Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde major characters

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde major characters

1. Dr Jekyll

   • respectable and courteous
   • "If I am the chief of sinners, then I am the chief of sufferers also"
   • "like a disconsolate prisoner"
   • Mr Hyde
     • perhaps the original version of man
       • repressed by the weight of civilisation
     • intimate partof Jekyll's character
     • otherworld origin
       • certain inhumanity, animalistic
         • "it was Hyde after all, and Hyde alone that was guilty"
       • uncontrollable power, supernatural
         • as the novella progresses, Hyde's ascendancy becomes more pronounced
           • "the smile was struck out of his face"
     • manipulates Jekyll's desires to gaincontrol
       • mindlessly vicious natural and deliberately amoral
         • "hailing down a storm of blows"

2. Mr Utterson

   • epitome of Victorian standards
     • highly moral and upright
     • ideal Victorian gentleman
   • curious about the sordid details of Victorian society
   • reserved and bland
     • rational and reasonable and dignified
   • values reputation and public appearance above all
     • important currency in Victorian England
   • devoted to decorum and law and order
     • honourable
   • "last good influence in the lives of down-going men"
     • "lest the good name of another should be sucked down the eddy of the scandal"

3. Dr Lanyon

   • contrast in belief, with Jekyll
   • embodies rational and logical thinking
   • dogmatic and rigid faith in the truth and pure sciences