Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde
Note on Source of PowerPoint
Much of the information,
and some direct
quotes, are taken
from Jenny
Davidson’s
introduction to the
Barnes and Noble
Classics version of
J&H.
(I am trying to avoid
blatant plagiarism!)
A Crowd Pleaser
After its publication in 1886, it quickly
became a best seller.
Theatrical Production
Richard Mansfield acted
and produced in J&H.
“People went away from
Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde afraid to enter
their houses alone.
They feared to sleep
in darkened rooms.
They were awakened
by nightmare.”
“The names of Jekyll
and Hyde have
entered the language,
familiar even to those
who have never read
Stevenson’s story.”
Chat with your group…
Why are we so
fascinated with
the story of
Jekyll and
Hyde?
(Talk amongst yourselves.
Quit looking at me!)
Jack the Ripper
In 1888, Jack the
Ripper “cut his
victims’ throats, sliced
open their torsos, and
removed their organs;
he was suspected of
having trained as a
butcher or a medical
man.”
Connections to Jekyll & Hyde
Stevenson’s story seemed “to invent the
figure of the modern serial killer, a male
predator who lived a respectable life by
day but whose respectability not only
enable, but actively produced, his violent
excesses of the night.”
Stevenson rejects family values
Stevenson’s family were
Presbyterians, a
version of Calvinism
These beliefs
emphasized natural
depravity of man and
the idea of
predestination (stark
distinctions between
sinners and those
destined for
salvation.)
HYPOCRISY!
Stevenson condemned the hypocrisy and
cruelty he saw as being at the center of
Scottish bourgeois society.
Chat Break
What factors led to the creation of Hyde? In
other words, what is Stevenson critiquing?
Story Frame
Narrated in 3rd person
from the point of view
of Mr. Utterson, a
lawyer whose clients
include Mr. Jekyll and
Sir Danvers Carew.
Mr. Utterson
“is a neutral or repressed character who
seems to exist in symbiosis with the
disreputable individuals who visit his
practice.”
So what do you think…
Why does Stevenson call the character “Mr.
Utterson” (Utter = to speak)
Why does he choose this character to
narrate the first part of the story?
So here’s what happens…
Mr. Utterson is walking
with his cousin, Mr.
Enfield, who shows
him a curious stained
and blistered door
that is connected with
Mr. Hyde.
Mr. Enfield tells Mr. Utterson…
A terrible story about a
man trampling a child.
When Mr. Enfield and
others demand that
Mr. Hyde pay
damages, he pays
with a check from Mr.
Jekyll’s account.
Descriptions of Mr. Hyde
“Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave
an impression of deformity without any
nameable malformation, he had
displeasing smile…”
“God Bless me, the man seems hardly
human! Something troglodytic, shall we
say?...if ever I read Satan’s signature
upon a face, it is on that of your new
friend.”
My next question to discuss…
What is the significance of the name Mr.
Hyde? What is significant about how the
character is described?
A terrible murder…
Sir Danvers Carew is
beaten to death by
Mr. Hyde. A maid
who happens to be
looking out the
window recognizes
Mr. Hyde because he
visited her master’s
home.
The good times return
For two months after this brutal crime, Mr.
Jekyll returns to his old self. Soon
however he becomes reclusive and
refuses to see his old friends.
Mr. Utterson becomes worried…
And goes to visit their
mutual friend, Dr.
Lanyon. For some
He now says “I beg that
time Lanyon has been
you will spare me any
disapproving of
allusion to one whom
Jekyll’s scientific
I regard as dead.”
pursuits.
Lanyon soon dies
Leaving behind a letter to Mr. Utterson with
a sealed enclosure marked “not to be
opened till the death or disappearance of
Dr. Henry Jekyll.”
Mr. Utterson’s narrative concludes
With a frantic visit from
Mr. Poole, Dr. Jekyll’s
butler. All the
servants are terrified
because they have
not seen their master
for a week. Someone
else has been calling
out for a mystery
drug.
The first narrative concludes:
Poole and Utterson
break in to find the
body of Hyde,
dressed in too large
clothes. They find a
will with Mr. Utterson
as beneficiary, and
also a packet of
papers.
Lanyon’s Narrative
(mailed as a letter to Utterson, to be opened
only in the event of Dr. Jekyll’s death)
We learn that he received a letter from Jekyll
with a curious request: to break into the
cabinet in Jekyll’s lab and give the drugs
to a man who will visit Lanyon in his home.
Lanyon’s fatal curiosity
Lanyon gives in to the
temptation to see
what happens when
Hyde takes the drugs
and the shock of the
transformation leads
to Lanyon’s death.
(image from 1971 movie)
Jekyll’s final narrative
It is only upon reading the final narrative in which
Jekyll explains his motivations for trying to split
off the evil in him and the dire consequences
that ensure from this unnatural experiment that
the whole story becomes clear.
And finally…
• What was your overall opinion of the
book?
• How did you respond to the structure of
the book with the three narratives?
• Did you find the book difficult to
understand? Why or why not?
Thanks for listening!