The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde PDF

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Book Summary Bookmark this page Every Sunday, Mr. Utterson, a prominent London lawyer, and his distant kinsman, Mr. Richard Enfield, take a stroll through the city of London. Even though to a stranger's eyes, these two gentlemen seem to be complete opposites, both look forward to, and enjoy, their weekly stroll with one another. One Sunday, they pass a certain house with a door unlike those in the rest of the neighborhood. The door reminds Mr. Enfield of a previous incident in which he witnessed an extremely unpleasant man trampling upon a small, screaming girl while the strange man was in flight from something, or to somewhere. The screams from the small girl brought a large crowd, and various bystanders became incensed with the indifference of the stranger, whose name they discovered to be Mr. Edward Hyde. Enfield can recall the man only with extreme distaste and utter revulsion. The crowd forced the man to make retribution in the form of money, and they were all surprised when he returned from inside the "strange door" with ten pounds in gold and a check for ninety pounds. They held him until the banks opened to make certain that the check was valid because it was signed by the well-known Dr. Henry Jekyll, and they suspected that it was a forgery. To their amazement, the check was valid. That evening, in his apartment, Mr. Utterson has further reason to be interested in Mr. Hyde because Dr. Jekyll's will has an unusual clause that stipulates that Edward Hyde is to be the sole beneficiary of all of Jekyll's wealth and property. Utterson goes, therefore, to visit an old friend, Dr. Lanyon, who tells him that some ten years ago, he and Dr. Jekyll became estranged because of a professional matter. Utterson decides to seek out Hyde, and he posts himself as a sentinel outside the mysterious door previously mentioned by Enfield. After some time, Utterson encounters the man Hyde entering the door, and he initiates a conversation with him. Hyde suddenly becomes highly suspicious of Utterson's interest in him and quickly retreats inside the door. Utterson walks around the block and knocks at the front door of Dr. Jekyll's house. Upon questioning the butler, Poole, Utterson discovers that Edward Hyde has complete access to Jekyll's house. About a fortnight later, Utterson is invited to one of Jekyll's dinner parties and remains after the other guests have left so that he can question Jekyll about his will and about his beneficiary, Edward Hyde. Jekyll is unhappy discussing Edward Hyde and insists that his wishes — that Mr. Hyde be the recipient of his property — be honored. About a year later, an upstairs maid witnesses the vicious murder of a kindly and distinguished old gentleman, the prominent Sir Danvers Carew, M.P. (Member of Parliament). But the assailant escapes before he can be apprehended. The maid, however, is able to positively identify the murderer as Edward Hyde. Mr. Utterson and the police go to Hyde's apartment, but the housekeeper informs them that he is gone.

When Utterson confronts Jekyll about the whereabouts of Hyde, Jekyll shows the lawyer a letter which Hyde wrote saying that he was disappearing forever. Jekyll maintains that he himself is completely through with him. After the disappearance of Hyde, Jekyll comes out of his seclusion and begins a new life, for a time. But at about the same time, Utterson is dining with his friend, Dr. Lanyon, and he notes that Dr. Lanyon seems to be on the verge of a complete physical collapse; Lanyon dies three weeks later. Among his papers is an envelope addressed to Utterson, and inside is an inner envelope, sealed with instructions that this envelope should not be opened until after Jekyll's death or disappearance. Utterson strongly feels that the contents of the envelope contain information about Edward Hyde. On another Sunday walk, Utterson and Enfield pass along the street where Enfield saw Hyde trampling on the young girl. They step around the corner into the courtyard and see Dr. Jekyll in an upstairs window. Utterson invites Jekyll to accompany them on a walk, but suddenly Jekyll's face is covered with abject terror and, after a grimace of horrible pain, he suddenly closes the window and disappears. Utterson and Enfield are horrified by what they have seen. Some time later, Utterson receives a visit from Poole, Dr. Jekyll's man servant. Poole suspects that foul play is associated with his employer; Dr. Jekyll, he says, has confined himself to his laboratory for over a week, has ordered all of his meals to be sent in, and has sent Poole on frantic searches to various chemists for a mysterious drug. Poole is now convinced that his employer has been murdered and that the murderer is still hiding in Jekyll's laboratory. Utterson is sufficiently convinced that he returns to Jekyll's house, where he and Poole break into the laboratory. There, they discover that the mysterious figure in the laboratory has just committed suicide by drinking a vial of poison. The body is that of Edward Hyde. They search the entire building for signs of Jekyll and can find nothing, except a note addressed to Utterson. The note informs Utterson that he should go home and read, first, the letter from Dr. Lanyon and then the enclosed document, which is the "confession" of Dr. Henry Jekyll. Dr. Lanyon's narrative reveals that Dr. Jekyll had written to him, in the name of their old friendship, and had requested him to follow precise instructions: go to Jekyll's laboratory, secure certain items, bring them back to his house, and at twelve o'clock that night, a person whom Lanyon would not recognize would call for these things. Lanyon writes that he followed the instructions precisely and at exactly twelve o'clock, a horribly disagreeable, misbegotten "creature" appeared at the laboratory to claim the items for Dr. Jekyll. Before leaving, he asked for a "graduated glass," proceeded to mix the powders and liquids, and then drank the potion. To Dr. Lanyon's horror, the figure transformed before his eyes into that of Dr. Henry Jekyll. Lanyon closes his letter by pointing out that the man who stepped into the house that night to claim Jekyll's items was the man known as Edward Hyde.

The final Chapter gives a fully detailed narration of Dr. Jekyll's double life. Jekyll had been born wealthy and had grown up handsome, honorable, and distinguished, and yet, he committed secret acts of which he was thoroughly ashamed; intellectually, he evaluated the differences between his private life and his public life and, ultimately, he became obsessed with the idea that at least two different entities, or perhaps even more, occupy a person's body. His reflections and his scientific knowledge led him to contemplate the possibility of scientifically isolating these two separate components. With this in mind, he began to experiment with various chemical combinations. Having ultimately compounded a certain mixture, he then drank it, and his body, under great pain, was transformed into an ugly, repugnant, repulsive "being," representing the "pure evil" that existed within him. Afterward, by drinking the same potion, he could then be transformed back into his original self. His evil self became Edward Hyde, and in this disguise, he was able to practice whatever shameful depravities he wished, without feeling the shame that Dr. Jekyll would feel. Recognizing his two "selves," Jekyll felt the need of providing for, and protecting, Edward Hyde. Therefore, he furnished a house in Soho, hired a discreet and unscrupulous housekeeper, and announced to his servants that Mr. Hyde was to have full access and liberty of Jekyll's residence and, finally, he drew up a will leaving all of his inheritance to Edward Hyde. Thus, this double life continued until the murder of Sir Danvers Carew by Edward Hyde. This horrible revelation caused Jekyll to make a serious attempt to cast off his evil side — that is, Edward Hyde — and for some time, he sought out the companionship of his old friends. However, the Edward Hyde side of his nature kept struggling to be recognized, and one sunny day while sitting in Regent's Park, he was suddenly transformed into Edward Hyde. It was at this time that he sought the help of his friend Dr. Lanyon. He hid in a hotel and wrote a letter asking Dr. Lanyon to go to the laboratory in his house and fetch certain drugs to Lanyon's house. There, Hyde drank the potion described in Lanyon's letter. The drug caused him to change to Dr. Jekyll, while Dr. Lanyon watched the transformation in utter horror. After awhile, Edward Hyde almost totally occupied Jekyll's nature, and the original drug was no longer effective to return Hyde to Jekyll. After having Poole search throughout London for the necessary "powder," Jekyll realized that his original compound must have possessed some impurity which cannot now be duplicated. In despair at being forced to live the rest of his life as Hyde, he commits suicide at the moment that Utterson and Poole are breaking down the laboratory door.

STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE CHAPTER 1 SUMMARY ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

● BACK ● NEXT We’re introduced to Mr. Utterson who, despite being rather dry and boring, is a good friend and good-natured man. We’re introduced to his friend and relative, Mr. Enfield. The two of them take long, slightly mysterious walks every Sunday. One Sunday they walk past a door, which prompts Mr. Enfield to tell a story. Naturally. Mr. Enfield’s story goes like this: Early in the morning, he sees a man trample over a little girl. Mr. Enfield corners the man. The man is evil-looking and deformed. The entire crowd wants to kill the man, who responds with something along the lines of "I’ll give you lots of money if you don’t kill me." He disappears inside and emerges with a "cheque" for almost a hundred pounds, drawn from the bank account of a well-respected man. The check is genuine. Mr. Enfield speculates that the evil man is blackmailing the well-respected man.

● Mr. Enfield says that he calls the place with the door "Black Mail House." ● The two men then speculate about the door, and Mr. Enfield finally says that his policy on odd events is not to ask any questions of any kind. ● Mr. Utterson has no such policy; he asks Mr. Enfield for the name of the man who trampled the child. ● It is Mr. Hyde. ● Mr. Utterson then declares that he knows the name of the well-respected man. This whole story hits home for him. ● BAC

STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE CHAPTER 2 SUMMARY ● BACK ● NEXT ● Mr. Utterson goes home, and instead of his usual evening routine, he goes to a safe and takes out a set of documents. ● The documents decree that if Dr. Jekyll is to die or disappear in any way, his entire estate is to be passed over to Mr. Hyde. ● Mr. Utterson seems to think that something is rotten in the estate of Dr. Jekyll.

● In lieu of further solitary pondering, he decides to go hang out with his good friend, Dr. Lanyon. ● Turns out Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Lanyon, and Mr. Utterson were once good friends. ● It also turns out that Dr. Lanyon and Dr. Jekyll have had a huge argument about science. ● Mr. Utterson asks if Dr. Lanyon has heard of Mr. Hyde. The answer is no. ● That night, Mr. Utterson can’t sleep. He dreams crazy dreams about Mr. Hyde and speculates about the evil man’s hold over Dr. Jekyll. ● Mr. Utterson basically starts stalking the door to Black Mail House in an effort to catch Mr. Hyde. ● The two finally meet, and Mr. Utterson is totally repulsed by Mr. Hyde’s terrible manners and appearance. ● Mr. Utterson goes directly to Dr. Jekyll’s house and asks to see his friend. Dr. Jekyll is not home. ● Mr. Utterson gossips with the butler about Mr. Hyde, and discovers that all the servants have orders to obey this mysterious, evil man. ● Mr. Utterson goes home pretty sad and distraught and afraid for his friend, because nothing is worse than being potentially blackmailed by a horrible man who oozes evil out of his pores. ●

STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

CHAPTER 3 SUMMARY ● ● ● ● ●

● BACK ● NEXT Two weeks later, Dr. Jekyll gives a dinner party for five or six old men. Mr. Utterson is the guest who deliberately stays later than everyone else. He asks about Mr. Hyde and the strange will. Dr. Jekyll begs Mr. Utterson to let the issue drop, saying that he’s taken an interest in Mr. Hyde. And that’s that. It’s all very mysterious.

STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

CHAPTER 4 SUMMARY ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

● BACK ● NEXT Almost a year later, everyone in London is shocked by a terrible crime. A maid saw everything. Her testimony ran as follows: She was sitting in her window and saw a sweet and gentle and kind old gentleman asking a young man for directions. She recognized the young man as Mr. Hyde. Suddenly, Mr. Hyde beat the old gentleman to death. The maid fainted. Hours later, she finally called the police. The old man has a letter on him addressed to Mr. Utterson. Mr. Utterson (who seems to be everybody’s lawyer) accompanies a police officer to the crime scene. He recognizes the body as Sir Danvers Carew and the broken walking stick (read: murder weapon) as one that he had given to Dr. Jekyll some years before. Mr. Utterson offers to take the police officers to Dr. Jekyll’s house, where they poke through everything but are unable to find Mr. Hyde.

STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

● BACK ● NEXT Mr. Utterson goes to visit Dr. Jekyll, who looks extremely sick. Mr. Utterson asks if Dr. Jekyll is harboring Mr. Hyde, and Dr. Jekyll swears that he will never see or contact Mr. Hyde again. Dr. Jekyll gives Mr. Utterson a letter written by Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson shares it with his head clerk, Mr. Guest, who just happens to be a handwriting expert. A messenger happens to deliver an invitation written by Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Guest declares that the two pieces of writing were written by the same hand. Mr. Utterson goes to bed very disturbed, convinced that Dr. Jekyll forged the letter from Mr. Hyde.

STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

CHAPTER 6 SUMMARY ● ● ●

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● BACK ● NEXT Despite a massive manhunt, Mr. Hyde is nowhere to be found. Dr. Jekyll becomes well and happy, throwing dinner parties and engaging in charitable works. Mr. Utterson dines with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Lanyon on the 8th of the month and all is well, but on the 12th, 14th, and 15th he is denied admittance to the doctor’s house, on the grounds that Dr. Jekyll is ill. Mr. Utterson calls on Mr. Lanyon, who looks near death. So both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Lanyon are ill. Mr. Lanyon claims that his friendship with Dr. Jekyll is over. Mr. Utterson writes to Dr. Jekyll, who replies with a similar message. A week later, Mr. Lanyon, confined to his bed, dies. In the spirit of the novel and its mysterious documents, Mr. Lanyon left Mr. Utterson with an envelope before he died. Upon opening it, Mr. Utterson finds… yet another envelope. This one is not to be opened until the death or disappearance of Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Utterson is totally tempted to open up this mysterious envelope, but he resists. Mr. Utterson longs for the company of his old friend, Dr. Jekyll, but on every visit the servants say that Dr. Jekyll has shut himself up in his laboratory. Mr. Utterson finally begins to suspect that Dr. Jekyll himself has engaged in some evil doings.

STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL

AND MR. HYDE CHAPTER 7 SUMMARY ● ● ● ●

● BACK ● NEXT Mr. Utterson, on his weekly walk with Mr. Enfield, passes by the door that started this whole novel. (That would be the Black Mail Door—remember?) It turns out that the door is a back way to Dr. Jekyll’s house. The two friends step into the courtyard with all the windows, and chance to see Dr. Jekyll at the window, looking sickly and pale. They chat briefly before Dr. Jekyll completely freaks out, slamming the window and scaring Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield.

STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

CHAPTER 8 SUMMARY ● ● ● ● ● ●

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● BACK ● NEXT Dr. Jekyll’s manservant, named Poole, shows up at Mr. Utterson’s door, convinced that something terrible has befallen his master. He convinces Mr. Utterson to accompany him back to Dr. Jekyll’s house. They arrive at the house, where all the servants are collectively freaking out. Poole announces Mr. Utterson’s presence. Dr. Jekyll refuses to see his old friend. Same old song and dance. Based on the voice coming from behind the door, Poole is convinced that the man in the room is not Dr. Jekyll. Poole and Mr. Utterson chat about the events of the past week. Dr. Jekyll, or whoever is inhabiting the room in the laboratory, has been issuing chemical orders via slips of paper. He hasn’t been able to obtain whatever it is that he’s looking for. Poole is convinced that the man inside the room is really Mr. Hyde. Using an axe and a kitchen poker, Poole and Mr. Utterson break into the room. Inside the room, everything is very neat and clean and in perfect order. Except for the body of a man lying on the floor and "twitching." It’s Mr. Hyde. He has committed suicide. The two men search the area, looking for Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Utterson finds a will naming him as the heir to Dr. Jekyll’s estate. Mr. Utterson, in a seemingly endless tirade of paper discovery, finds yet two more documents. The first instructs him to read Dr. Lanyon’s narrative, and the second is a narrative written by Dr. Jekyll.

STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE CHAPTER 9 SUMMARY ● ● ● ● ● ●

● BACK ● NEXT Dr. Lanyon receives a letter from Dr. Jekyll asking him, in the name of their long and esteemed friendship, to perform a complicated favor. The favor involves breaking and entering into Dr. Jekyll’s laboratory and giving some potions to a messenger who will arrive at Dr. Lanyon’s house at midnight. Dr. Lanyon does as the letter requests. Mr. Hyde shows up, eager to take the chemicals. He’s wearing clothes that are much too big for him. He takes the chemicals and transforms into Dr. Henry Jekyll. This is quite a disturbing sight, especially for a man of science such as Dr. Lanyon.

STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE CHAPTER 10 SUMMARY ●

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● BACK ● NEXT Dr. Jekyll starts his letter by explaining the two sides of his character: on the one hand, he loves being sober, dignified, and respectable, yet on the other hand he craves pleasure and debauchery. In his research, he discovers how to split these two natures into two men. He takes a potion and immediately feels both extreme pleasure and extreme wickedness. This wickedness is accompanied by a transformation into Mr. Edward Hyde. He takes the potion and transforms back into Dr. Jekyll. He therefore does not succeed in creating someone wholly good and someone wholly evil, but rather himself and a wholly evil version of himself. He makes various arrangements for his new self: a house, a housekeeper, a new will, etc. You need stomping grounds for the evil version of yourself. Then he goes nuts as Edward Hyde—unfortunately, he gives us no descriptions beyond "wickedness." His conscience doesn't trouble him, because as Dr. Jekyll, he continues being respectable.

● When he knocks over the child as Mr. Hyde, he has to use Dr. Jekyll’s bank account to not get killed by the angry mob. Soon after, he opens a bank account in Mr. Hyde’s name. ● Two months before the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, Dr. Jekyll wakes up one morning as Mr. Hyde. ● This is disconcerting, to say the least, and Dr. Jekyll begins to feel that he has to make a choice between his two personas. ● For the next two months, he lives a respectable life as Dr. Jekyll. ● But he longs to become Mr. Hyde again. So one evening, he takes the transformative potion. ● Then he beats Sir Danvers Carew to death. ● Horrified, he breaks the key to his laboratory and potions, and resumes a sober life as Dr. Jekyll. ● But the secret urges remain and one day, sitting in the park, his thoughts grow evil and he transforms into Mr. Hyde. ● Away from his potions, and wearing the fa...