The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 1886

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapters 9-10

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Chapter 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 2 Summary: “Search for Mr. Hyde”

Utterson returns home and examines a will from Dr. Jekyll, a client of his. The will stipulates that should Jekyll die or disappear, his “friend and benefactor Edward Hyde” (56) will inherit his possessions. As a lawyer, Utterson is disturbed by this document, especially now that he knows the character of Hyde. He consults with Dr. Lanyon, a friend of his and Jekyll’s. Lanyon says that he has become estranged from Jekyll since he went “wrong in the mind” and started to dabble in “unscientific balderdash” (57), and he professes that he has never heard of Hyde. Haunted by the mystery of the case, Utterson resolves to track down Hyde: “If he be Mr. Hyde, I shall be Mr. Seek” (59).

One night, while waiting at Hyde’s door, Utterson meets him returning home. The two exchange some terse words, and Hyde disappears into his house. Utterson is deeply disturbed by Hyde’s manner and appearance, which he judges to be “hardly human” and bearing “Satan’s signature” (61).

Utterson goes to Jekyll’s home, which is around the corner from and adjoins Hyde’s, and talks to Jekyll’s butler Poole. Poole explains that Jekyll is out and that Hyde has a key to enter his side of the house, through the laboratory, whenever he wishes. Returning home, Utterson worries that Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll and may want to kill him in order to inherit sooner. He resolves to “put my shoulders to the wheel” (64) and save Jekyll from the danger he is in.

Chapter 2 Analysis

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde combines elements of science fiction, mystery, and gothic horror. This chapter strongly suggests the mystery genre. Utterson is mystified by the shadowy identity of Hyde and his connection to his client and friend, Jekyll. He feels compelled to track him down and save Jekyll from possible danger. Utterson thus takes on the mantle of a private or amateur detective. He puts himself in direct danger by waiting outside Hyde’s door at night. His terse encounter with Hyde adds to the strange and suspicious impressions of that character.

The encounter makes an unpleasant impression on Utterson, leaving him with “nausea” and “distaste of life” (62). This gloomy mood carries over into the scene in which Utterson waits for Jekyll in his sitting room. Stevenson’s descriptions paint the mood of impending doom as present in ordinary domestic things: “[Utterson] seemed to read a menace in the flickering of the firelight on the polished cabinets and the uneasy starting of the shadow on the roof” (62). These descriptions foreshadow the twisted events that will unravel as the book progresses.

Chapter 2 also introduces Utterson as the primary viewpoint character. Although not a narrator, we are given descriptions of Hyde through Utterson’s perspective, which also heightens the mystery surrounding the book. Indeed, the enigma of Hyde begins to sink deeper into Utterson’s consciousness and Utterson even begins to have nightmares about Hyde. In these dreams Hyde appears faceless, reflecting the mystery surrounding him.

Through the scene between Utterson and Lanyon (56-57), this chapter establishes the professional distrust between Lanyon and Jekyll and the latter’s allegiance to alternative scientific theories. These scenes reveal the succinctness of Stevenson’s storytelling style. Things happen quickly and economically. For example, the scene between Utterson and Lanyon lasts barely two pages. Despite the brevity, Stevenson is able to accomplish major plot points, including the mystery of Jekyll’s will; the introduction of Lanyon; Utterson’s face-to-face meeting with Hyde; and the absence of Jekyll from his home and Hyde’s presence in it.