Comparison of three scenes in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”

The next time we meet Hyde, is when Mr. Utterson meets Mr. Hyde. He takes a more confident approach than Enfield seems to, lacking any sense of fear. "Will you do me a favour?" - this shows how Utterson takes the commanding position in the conversation. This may be due to ignorance or confidence. In the beginning of this scene Hyde seems to have all the fear, primarily because he does not want Utterson to recognise him as Jekyll. One notices that Hyde stops being overpowered eventually, and reacts with a savage cry when he feels Utterson says something unfitting - "The other snarled aloud into a savage laugh". We also have another mention of what could be supernatural activity - "with extraordinary quickness, he had unlocked the door and disappeared into the house". Once again Utterson describes Hyde as being "pale and dwarfish ... giving an impression of deformity". All who meet Hyde seem to notice his strange appearance, although what is unusual about this meeting is that Utterson was not affected by the unusual man until he had departed from his company. Then after scrolling through his memories of Hyde he decides that he had an "unknown disgust, loathing and fear" of him. These views of Jekyll result in the usual loathing of him, but this time Utterson believes that there is a trace of the devil in Hyde - "if ever I read Satan's signature upon a face, it is on that". This may be because of Hyde's incredible evilness, but is more likely to also be because Utterson is a strongly religious man.

The final meeting is one between Dr. Lanyon and Mr. Hyde. Lanyon is also obviously confident with himself and his safety as he invites Hyde into his consulting-room, although he obviously is afraid of Hyde as he says "I kept my hand ready on my weapon". He describes Hyde with incredible detail - "He was small ... with a shocking expression on his face ... great muscular activity ... and subjective disturbance towards others". This is a great summing up of exactly what Hyde is like, and it seems to be a consistent point of view throughout the three scenes. Lanyon gives a vivid description, almost a diagnosis, with words like "symptoms", and phrases like "sinking of the pulse". This is probably because of sheer interest and the fact that he is a doctor. He also mentions that he has a personal distaste in Hyde, which he blames "on some nobler hinge than the principal of hatred." As with the other two men Lanyon concludes that he believes "the cause to lie much deeper in the nature of man".

Overall each of these meetings result in a similar view about Hyde which is that he is an evil man who inflicts people to hate him not just because of his nature but because of something much deeper.