose, God alone can tell) is still lurking in his victim’s room. Well, let our name be vengeance.

How does Mr. Utterson’s relationship to Hyde develop during the story?

He becomes convinced of Hyde’s capacity for evil.

Read the excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

At the sight that met my eyes, my blood was changed into something exquisitely thin and icy. Yes, I had gone to bed Henry Jekyll, I had awakened Edward Hyde. How was this to be explained? I asked myself; and then, with another bound of terror—how was it to be remedied? It was well on in the morning; the servants were up; all my drugs were in the cabinet—a long journey down two pairs of stairs, through the back passage, across the open court and through the anatomical theatre, from where I was then standing horror-struck. It might indeed be possible to cover my face; but of what use was that, when I was unable to conceal the alteration in my stature?

Which description(s) characterize Dr. Jekyll in this excerpt? Check all that apply.

A. shocked
C. concerned
E. anxious

Read the excerpts from chapter one of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Excerpt 1:

Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable.

Excerpt 2:

[Hyde] is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something down-right detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why.

Which statement best describes how Mr. Utterson and Mr. Hyde differ?

Mr. Utterson is well liked by others, in spite of his flaws.

Which excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde uses direct characterization?

This familiar that I called out of my own soul, and sent forth alone to do his good pleasure, was a being inherently malign and villainous . . .

Which excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde uses direct characterization?

I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil . . .

Read the excerpts from chapter one of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Excerpt 1:

That evening Mr. Utterson came home to his bachelor house in sombre spirits and sat down to dinner without relish. It was his custom of a Sunday, when this meal was over, to sit close by the fire, a volume of some dry divinity on his reading desk, until the clock of the neighbouring church rang out the hour of twelve, when he would go soberly and gratefully to bed.

Excerpt 2:

[Dr. Lanyon] was a hearty, healthy, dapper, red-faced gentleman, with a shock of hair prematurely white, and a boisterous and decided manner. At sight of Mr. Utterson, he sprang up from his chair and welcomed him with both hands. The geniality, as was the way of the man, was somewhat theatrical to the eye; but it reposed on genuine feeling.

Which statement best describes how Mr. Utterson and Dr. Lanyon differ?

Dr. Lanyon is more sociable than Mr. Utterson.

Read these excerpts from chapter 8 of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Excerpt 1:

"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.”

Excerpt 2:

"No, sir, that thing in the mask was never Dr. Jekyll—God knows what it was, but it was never Dr. Jekyll; and it is the belief of my heart that there was murder done.”

"Poole,” replied the lawyer, "if you say that, it will become my duty to make certain. Much as I desire to spare your master’s feelings, much as I am puzzled by this note which seems to prove him to be still alive, I shall consider it my duty to break in that door.”

How does Mr. Utterson develop in these excerpts?

He begins to consider illogical possibilities.

Which statement(s) describe the steps for studying character development? Check all that apply.

A. Consider the character’s actions at the beginning of the story.
C. Analyze how the character reacts to plot events throughout the story.
D. Study the character’s behaviors at the end of the story.

Read the excerpts from chapter one of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Excerpt 1:

"I see you feel as I do,” said Mr. Enfield. "Yes, it’s a bad story. For my man was a fellow that nobody could have to do with, a really damnable man; and the person that drew the cheque is the very pink of the proprieties, celebrated too, and (what makes it worse) one of your fellows who do what they call good. Black mail I suppose; an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth. Black Mail House is what I call the place with the door, in consequence.

Excerpt 2:

And the lawyer set out homeward with a very heavy heart. "Poor Harry Jekyll,” he thought, "my mind misgives me he is in deep waters! He was wild when he was young; a long while ago to be sure; but in the law of God, there is no statute of limitations. Ay, it must be that; the ghost of some old sin, the cancer of some concealed disgrace: punishment coming, PEDE CLAUDO, years after memory has forgotten and self-love condoned the fault.”

How are Mr. Enfield and Mr. Utterson similar?

Both express sympathy for Jekyll’s predicament.

Which excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde uses direct characterization?

Dr. Jekyll has real human impulses; Mr. Hyde is only evil.

Read the excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Small indeed was my appetite. This inexplicable incident, this reversal of my previous experience, seemed, like the Babylonian finger on the wall, to be spelling out the letters of my judgment; and I began to reflect more seriously than ever before on the issues and possibilities of my double existence.

What conclusion can the reader draw about Dr. Jekyll from this excerpt?

He is concerned about the course of his experiment.

Which statement best describes how Mr. Utterson’s view of civility and proper behavior changes throughout The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

He becomes less concerned with manners, and he invades his friend’s privacy to find answers.

Which sentence uses indirect characterization?

Zach lifts weights at the gym every day after work..