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Robert Louis Stevenson, 1886
Everything you need for your GCSE English Literature exam. Chapter-by-chapter plot, character profiles, themes with evidence, 25+ key quotations with analysis, Gothic conventions, historical context, narrative structure, and essay planning guidance.
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Mr Utterson, a London lawyer, walks with his cousin Mr Enfield. Enfield tells of witnessing a small, deformed man (Hyde) trample a young girl at a doorway. The man paid compensation with a cheque signed by a respectable gentleman — Dr Jekyll. The mysterious door connects to Jekyll's laboratory. Utterson is troubled but the two agree never to discuss the matter again, establishing the theme of secrecy that pervades the novella.
Key Moments
Utterson reads Jekyll's will, which leaves everything to Edward Hyde. Disturbed, Utterson visits Dr Lanyon, who has fallen out with Jekyll over “unscientific balderdash.” Utterson haunts the door until he meets Hyde, who gives him his Soho address. Utterson is repulsed by Hyde's appearance but cannot explain why. He visits Jekyll, who assures him the matter is under control and asks Utterson to honour the will.
Key Moments
Jekyll hosts a dinner party for his friends. Afterwards, Utterson raises the subject of Hyde and the will. Jekyll becomes uncomfortable but insists he can be rid of Hyde whenever he chooses. He asks Utterson to help Hyde if anything happens to him. This chapter establishes Jekyll's outward respectability and the contrast between his public and private life.
Key Moments
Nearly a year later, a maid witnesses Hyde brutally murder Sir Danvers Carew, a distinguished MP, beating him to death with a cane. The murder is unprovoked and savage. Utterson recognises the broken cane as one he gave Jekyll. He leads the police to Hyde's Soho rooms, which are ransacked. Hyde has disappeared. The violence escalates Stevenson's exploration of uncontrolled evil.
Key Moments
Utterson visits Jekyll, who looks deathly ill. Jekyll claims Hyde has fled and shows Utterson a letter from Hyde. However, Utterson's head clerk, Mr Guest, notes that Hyde's handwriting is remarkably similar to Jekyll's, merely with a different slope. Utterson suspects Jekyll is forging for a murderer, deepening the mystery.
Key Moments
Jekyll becomes sociable again briefly, then suddenly refuses visitors. Utterson visits Lanyon, who has received a terrible shock and appears fatally ill. Lanyon says he has had a revelation about Jekyll but refuses to speak of it. He dies shortly after, leaving Utterson a sealed letter, only to be opened after Jekyll's death or disappearance.
Key Moments
Utterson and Enfield pass Jekyll's window. Jekyll sits looking like a prisoner. He begins to converse but suddenly a look of terror crosses his face. The window is shut and the two men walk away in horrified silence. This brief chapter intensifies the sense of dread and suggests Jekyll is losing control.
Key Moments
Poole, Jekyll's butler, comes to Utterson in distress. Someone is locked in the laboratory and Poole believes his master has been murdered. They hear a voice crying for a chemical and Poole says it is not Jekyll's voice. They break down the door and find Hyde's body, dead from poison (suicide), wearing Jekyll's clothes. Jekyll is nowhere to be found. They discover letters for Utterson.
Key Moments
Lanyon's letter describes receiving instructions from Jekyll to collect chemicals from the laboratory. A small, repulsive man (Hyde) arrived and, before Lanyon's eyes, drank a potion and transformed into Dr Jekyll. The shock of witnessing this transformation is what killed Lanyon. This is the first direct revelation of the dual identity to another character.
Key Moments
Jekyll's confession explains everything. He describes his respectable life and his secret pleasures. He discovered a potion that separated his good and evil natures, becoming Hyde to indulge without consequence. Over time, Hyde grew stronger and Jekyll found himself transforming involuntarily. When the potion's ingredients ran out (the original salt was impure and irreplaceable), Jekyll knew Hyde would take over permanently. The statement ends mid-sentence as Jekyll becomes Hyde for the final time.
Key Moments