Jekyll and Hyde Chapter 2

Jekyll and Hyde Chapter 2

1. Henry Jekyll's will is mysterious

   • Utterson has Jekyll's will - says that if Jekyll dies or disappears, all his things should go to Edward Hyde
     • Utterson suspects that Hyde's blackmailing Jekyll
   • When Utterson visits Lanyon, he discovers that Lanyon and Jekyll fell out over Jekyll's scientific work
     • Lanyon describes it as "unscientific balderdash"
       • Hints that Jekyll's experiments are taking a darker direction than conventional science
     • Utterson leaves none the wiser about who Hyde is and why Jekyll is so interested in him
       • Lack of information about Hyde leaves Utterson feeling unsettled
         • Dreams that he's "haunted" by a man who has no face - appears on every street of an almost nightmarish version of London
       • These dreams show Hyde is affecting Utterson's subconscious and leaves him wanting to see Hyde's face so that "the mystery would lighten"
         • Visual evidence is important to the rational Utterson
   • Science
     • Jekyll's interested in the "fanciful" side of science, whereas Lanyon is a more traditional scientist

2. Utterson meets Hyde and feels unsettled

   • Utterson begins to "haunt" the door where Enfield first saw Hyde
     • It's night-time and the street is "solitary" and "silent" before Hyde appears - creates sense of expectation
   • First time we meet Hyde properly - described as "pale and dwarfish" with a "savage laugh"
     • Utterson emphasises that Hyde seems"hardly human" - hints that he's less evolved
     • Like Enfield, Utterson can't explain what makes Hyde so unsettling
   • When Utterson implies that Jekyll told him about Hyde - he strongly denies it
     • Reader is left to wonder how he could be so certain

3. Jekyll's house is an important symbol

   • Utterson knew all along that the building Hyde went into is a lab that's attached to Jekyll's house
     • The reader only finds this out now
     • The way information is given out bit by bit adds to the mystery
   • Jekyll's house has "a great air of wealth and comfort" - symbolises his respectable nature and successful life
     • Jekyll's "comfortable" house contrasts with the "sinister" lab that Hyde goes into
       • These buildings are physically connected, which symbolises that Jekyll and Hyde are two different sides of the same person
   • When Jekyll's butler Poole tells Utterson that the servants all have orders to obey Hyde, Utterson is more convinced than ever that Jekyll is being made to pay for "some old sin"
     • This explanation shows Utterson's concern for Jekyll's reputation