Dr J & H Characters

Jekyll appears to be a good and respectable man. He is known for his charity work and reads religious texts.

He socialises in upper-class circles and holds dinner parties. He's sociable and friendly with "every mark of capacity and kindness".

Jekyll believes in a socially acceptable way - he is very aware of how people see him. He carries his "head high" in public and is "fond of the respect" people give him.

He is:
Ambitious - "every guarantee of an honourable and distinguished future"

Respectable - "well-known and highly considered"

Troubled - "I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end"

Jekyll has always put on an excessively respectable front - he shows a "more than commonly grave countenance before the public". He worries about his hidden desires - he thinks they're far worse than they are because he's worried about appearing respectable.

His hidden desires make him feel very guilty, so he creates a "deeper trench" than most people between his good side and his bad side. He hides his desires with an "almost morbid sense of shame".

As a result, Jekyll finds himself committed to a "profound duplicity of life", which is why making a potion to split his two sides appeals to him.

Jekyll's excessive sense of guilt for what he sees as his "faults" may be a criticism of the pressures Victorian society placed on people to appear respectable.

Jekyll's experiments in "transcendental medicine" show that he is a brilliant scientist. However his research is controversial - he has lost the respect of Dr Lanyon because of his "unscientific balderdash".

Jekyll's "fanciful" work is not seen as respectable because it crosses the boundary from the science of the material world that Lanyon deals with, into the supernatural and mystical.

By splitting his two sides, Jekyll wanted to rid himself of "the curse of mankind" - the curse that man's good and bad sides are bound together. He is motivated by ambition and a selfish desire to be "relieved of all that was unbearable" - a guilty conscience.

Jekyll is so desperate to separate his two sides that he willingly "risked death" by drinking the potion he creates. However, instead of splitting his 2 sides, he only succeeds in releasing his bad side. Jekyll remains as divided as he always was - like everuone else, he is made up of good and bad qualities.

Scientific discoveries in the 1800s sometimes challenged religious beliefs. Jekyll uses science to challenge the religious belief that people should try to lead a life free from sin.

Whereas Jekyll is a mixture of good and evil, Hyde is "pure evil".

Hyde seems to be violent for the sake of it - the murder of Carew is an unprovoked and uncontrollable act which he takes "delight" in. He enjoys violence way too much.

His evil is reflected in his appearance - it leaves "an imprint of deformity and decay". Hyde is so evil that it is obvious for everyone to see that there is "something wrong with his appearance".

He is:

Merciless - "a man who has without bowels of mercy"

Strange - "he gives a strong feeling of deformity"

Self-centred - "his every act and thought centred on self"

Stevenson frequently compared Hyde to animals, particularly apes. This is a comment on people and society:

- The Victorians considered the society to be civilised - they valued propriety, order and self control. They didn't like the idea that people might have a primitve, animalistic side.

- Many Victorians tried to hide what they thought were animalistic desires beneath a civilised exterior - they wanted to appear respectable in order to fit in with civilised society.

- Darwin's theory of evolution was widely known when the novel was written. Hyde is presented as Jekyll's less evolved side - he is often compared to an ape - and he is smaller and less-respectable which emphasises the idea that the upper-classes were superior.

Stevenson's suggestion that there's a primitive Mr Hyde within a respectable man like Dr Jekyll forces the reader to consider that there could be a dark, immoral side to everyone.

People loathe Hyde when they meet him. After Hyde tramples the child, Enfield is shocked that the unemotional doctor looked as though he had a "desire to kill" Hyde. This strong reaction shows that civilised peopl do have immoral thoughts but don't act upon them.

Several characters say that they can't explain why they dislike Hyde. The fact that they can't exlain why may reflect the way that they have repressed their dark side.

People are disturbed by Hyde's appearance - Enfield says that he is "extraordinary-looking" and Utterson says he can "read Satan's signature" on Hyde's face. His frightening appearance emphasises his difference from other people - he isn't quite human.

"Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind,w as pure evil".

Jekyll creates a completely separate identity for his evil side:

- He gives his other side a name - Edward Hyde

- He furnishes a house and employs a housekeeper for Hyde

- Jekyll chooses a house in a different part of town and dresses Hyde "very plainly". This makes him seem to be of a lower social class.

Jekyll often refers to Hyde in the third person to distance himself from him - for example, "Ifind it in my heart to pity him".

However he does alternate between referring to him in the first person and third person. This reflects his hypocrisy - he undertsnads that man has a dual nature, but he has trouble accepting that Hyde is part of him. This is clear when he says "He, I say - I cannot say I".

Jekyll has "kindness" - Hyde is "callous"

Jekyll has "a tall fine build" - Hyde is "dwarfish"

Jekyll has "all men's respect" - Hyde is "damnable"

They are two sides of the same man though.

Jekyll's obsession with reputation is reflected in Hyde - when Enfield and others threaten to make a "scandal" out of Hyde trampling the child, Hyde says that "No gentleman but wishes to avoid a scene". Hyde has no reputation to protect, but this suggests he is thinking like Jekyll.

Hyde is "astute" - quick witted. He works out how to get his drugs when Jekyll turns into Hyde in the park - he isn't just animalistic and primitive, he is intelligent like Jekyll.

At first, Jekyll seems to be in control of his immoral side. However, one morning he wakes up as Hyde without taking the drug and says that he is "slowly losing hold of my original and better self".

Jekyll becomes increasingly addicted to the immoral side of his personality. He compares himself to a "drunkard" and even though he tries to stop taking the potion that turns him into Hyde, he doesn't give up the house in Soho. This shows how tempting his evil side is.

Jekyll fights to control Hyde, but Hyde just comes out stronger - for example, Hyde murders Carew after Jekyll goes for two months without turning into Hyde.

Finally, Jekyll loses control completely which could suggest that evil is the stronger side of our personality.

Victorians repressed their desires in order to maintain respectability. Stevenson may be criticising the dangers of this kind of repression.

From the beginning, Hyde doesn't care about Jekyll. Hyde just sees Jekyll as a place to conceal himself.

As Hyde becomes stronger, Jekyll begins to hate "the brute that slept" within him. This may reflect Jekyll's self-loathing - he hates the fact that he has an evil side.

Hyde "resented the dislike" which Jekyll feels towards him and punishes Jekyll by playing tricks on him. This may be a warning that it is better to lead a balanced life rather than deny your bad side completely.

Hyde has "more than a son's indifference", while Jekyll has "more than a father's interest". This father-son terminology suggests that, as Hyde's creator, Jekyll cares about Hyde - however, in the end Hyde hates that he needs Jekyll and wants to be a separate person.

Jekyll enjoys indulging his evil side without having to deal with the consequences:

- He is clearly delighted at the thought of pleasure without shame - he "smiled at the notion" and finds it "humorous". He makes thorough arrangements such as furnishing a house for Hyde so that he can indulge his evil side - Jekyll's language shows how he enjoys the freedom of being Hyde. He describes himself as like a "schoolboy", throwing off scoiety's constraints and jumping in the "sea of liberty".

- Although Jekyll is shocked by the actions of Hyde and feels "remorse", his "conscience slumbered" because he felt it was "Hyde alone" who was guilty.

- Jekyll knows what Hyde is capable of and that he might one day take over Jekyll, but he isn't strong enough to stop it - he enjoys being Hyde too much. The fact that Hyde eventually takes over makes you wonder if there was more bad than good in Jekyll after all.

In the end, Jekyll admits that his experiment failed - he realises that it isn't possible to cast off man's evil side because it "returns upon us with more unfamiliar and more awful pressure". This contrasts with his earlier pride and excitement at the results of his experiment.

It's possible to feel sympathy for Jekyll because he is presented as an ordinary man dealing with some challenging issues of human nature.

The reader's sympathy for Jekyll is increased by the horror of his fate. He says that he is facing punishment and that "no one has ever suffered such torments".

Jekyll and Hyde aren't complete opposites. Jekyll isn't completely good, and elements of Jekyll can be seen in Hyde - which is evidence of Jekyll's failure to distance himself from his dark side.

Utterson is a typically rational Victorian gentleman - he's "a lover of the sane and customary sides of life".

He's a lawyer and he approaches the mystery in the same way that he would approach a case. He weighs up the evidence and tries to reach a balanced, unbiased evaluation of the facts.

He is unwilling to consider any explanations which threatens to upset his rational way of thinking. He concludes that Jekyll has locked himself in the cabinet because he is suffering from a disease - he thinks this is a "plain and natural" explanation, unlike Poole's murder theory.

He is:

Serious - "a rugged countenance, that was never lighted by a smile"

Reputable - "the last good influence in the lives of down-going men"

Brave - "I shall consider it my duty to break in that door"

He isn't expecting a supernatural explanation but does suspect something odd is happening:

- Enfield's story about Hyde gives Utterson nightmares - Utterson says that Hyde has "engaged or rather enslaved" his imagination instead of affecting him on a purely intellectual level.

- Utterson feels "mental perplexity" when he meets Hyde for the first time - he is confused because it's impossible to use reson to make sense of something that has a supernatural explanation.

- The memory of Hyde makes Utterson feel a "shudder in his blood". The supernatural nature of Hyde is strong enough to affect Utterson's emotions, which he usually tries to control.

There is something about Hyde that particularly affects Utterson. He feels "a singularity strong, almost an inordinate, curiosity" to see Hyde and he does everything he can to do so - he waits outside the door "by all lights and at all hours".

Without Utterson's interest in the mystery, the reader would never get to the bottom of things. However, there are several reasons why Utterson is so interested in Hyde:

- To Utterson, maintainingreputation is very important, so he is shocked that Jekyll is willing to harm his reputation for Hyde. Utterson wants to find out why Jekyll is doing this so that he can help him.

- Utterson is frustrated by the mystery surrounding Hyde and wants to use reason to solve it. He wants to see Hyde's face, believing the mystery will roll away if it's "well-examined".

It's possible that Utterson sees something of his own darker side in Hyde and is strangely drawn to him. As the reader is also made to feel curious about the mystery surrounding Hyde, Stevenson may be suggesting that we are all drawn to the darker side of life and can see the temptation of it.

Utterson is described as "austere" - he is "strict with himself and doesn't allow himself many pleasures. For example, he enjoys the theatre but hasn't been to one for 20 years.

He doesn't smile much and is "cold" and "dreary". He has a more human side but doesn't let it show in his speech. These negative descriptions could be criticising the way Victorian gentleman repressed their emotions.

People enjoy his company because his "rich silence" is calming after the "strain" of making light-hearted conversation. He is a model of Victorian restraint.

Utterson wants to maintain respectability, order and propriety - when Poole asks Utterson for help and takes him back to Jekyll's house, Utterson calls the servants' distress at Jekyll's behaviour "very unseemly".

He's aware of the importance of reputation, which is why he is so concerned for Jekyll's good name - after Carew's murder, Utterson's concern is that Jekyll's name might appear at the trial.

He doesn't gossip or go against his sense of restraint to discover the truth. He doesn't read Lanyon's letter out of "professional honour". This partly hampers his ability to solve the mystery - he doesn't want to find out something that will hamper Jekyll's reputation.

The truth about Jekyll and Hyde is more shocking than Utterson suspects, because it means that the appearance of respectability hides a much darker truth about the reality of human nature.

Although reputation is important to Utterson, he isn't judgemental.

He's loyal to those who get into trouble and tries to help them - he tells Jekyll that "Carew was my client, but so are you". Even though Utterson plays by society's rules, he's understanding when people fall foul of them - Utterson's human side shows itself in the "acts of his life" - his tolerance. If Victorian society was more tolerant of human behaviour, there would be less need to hide immoral desires.

Utterson has a complicated attitude towards his own dark side:

- Although his past was "fairly blameless", he feels bad for what he views as the "many ill things" he's done - like Jekyll, Utterson sets himself high standards by avoiding what he sees as sinful behaviour.

- He's been tempted to sin and feels a strange "envy" for those who can indulge in their misdeeds, but he doesn't want ti harm his reputation so he feels grateful to have avoided committing mroe sins.