Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson

CHAPTER 1-STORY OF THE DOOR

CHAPTER 1-Questions

1. What is Mr. Utterson’s relationship to Mr. Enfield? How are the two men alike, different?

2. Compare and contrast the description of the building and door used by Mr. Hyde and
Enfield’s description of him. How does Stevenson seem to be using setting to convey a sense
of the man?

3. What is the story of Cain and Abel? What does it mean that Mr. Utterson says he inclines to
Cain’s heresy in his dealings with others? Explain why you agree or disagree with this way of
dealing with your acquaintances. Do you feel you would want to ignore or confront them with
their failings or foolishness so they would improve their lives?

4. Although both Utterson and Enfield protest that they prefer to mind their own business, both
men actively seek to help others. Describe Enfield’s reaction to Hyde’s collision with the little
girl. Do you think a citizen today would respond similarly to a wrong doer? Why or why not?
What does this say about basic assumptions of how a gentleman should act in Victorian
London?

5.Film makers often omit this chapter. Why is it important?

6. Which details from Chapter 1 show that it was written during the Victorian era and what is
the social or historical significance of these?

7. What mysteries are created in this opening chapter?

CHAPTER 2-SEARCH FOR MR.HYDE

CHAPTER 2-Glossary

volume of some dry divinity: a dull book about religion

holograph: a document written entirely in the handwriting of the person whose signature it
carries
M.D., D.C.L., LL.D, F.R.S.: Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Civil Law, Doctor of Laws. Fellow of
the Royal Society
Damon and Pythias: (Greek mythology) two inseparable friends. When Pythias was
sentenced to death by Dionysius, Damon offered to take his place. Neither wanted to live if it
meant the other perished.
troglodytic: primitive, cave dwelling
Dr Fell: an unpleasant person who causes feelings of dislike which are difficult to give any
obvious reason for
statute of limitations: a law protecting a person from prosecution after a period of time has
elapsed
pede claudo: walking hesitantly

CHAPTER 2-Questions

1. Once Utterson confronts Hyde, how does he feel toward him? What reasons does Utterson
give for his feelings about Hyde? In Utterson’s response to Hyde, what does Stevenson tell us
about Hyde?

2. Why doesn’t Stevenson ever tell us what Hyde’s face looks like?

3. Describe the appearance of the street and house in which Dr. Jekyll lives. What can we infer
about Dr. Jekyll from this setting?

4. Utterson’s speculation on Jekyll’s connection to Hyde makes him reflect on his own vices
and failings. What could Stevenson be implying about human nature in Utterson’s reflection?

5. Explain Utterson’s view of the relationship between Jekyll & Hyde

6. What mysteries remain at the end of the chapter?

CHAPTER 3-DR JEKYLL WAS QUITE AT EASE

CHAPTER 3-Questions

1. Compare the description of Dr Jekyll with that of Hyde.

2. This chapter raises more questions than answers. What are these? Can you offer any
explanations?

3. What is the dramatic significance of this chapter?

4. Look back at Hyde’s attack on the little girl. Describe:

 Exactly what happened
 How people reacted to the attack
 What it tells us about Hyde
 What is tells us about people’s reactions to Hyde

5. Look again at Utterson’s meeting with Hyde.

 What does Hyde look like?
 How does he speak?
 How does he move?

CHAPTER 4-THE CAREW MURDER CASE

CHAPTER 4-Glossary

Singular – remarkable
Musing – day-dreaming
Accosted – spoke to
Disposition – personality
High –noble
Insensate – without feeling
Countenance – face
Quailed – lost courage
Pall – gloom
Routing these embattled vapours – driving back the fog
conflagration – fire
slatternly – wretched
gin palace – bar
penny numbers – items that could be bought for a penny
blackguardly – evil looking
odious – hateful
napery – table linen
of many plies – thick and expensive
gratification – satisfaction
familiars – friends

CHAPTER 4-Questions

1. In chapter 4, which verbs are used to describe Mr.Hyde and what is their significance?

2. Which adjective is used to describe Mr.Hyde’s fury and what could the writer be
suggesting about the nature of evil in man?

3. What details in the description of Soho create an eerie effect? What is the literary, social
or historical significance of this? How does this description enhance the negative
portrayal of Hyde?

CHAPTER 5 – INCIDENT OF THE LETTER

CHAPTER 5-Glossary

Carried – escorted Circulars – junk mail

Destination – use Oration – speech
Cupola – small domed roof Eddy – whirlpool
Cabinet – private study Unsunned – in the dark
Glass presses – glass-fronted cupboards Carbuncles – red gemstones
Cheval-glass – mirror Resolved – matured
Bind my honour – give you my word Stained windows – deeper
Signified – said Elicited – led to
Colour on the intimacy – more acceptable friendship
Qualm – suggestion sedulously - carefully
Autograph – own handwriting
 CHAPTER 5-Questions

1. What clues are we given about the work Dr. Jekyll does in his laboratory?

2. Jekyll is looking “deadly sick”. What other indications do we get of his state of mind?

3. Look back at Chapter 3 – how has Jekyll changed since then?

4. Jekyll lies about the letter – why? How does Utterson find this out and what conclusions
does he draw from this?

CHAPTER 6 – REMARKABLE INCIDENT OF DR. LANYON

CHAPTER 6-Glossary

Injury – loss, disaster Melancholy – sad

Ken – knowledge Superscribed – written on the outside
Legibly – clearly Disregard the prohibition – disobey the
instruction
Allusion to – mention of Stringent obligations – strict duties
Drift – meaning Mortify – subdue
Amities – friendships Disquieted - anxious
Tenor – course Bondage - imprisonment

CHAPTER 6-Questions

1. What do you think Lanyon is referring to when he talks about a “shock”?

2. What do you make of Jekyll’s letter? What do you think is really going on?

CHAPTER 7 – INCIDENT AT THE WINDOW

CHAPTER 7-Glossary

Premature twilight – becoming dark, though early

Disconsolate – sad
Abject – wretched
Traversed – walked the length of

CHAPTER 7-Questions

1. What do we learn that adds to our understanding of Jekyll’s situation?

 CHAPTER 8 - THE LAST NIGHT

CHAPTER 8-Glossary

 Be explicit – explain precisely

 Doggedly – determinedly
 Amiss – wrong
 Perhaps with no less – just as surprised
 A flying wrack…texture – thin high clouds blowing across the moon
 There was borne…calamity – his mind filled with dread at what they would find
 Not the dews…anguish – the sweat on his face caused by mental agony, not
effort
 Guarded- cautious
 Unseemly – unsuitable
 With a ferocity…nerves – with a fierceness that showed how worried he was
 Lamentation – weeping
 Knife-boy – boy who cleans the knives
 Unlooked-for termination – unexpected ending to what Poole was saying
 Resolution – determination
 Made away with – killed
 Commend itself to reason – make sense
 Sedulous – extreme
 Main – very
 What matters hand of write – what does the handwriting matter
 Theatre – the laboratory
 One of those…sufferer – one of those illnesses which hurt the person and cause
the appearance to change
 Mottled pallor – pale and blotchy
 Rude – rough
 Telling – having its effect
 Malefactor – wrong-doer
 Scud – clouds moving rapidly across the sky
 …such an enemy to rest – can’t sleep
 Disinterred – dug out
 Glazed presses – glass-fronted cupboards
 Sorely contorted – severely twisted
 Cords - Sinews
 Phial – small glass container
 Kernels – nuts (almonds? Resemble smell of cyanide)
 Lumber – junk
 Flags – floor slates
 Like use – as if it has been recently used
 Pious – religious
 Penetration to foresee – can’t understand how it will happen
 Nameless situation – unique so can’t be described

CHAPTER 8-Questions
 1. How does Stevenson build the tension in Chapter 8? You may wish to quote and
comment on:
 The behaviour of the servants
 The time of day and weather
 The mystery of who is in the room
 The breaking down of the door
 The discovery of the body
 The mystery of Jekyll’s appearance
 What will be in the letters

2. What fresh light does Chapter 8 throw on the appearance of Hyde and the effect he has
on other people? (PEE)

FROM CHAPTER 9 – DR. LANYON’S NARRATIVE

CHAPTER 9-Glossary

Intercourse – relationship
Justify the formality of registration – make it necessary to send it by registered post
That amount of margin – that much time to spare
Capital – the greatest
By the neglect of one of them – if you fail to do any one of them
The shipwreck of my reason – my going mad
Farrago – confused mixture hue - colour
Hansom – horse-drawn carriage ebullition - bubbling
Nicety – care for detail metamorphoses - changes
Volatile ether – chemical used as anaesthetic parley - talk
Whetted – sharpened prodigy – remarkable thing
Tincture – solution affecting – pretending to show
Flighty – fickle enigmas - riddles
Cerebral – of the brain virtue - power
Posture – position transcendental – beyond
Portico – porch normal experience
Bull’s eye – lantern derided - mocked
Debility – weakness moral turpitude - wickedness
Neighbourhood – being near penitence - repentance
Incipient rigor – beginnings of stiffening
Accoutrement – clothes
Misbegotten – ill-formed
Disparity – mismatch
Well founded – sensible
Graduated glass – flask
Minim - drop

CHAPTER 9-Questions

1. In Chapter 9, which words are used to emphasise the “inhumane” nature of Mr. Hyde
and what is the social or historical significance of these?
 2. How does Stevenson describe the effect of the “medicine” on Hyde? Which details do
you think Stevenson could have drawn from his own experience?

3. How does the sentence structure in the last paragraph of chapter 9 emphasise the fear
and horror experienced by Dr. Lanyon? How is this different from today’s style of
writing?

4. Include a quotation from Chapter 9 to show Dr. Lanyon’s shock when he discovers the
truth.

CHAPTER 10 HENRY JEKYLL’S FULL STATEMENT OF THE CASE

CHAPTER 10-Questions

1. What does Jekyll mean when he says that man is “truly two” and that “in the agonized womb
of consciousness, these polar twins should be continuously struggling?

2. Why did Jekyll enjoy being Hyde? In other words, what aspects of Hyde’s persona were
attractive to Jekyll?

3. What are the main reasons that Jekyll tries to cast off his Hyde nature forever?

4. Why does Hyde commit suicide?

5. What morals or lessons can we draw from the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

6. How does Stevenson’s portray the character of Edward Hyde in ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ and
what does this reveal to the reader about concerns, attitudes and ideas during the Victorian
era? (summarise in one to two sentences)

7. What do you think the moral of the story is and how does this relate to attitudes in Victorian
times?

8. Did you enjoy the story and why? How do you think your reaction might differ from that of a
Victorian reader?

YOU’VE FINISHED! WELL DONE!