The resident’s immediate reaction was of shock and horror. The woman in particular, whom Stevenson had described ‘‘as wild as harpies’’, had responded in the same irrational manner as Hyde’s initial behaviour towards the girl showing that they too can reveal a savage side to their character. The captured man appeared calm yet he inspired loathing and hatred all around him. Enfield, looking around at the angry crowd surrounding Hyde, declared that he ‘‘never saw a circle of such hateful faces’’. Even the doctor, an ordinary man ‘‘and about as emotional as bagpipes’’ was provoked to murderous intent. United, the crowd threatened to ruin the ugly man's good name unless he did something to make amends. The man, seeing himself trapped, bought them off with one hundred pounds, which he obtained upon entering the neglected building through its only door. Strangely enough, the check bore the name of a very reputable man. Furthermore, and in spite of Enfield's suspicions, it proved to be legitimate and not a forgery. Enfield hypothesizes that the ugly culprit had somehow blackmailed the man whose name appeared on the check. Spurning gossip, however, Enfield refuses to reveal that name.
Utterson then asks several pointed questions confirming the details of the incident. Enfield attempts to describe the nature of the mysterious man's ugliness to Utterson but is unable to express it, stating;
‘‘There is something wrong with his appearance…I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point.’’
In other words, Hyde's ugliness is not physical but metaphysical; it attaches to his soul more than to his body. Enfield, and later Utterson, whose minds are not suited to the metaphysical, can sense Hyde's uncanniness but cannot describe it. Their limited imaginations fail them as they approach the eerie and inexplicable; as rational clashes with irrational, language breaks down. Enfield then divulges that the culprit's name was Hyde, and at this point, Utterson declares that he knows the man, and notes that he can now guess the name on the check. But, as the men have just been discussing the virtue of minding one's own business, they promptly agree never to discuss the matter again.
We become aware from the outset of the secrecy which existed within this society and characters feel a reluctance to ask questions or pry. It seems all have some ‘dark side’ to their character that they wish to hide. Even the houses are described as ‘huddled together’ as if conspiring Doors are also locked and windows shut. For fear of their own duplications being exposed, Enfield and Utterson decide not to pry anymore for they’re into Jekyll’s affair.
Utterson, prompted by his conversation with Enfield, goes home to study a will that he drew up for his close friend Dr. Jekyll from his ‘‘most private part in his safe’’, an atmosphere of secrecy which prevails throughout the novella. Jekyll stipulates in the will that in the event of his death or inexplicable disappearance for three months or more; all of his property should be passed over immediately to a Mr. Edward Hyde. This strange will had long troubled Utterson, but now that he has heard something of the sinister nature of Hyde, he becomes more upset and feels convinced that Hyde has some peculiar power over Jekyll. Similarly, the will's reference to ‘‘death or disappearance’’ makes Utterson immediately think of the possibility of murder, yet he is forced to conclude that his friend is the victim of blackmail.
Seeking to unravel the mystery, Utterson pays a visit to the eminent Dr. Lanyon, friend and colleague to both men whom he hopes can shed some light on this disturbing matter. Lanyon states that he has never heard of Hyde and has remained out of communication with Jekyll for the previous ten years as a result of a professional dispute. Lanyon refers to Jekyll's most recent line of research as ‘‘unscientific balderdash’’ which hints upon the supernatural bent of Jekyll's experiments, contrasting with the prevailing ‘scientific consensus’ of the Victorian world. Here, we are given a clue to the real identity of Hyde through the experiments that Jekyll has been performing. Jekyll’s work is outside his boundaries of respectable appropriate medicine. The mystery here is what is Jekyll doing? And, who is Hyde?
Later that night, Utterson is haunted by nightmares where Hyde appears ubiquitously, permeating the city with his dark nature and his crimes. In the dream, he relieves Enfield’s story of the door and of the child being knocked down by Hyde. Hyde is faceless and London is Labyrinth. It is dark and there is fog. He then sees Jekyll in bed and Hyde is controlling him. This idea of Hyde as a ‘universal presence’ suggests that this faceless figure, crushing children and standing by Jekyll's bed, symbolizes all the secret sins that lurk beneath the surface of respectable London. Hyde appears faceless in the dream for the reason that the evil he possesses is within all men, it is metaphysical, not physical, men don’t want to reveal their evil and so they suppress it. Therefore, Hyde is difficult to describe because he’s the representation of that evil. He awakes determined to see the face of Mr. Hyde and decides to pursue him. After several unsuccessful attempts, Utterson finally intercepts Hyde. He converses with Hyde and sees his face and like Enfield, he proves unable to comprehend and delineate exactly what fills Hyde’s appearance with so much ‘‘unknown disgust and loathing and fear’’ in his presence.
Utterson decides to speak to the man himself. The description of Jekyll’s house provides an element of the duality which Stevenson widely experiments throughout this novella. The doctor who lives in a well-appointed home is described by Stevenson as having a ‘‘great air of wealth and comfort’’ which is much in contrast to the darkness and the less lubricous houses that surround it. Utterson is admitted into Jekyll's home by Jekyll's butler, Mr. Poole, but Jekyll is not at home. Poole tells Utterson that Hyde has a key to the laboratory and that all the servants have orders to obey Hyde. The lawyer heads home, worrying about his friend. He assumes Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll, perhaps for some wrongdoings that Jekyll committed in his youth.
Two weeks later, we first meet Jekyll who throws a well-attended dinner party. In keeping with the secrecy and duality that runs through the novel, Jekyll is described as having a ‘‘slyish cast’’. Utterson stays late so that the two men can speak privately. Utterson mentions the will, expressing of his disapproval. Jekyll begins to make a joke about it, but he turns pale when Utterson tells him that he has been ‘‘learning something of young Hyde.’’ Jekyll explains that the situation with Hyde is exceptional and cannot be solved by talking. He also insists that ‘‘the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde.’’ But Jekyll emphasizes the great interest he currently takes in Hyde and his desire to continue to provide for him. He makes Utterson promise that he will carry out his will and testament.
Approximately one year later, the scene opens on a maid sitting at her window in the early hours of the morning where she witnesses a murder take place in the street below. She perceives a small, evil-looking man, whom she recognizes as Mr. Hyde; encounter ‘‘an aged and beautiful gentleman’’ who seemed to have ‘‘an innocent and old world kindness of disposition.’’. While the gentleman offered him a greeting, it seems that his innocence and ‘‘well founded self-content’’ provoked Hyde into a state of ‘‘ape like fury’’ in which incited him into ‘‘trampling his victim under foot and hailing down a storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly shattered’’. The weapon in which Hyde had used, a walking stick of ‘‘very tough wood’’, was broken in half after being used to club the victim, thus revealing the ‘beast in man’ and the uncontrollable fury of Hyde.
Stevenson has not spared the reader any gruesome details; describing the murder graphically as he wants us all to recognize not only that Hyde has regressed over the past year, but to also draw our attention upon the full extent of Hyde's capacity for evil. Whereas we might have previously taken Hyde for nothing more than an ‘unscrupulous opportunist’ who was manipulating Jekyll; the mindlessly vicious nature of the man becomes clear with the violent murder of Sir Danvers Carew. Hyde is violent at random, with no apparent motive, and with little concern for his own safety, as his willingness to beat a man to death in the middle of a public street demonstrates.
The police find a letter addressed to Utterson on the dead body, and they consequently summon the lawyer. He identifies the body as Sir Danvers Carew, a popular Member of Parliament and one of his clients. The officer standing by Utterson claims that the horrendous and catastrophic murder of such a prominent figure in Victorian society will ‘‘make a deal of noise’’ within society. Utterson is now than ever fearing for the safety of Jekyll as this recent act of evil committed by Hyde undoubtedly reveals him at his most dangerous. His fear of Hyde finding about the will is made equally aware of Hyde’s capabilities of repeating this heinous act of evil.
Utterson still has Hyde's address, and he accompanies the police to a set of rooms located in a poor, evil-looking part of town. As Utterson travels to Hyde’s house, Stevenson lavishes his descriptive skill on the passage by rendering the depicted landscape as a metaphor for the battle of good and evil. Here, he describes the ‘‘great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven … here it would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there would be a glow of a rich, lurid brown … and here … a haggard shaft of daylight would glance in between the swirling wreaths.’’ It is important to note, however, that Stevenson attributes these poetic descriptions to Utterson. The words may seem out of character for the rather unimaginative lawyer, but one could also interpret them as testifying to the power of Hyde's horror. Perhaps the disturbing nature of Hyde's behavior and his residence bring out a darker side in Utterson himself, one in touch with the supernatural terrors lurking behind the facade of the everyday world.
Hyde's villainous-looking landlady lets the men in, but the suspected murderer is not at home. Within Hyde’s bedrooms, there is a strange mixture of order and chaos, another feature of the duality which pervades this novella. All the internal features are described as ‘‘furnished with luxury and good tastes’’ which accompanies ‘‘a closet…filled with wine; the plate of silver, the napery elegant’’. But at the same time, the room:
‘‘bore every mark of having been recently and hurriedly ransacked; clothes lay about the floor, with their pockets inside out; lock fast drawers stood out open’’
The police found what was believed to be the other half of the murder weapon and the burned remains of Hyde's checkbook. Upon a subsequent visit to the bank, the police inspector learned that Hyde still had an account there. The officer assumes that he need only wait for Hyde to go and withdraw money. In the days and weeks that follow, however, no sign of Hyde turns up; he has no family, no friends, and those who have seen him are unable to give accurate descriptions, differing on details and agreeing only on the evil aspect of his appearance.
In spite of the public uproar following the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, Hyde has remarkably disappeared from the scene. Utterson is hugely relieved as his disappearance has coincide with Jekyll’s upturn in health and fortunes as he has once again become the sociable and charitable person to which he was well recognized for. This for the reader reveals yet another clue into the real identity of as the disappearance of Hyde and what seems with his evil influence too has remarkably had a tremendous positive effect on Jekyll. Jekyll remains a ‘pillar’ for two months but suddenly and mysteriously returns to seclusion; refusing to see any friends.
Alarmed by this sudden yet mysterious act, Utterson goes to Lanyon to learn why Jekyll has refused any company. He is alarmed at the change off Lanyon’s appearance as he seems frailer and older with a frightened look in his eyes. Lanyon explains that he has recently experienced a great shock and expects to die in a few weeks ‘‘Life has been pleasant,’’ he says. ‘‘I liked it; yes, sir, I used to like it.’’ Then he adds, ‘‘I sometimes think if we knew all, we should be more glad to get away.’’ When Utterson mentions that Jekyll also seems ill, Lanyon violently demands that they talk of anything but Jekyll. He promises that after his death, Utterson may learn the truth about everything, but that for now he will not discuss it. Afterward, having returned home, Utterson writes to Jekyll, talking about being turned away from Jekyll's house and inquiring as to what caused the break between him and Lanyon. Soon Jekyll's written reply arrives, explaining that while he still cares for Lanyon, he understands why the doctor says they must not meet. As for Jekyll himself, he pledges his continued affection for Utterson but adds that from now on he will be maintaining a strict seclusion, seeing no one. He says that he is suffering a punishment that he cannot name.
Lanyon fulfills his prophecy as he dies a few weeks later. After the funeral, Utterson takes from his safe a letter that Lanyon meant for him to read after Lanyon died. Inside, Utterson finds only another envelope, marked ‘‘not to be open till the death or disappearance of Dr. Jekyll.’’ The word ‘’disappears’’ has disturbing echoes of Jekyll’s will. Out of professional principle, Utterson overcomes his curiosity and puts the envelope away for safekeeping. As weeks pass, he calls on Jekyll less and less frequently, and the butler continues to refuse him entry.
The following Sunday, Utterson and Enfield are taking their regular stroll when they enter into Jekyll’s courtyard. Again the weather is depicted as a metaphor for the evil and good which seem to continuously battle each other throughout this novel:
‘‘The court was very cool and a little damp, and full of premature twilight, although the sky, high up overhead, was still bright with sunset’’.
The duality that can be established from the description above of the weather is that just above the court, lays an atmosphere of mystery together with this sinister feeling. On the other hand, which contrast with the evil below is the ‘‘bright…sunset’’ above in the sky. The darkness looming around the courtyard is preventing the light from entering-they’re both equally powerful and so neither one is succeeding. Utterson remains anxious and eager to see his Jekyll. He feels that if he could possibly bring him out of his voluntary imprisonment, it will do him good. To his surprise, he sees Jekyll sitting discontentedly at one of his window. Despite being in a ‘‘very low’’ state, Jekyll appears much relieved at seeing Utterson. Jekyll states that his current unhappiness ‘‘will not last long’’ which shows that Jekyll is hoping to re-gain his composure. Then, while in discussion with Utterson; Jekyll suddenly grows an ‘‘expression of abject terror’’ and so in that split second, ‘‘the window was instantly thrust down’’ preventing both Enfield and Utterson from witnessing any more.
After witnessing Jekyll’s strange yet sudden departure from the window, both Utterson and Enfield say nothing and just walk on. It is only when they arrive into an area that has some ‘‘stirrings of life’’ that Utterson cries ‘‘God forgive us, God forgive us’’. There is a breakdown in speech because what both men have witnessed was simply preposterous and monstrous. Such evil cannot rationalize, explained or described in words as it is completely out of the boundaries of rationality; it is supernatural. In this short space of time, we are given further clues into the identity of Hyde. Jekyll’s face changing to an ‘‘expression of abject terror and despair’’ which ‘‘froze the very blood of the two gentlemen below’’ leaving them in ‘‘silence’’ obviously shows that what both gentlemen had witnessed must have been something that even the words ‘sinister’ and ‘animalistic’ could not possibly define such a scene of evil that both men had saw. We can presume as readers that such evil which left Utterson and Enfield speechless can only be matched to that of Hyde allowing us to deduce that Jekyll had just changed to Hyde.
Jekyll's butler Poole visits Utterson one night after dinner. The mystery of the story is further developed when Poole utters in ‘‘terror’’; ‘‘Mr. Utterson sir. I‘m afraid’’. Deeply agitated, he says that he believes there has been some ‘‘foul play’’ regarding Dr. Jekyll yet he seems to show a reluctance to be explicit as he doesn’t disclose it in any real detail. Pool gives an indication that he senses something evil looming, however, he doesn’t give or reveal any facts of any knowledge that he may have, he’s withholding it. He is trying to be logical and trying to reason because the evidence he has to suppose this is off the will which states that should Jekyll die or disappear, all his fortunes will pass on to Hyde and therefore, he thinks Hyde has Jekyll for that reason.
As Poole and Utterson arrive, the servants who are gathered fearfully in the main hall react to there arrival with joy and relief. One of the house maids breaks into ‘‘Hysterical whimpering’’ out of the mitigation and the Cook cries ‘‘Bless God! It’s Mr. Utterson’’. This creates an impression that they are afraid and perturbed at the possible murder of Jekyll and of the murderer still being present in the house. They feel that Utterson is a remedy and is their salvation.
Poole calls inside, saying that Utterson has come for a visit. A strange voice responds, sounding nothing like that of Jekyll; the owner of the voice tells Poole that he can receive no visitors.
Poole believes that they should break into the laboratory, though Utterson feels reluctant to do so because he is, and has always been a character who puts great store in privacy and in turn doesn’t like people who pry into his own private life because this may bring reputation and respectability under question. By getting involved into Jekyll’s life, he would be ultimately invading his own privacy meaning that he would be a hypocrite and insincere. Poole and Utterson move back to the kitchen, where Poole insists that the voice they heard emanating from the laboratory does not belong to his master. Utterson thinking as a rationalist, wonders why the murderer would remain in the laboratory if he had just killed Jekyll and not simply flee. Poole describes how the mystery voice has sent him on constant errands to chemists; the man in the laboratory seems desperate for some ingredient that no drugstore in London sells. Utterson, still hopeful, asks whether the notes Poole has received are in the doctor's hand, but Poole then reveals that he has seen the person insider the laboratory, when he came out briefly to search for something, and that the man looked nothing like Jekyll. Utterson suggests that Jekyll may have some disease that changes his voice and deforms his features, making them unrecognizable, but Poole declares that the person he saw was smaller than his master and looked, in fact, like none other than Mr. Hyde.
Hearing Poole's words, Utterson resolves that he and Poole should break into the laboratory so he sends two servants around the block of the laboratory's other door, the one that Enfield sees Hyde using at the beginning of the novel. Then, armed with a fireplace poker and an axe, Utterson and Poole return to the inner door. Utterson calls inside, demanding admittance. The voice begs for Utterson to have mercy and to leave him alone. The lawyer, however, recognizes the voice as Hyde's and orders Poole to smash down the door.
Once inside, the men find Hyde's body lying on the floor, a crushed vial in his hand. He appears to have poisoned himself. Utterson notes that Hyde is wearing a suit that belongs to Jekyll and that is much too large for him. The men search the entire laboratory, as well as the surgeon's theater below and the other rooms in the building, but they find neither a trace of Jekyll nor a corpse. They note a large mirror and think it strange to find such an item in a scientific laboratory. Then, on Jekyll's business table, they find a large envelope addressed to Utterson that contains three items. The first is a will, much like the previous one, except that it replaces Hyde's name with Utterson's. The second is a note to Utterson, with the present day's date on it. Based on this piece of evidence, Utterson surmises that Jekyll is still alive and he wonders if Hyde really died by suicide or if Jekyll killed him. This note instructs Utterson to go home immediately and read the letter that Lanyon gave him earlier. The note adds that if he desires to learn more, Utterson can read the confession of "Your worthy and unhappy friend, Henry Jekyll." Utterson takes the third item from the envelope, a sealed packet, and promises Poole that he will return that night and send for the police. He then heads back to his office to read Lanyon's letter and the contents of the sealed packet.
It is impossible for the modern reader to read this novel as an unsuspecting Victorian would have done, because today, Jekyll’s double identity is so well known. It is however, easy to see that Stevenson intended to keep his readers in mystery and suspense for as long as possible, while challenging them to discover the truth for themselves, by leaving a series of vital clues. The reader only begins to realize the full truth when our guide Utterson has been dispensed with. Up to this point, he has been not only as an narrator but as a means of deepening the mystery and therefore heightening the tension and suspense.
