This document provides an analysis of the first chapter of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". It examines the descriptions of the main characters, setting, and themes of duality introduced. Utterson is depicted as a cold and emotionless man yet also likable. Enfield describes witnessing Hyde's disturbing behavior. The neighborhood and Jekyll's house suggest respectability but also hint at something sinister hidden beneath the surface, foreshadowing the theme of dual personalities.

1. Structuring Notes

2. Fill out your contents page by copying the headings below: Utterson p Enfield p Jekyll p Hyde p Minor characters p Setting p Weather p Narration p Hypocrisy p Lanyon p

3. Learning Objective To begin to understand how Stevenson sets up the theme of duality in the first chapter.

4. Story of the Door Look at the opening sentence. Identify all the adjectives used to describe Utterson. What impression do these give of us of him? P9 Personality: ‘Cold’ (no emotion), ‘scanty’ (not generous), ‘embarrassed in discourse’ (anti-social), ‘backward in sentiment’ (shows little emotion) Physical description: ‘lean, long, dusty and dreary’ (dry, boring, use of monosyllabic words to emphasise how ordinary in physical appearance he is. 2. Duality means to have two sides to you. How is Utterson an example of this? He is a combination of unappealing characteristics and a lovable quality! The connective ‘yet’ emphasises duality. Why is he ‘lovable’ ? Suggestion maybe there is a hidden side. Perhaps people like him because he keeps their secrets.

5. Story of the Door 3. Stevenson tells us that Utterson would ‘let my brother go to the devil in his own way.’ What do you think this means? What does it tell us about his attitude towards responsibility and others? p9 Utterson says he inclines to “Cain's heresy”: he would "let his brother go to the Devil" (e. g., be as dissolute as he likes). This reference to Genesis foreshadows events: the good person(ality) Jekyll lets free the evil person(ality) Hyde. Eventually he has to kill him to save the world from the actions of a sadist. The irony is that, in Genesis, the evil Cain slew the good Abel; however, the reference is appropriate since Hyde wishes to take over the body and possessions of Jekyll. Hyde's physical deformity, which produces revulsion in anyone who sees him, may be related to his bearing the mark of Cain, the first murderer. It means that he would not interfere in another’s business, even if he disapproved of his conduct. It would appear that he thinks each person is responsible for his own behaviour.

6. Enfield is a ‘well-known man about town’. What do you think this means? p10 A man about town is a socially active man who frequents fashionable nightclubs, theatres, restaurants, etc.; a playboy. It seems that Enfield has something of a reputation in this regard! 5 . Why do you think that Enfield was ‘coming home from some place at the end of the world, about three o’clock of a black winter morning’. p11 Where do you think he might have been? The references to ‘the end of the world’ and ‘black winter morning’ suggest that he had been somewhere that society might frown upon – possibly a brothel or a gambling den?

7. 6. Look at the description of the street the house is on –p10 (2 nd paragraph). What sort of impression do we get given of the place? ‘ by street’… but in a ‘busy quarter’ / ‘small’… ‘quiet’… but ‘it drove a thriving trade on the weekdays’ / inhabitants ‘doing well’ but hoping to do better still’ / ‘coquetry’ and ‘smiling saleswomen’ both suggest artifice and temptation / on Sundays it ‘veiled its more florid charms’ / ‘like a fire in a forest’ / ‘freshly painted’ and ‘well polished’ to ensure they ‘pleased the eye’. The street is essentially positive – lively, friendly, welcoming – care and attention to public appearance! 7. How is the house described? p10 & 11 (last & first paragraphs) ‘ sinister block of building’ / ‘two storeys high’ / ‘showed no window’ / ‘a blind forehead of discoloured wall’ / ‘ bore in every feature the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence’ / ‘door, which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, was blistered and distained’ / ‘no one… appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair their ravages’ The house is negative – lack of love and care – suggestion of things kept hidden

8. 8. How would you describe Enfield’s behaviour when he says he and the doctor told Hyde that they ‘should make his name stink from one end of London to the other’ if he did not pay money. What does this suggest was important to the Victorian people? p12 This is blackmail! It suggests that image and reputation were important in Victorian society, but that these could be very deceptive and mask an undesirable character within. He is hypocritical in suggesting this because he, himself, was guilty of blackmailing Hyde. The quotation describing Jekyll is ‘the very pink of proprieties, celebrated too, and (what makes it worse) one of your fellows who do what they call good.’ It suggests that Enfield has a good opinion of Jekyll and thinks he doesn’t deserve this treatment from Hyde. 9. How is Enfield hypocritical when he suggests Hyde was blackmailing Jekyll. Can you find a quotation at the bottom of p13 to describe Jekyll? What does this suggest about Enfield’s attitude towards him?

9. 10. Enfield says about the buildings that ‘it’s hard to say where one ends and another begins.’ (p14) How might this be used to show the idea of duality? Jekyll’s house is very different from all the others, so the fact that it is hard to tell where one house ends and another begins suggests that one can easily be deceived into thinking that something is other than it really is. What we have here is a metaphor of evil inside man: - with the street as man and the house as the potential for evil within.

10. Hyde is described as having ‘trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground.’ What effect do the words have on the reader here? How do they make you feel? The fact that his victim is a ‘child’ makes us see her as innocent and therefore Hyde’s crime as even more evil. He ‘trampled calmly ’ on her body and left her, which suggests that he has no feelings or sense of wrong-doing. The child is screaming. She is probably in pain and obviously very distressed. All this makes it hard to feel anything other than loathing for Hyde.

11. 12. Hyde is described as being ‘like some damned Juggernaut’ p12, but also as ‘a little man’ p11. What is strange about these descriptions both being about the same person? 13. What effect does Hyde have on the people around him? Find a quotation to support your ideas. p12 / p15 A Juggernaut is known for its enormous size and its destructiveness, therefore it’s a paradox that ‘a little man’ can be described as a ‘Juggernaut’. It’s yet another example of duality. He inspires hatred: ‘turned sick and white with the desire to kill him’ – there is ‘something downright detestable’ about him – he ‘gives a strong feeling of deformity’ (There is a long tradition of physical deformity being linked to “blasting” by Satan).