Mr Utterson, Dr Jekyll, Dr Lanyon and Mr Enfield are all alike because they are all presented as well-educated, reputable men who come from a good background. These men are very refined characters, always polite and considerate (the fact that Dr Lanyon kept up relations with Dr Jekyll for ‘old time’s sake’ even though he obviously disliked Dr Jekyll shows that he is a courteous person). Nonetheless they are very restrained, controlled men, never displaying much emotion, with of course the exception of Dr Lanyon whose enthusiasm and ‘theatrical’ personality is brought to light when he welcomes Mr Utterson by ‘springing up from his chair and welcoming him with both hands’.
In Mr Utterson’s case his ‘austerity’ is made apparent when he is described as ‘undemonstrative’ and ‘backward in sentiment’. However, the complete opposite is true of Mr Hyde.
Mr Hyde is portrayed as a very emotional character who is not in control of himself or his actions. This is brought to attention with devastating consequences in ‘The Carew Murder Case’. This chapter describes Mr Hyde’s ‘ferocious’ attack on his victim. He is described as ‘listening with ill-contained impatience’ to Mr Carew which demonstrates Mr Hyde’s lack of manners, and then how ‘all of a sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger/ and carried on like a madman.’ This paragraph in particular shows us what sort of person Mr Hyde really is. His actions show him to be a violent man, who shows no mercy (the fact that his victim was an elderly, somewhat delicate, man adds to horror of what Mr Hyde did), and one who cannot control himself (the way Mr Hyde is described as breaking out in ‘a great flame of anger’ is interesting, fire is wild and uncontrollable, perhaps a little like Mr Hyde himself). Mr Hyde is also described as almost ‘animalistic’ (he is described as attacking Mr Carew with ‘ape-like fury’) which is curious. Another factor which highlights the difference between Mr Hyde and the other main male characters is his background.
Mr Utterson, Dr Jekyll, Dr Lanyon, and Mr Enfield all abide in decent, middle-class districts in London where as Mr Hyde lives in a dubious area, namely the ‘dismal quarter of Soho’, this adds to the impression of Mr Hyde being a dubious character.
Furthermore all of the characters mentioned (apart from Mr Enfield) hold a respectable job (Dr Lanyon is a doctor, Mr Utterson a lawyer and Dr Jekyll a scientist) which causes people to instantly assume that they are educated and respectable men. This is one example of a stereotype; the situation regarding Mr Hyde is another.
Because Mr Hyde lives in a sordid part of London, does not have the ‘right’ connections, and has no fixed source of income he is immediately thought to be a disreputable, untrustworthy person.
Another interesting point is that Mr Hyde was often described as being ‘deformed’ by other characters but what if this is only in the other characters minds? Perhaps because he is so different from all of the other characters they feel like there is something ‘wrong’ with Mr Hyde, maybe this is what leads to their impression of Mr Hyde’s deformity?
So, fundamentally Mr Hyde is so despised by Mr Utterson, Dr Jekyll, Dr Lanyon and Mr Enfield not only because of the horrendous crimes he committed but also because he is the complete opposite of them and of what Victorian society decrees as the perfect gentleman. Whilst Mr Hyde is ill-mannered, uncontrollable, violent and of an ambiguous background, the other main male characters are polite, refined, well-educated and have a good background, to them Mr Hyde is abnormal.
