GCSE
English Literature
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Chapter 1
Utterson and Enfield are walking when they spot a curious door. Enfield recounts that he saw a man
attacking a young girl one day. He pursued the man (Mr.Hyde) and brought him back to the scene of the
crime. Mr. Hyde offers to pay the girl compensation. Enfield recalls that Mr. Hyde then went back and
opened a curious door and re-emerged with money and a large cheque.
Chapter 2
That evening, Utterson is disturbed by what he has heard. He takes the will of a friend of his from the
safe and realises that it has a curious instruction; in the event of the death of Dr.Jekyll’s disappearance,
everything goes to Mr.Hyde. Utterson visits Dr.Lanyon, a common friend of his and Dr.Jekyll’s. Lanyon
does not know Hyde and has not seen Jekyll for ten years. Utterson has nightmares after his visit. He
positions himself outside Dr. Jekyll’s old laboratory and eventually sees Hyde unlocking it. Utterson feels
uneasy and goes to warn Dr.Jekyll but servants tell him that Jekyll is out. Utterson fears that Hyde may
murder Jekyll to benefit from the will.
Chapter 3
After a dinner party at Jekyll’s house, Utterson stays behind to warn him about the will. Jekyll hints at a
strange relationship between himself and Hyde. Jekyll refuses to reveal the details of this relationship.
He asks Utterson to honour the will and insists that at any moment, he can be rid of Mr.Hyde. Utterson
feels concerned about Jekyll’s erratic behaviour.
Chapter 4
Almost a year later, a man is clubbed to death on the street by Hyde. A letter addressed to Utterson is
found on the body. He recognizes the murder weapon as a cane given to Jekyll years ago. The police are
instructed to go to Jekyll’s house and are told Hyde has not been there for two months. They find the
other half of the murder weapon and signs of an escape.
Chapter 5
Utterson finds Jekyll at his house looking very unwell. He asks for Hyde’s whereabouts. Jekyll assures
him that he will never see or hear from Hyde again and that he has a letter from Hyde to prove this.
Utterson believes that Jekyll has forged the letter to cover Hyde’s disappearance.
Chapter 6
The police fail to locate Hyde. Jekyll appears better but later falls into a deep depression and refuses to
see Utterson. Utterson goes to Lanyon to discuss this matter. He finds him on his deathbed. Lanyon dies
and leaves a letter. There is an instruction not to open it until the death of Dr.Henry Jekyll. Utterson
writes to Jekyll and receives a reply from Hyde clearly in a disturbed state and who says he is under ‘a
dark influence’.
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Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Chapter 7
Out walking one day, Utterson and Enfield come across Jekyll whose face suddenly freezes in terror. The
two men are horrified by his state and depart in silence.
Chapter 8
Later in the book, Jekyll’s servant comes to Utterson and asks him to come to his house. The laboratory
door is locked and it sounds like Hyde is on the inside. Poole says that whoever is in there has been
crying out for chemicals for days but the requested chemicals are unsafe. They eventually get into the
lab and find a body inside that is only half alive along with the remains of a test tube. The body is smaller
than Jekyll but wearing clothes similar to his. On the table, there is a will left which instructs everything
to be given to Utterson with Hyde’s name crossed out. There is a package containing Jekyll’s confession
and a letter requesting Utterson to read Dr.Lanyon’s letter. Utterson says he will return when he has all
of the documents read.
Chapter 9
Dr Lanyon’s letter says that he received a letter from Jekyll asking him to collect a drawer containing
chemicals, a vial and a notebook from Jekyll’s lab and to give it to a man who would call at midnight. At
midnight, a small man wearing clothes that are too large calls. He drinks the chemicals and transforms
into Dr.Jekyll. Lanyon is horrified and becomes seriously unwell both mentally and physically.
Chapter 10
Through his letter, Jekyll explains how he turned into Hyde. It began as a scientific curiosity into the
duality of human nature (good and evil) and his attempt to destroy the ‘darker self’. Hyde took over and
destroyed him however.
List of Main Characters.
Dr Henry Jekyll
 He is a doctor and a scientist. He is affluent and respected.
 He was a socialite in the past but now has become erratic and reclusive.
 It is stated in his will that if Jekyll passes away, he will leave everything to Hyde. His oldest friend
Utterson fears that Hyde may murder him in order to benefit from the will.
 Jekyll has been carrying out experiments to separate his dark side from his higher nature. The
experiment goes wrong and Hyde eventually takes over.
Dr Edward Hyde
 He is small and young.
 He is reclusive and enigmatic. He is aggressive and shows no sense of remorse.
 His appearances throughout the novel are very brief.
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Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Gabriel Utterson
 He is one of Jekyll’s closest friends. He is serene and rational.
 He appears in this novel to appeal to the conventional reader of the time.
 Meeting Hyde brings up a sense of horror which is peculiar for Utterson to feel.
 He attempts to help Jekyll in relation to dealing with Hyde. Jekyll declines his advice.
 He never suspects that Jekyll and Hyde are one person although there are clues along the way.
 The novel finishes by showing the key documents that Utterson discovers but does not reveal
his reaction in relation to them.
Dr. Hastie Lanyon
 Lanyon is a doctor. He and Jekyll formed a friendship at medical school.
 He is orthodox in his outlook and unlike Jekyll he does not experiment dangerously.
 His disagrees with Jekyll’s precarious dabbling with science. Jekyll sees him as being overly
sensible.
 The only person to see the transformation of Jeykll into Hyde is Lanyon. He becomes very unwell
after witnessing this. It defies any logic he has known and he cannot cope with that and passes
away soon after.
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