In chapter one Utterson and Enfield are walking one afternoon and they pass a door and Enfield starts to tell a story about this door and how Hyde trampled over a young girl then used this door to enter and come out with a cheque for the girl’s family. We hear a lot about this door from Enfield. This door is described as an odd door for around this place in London having windows and the wall around it was said to be “discolored neglected with neither bell nor knock”. His description shows the door and the building to be a secretive place as you cannot see in and you can’t knock as it has “neither bell nor knocker” this is very mysterious. This links with Jekyll and Hyde as Jekyll is secretive about him changing into Hyde in the story and Hyde keeps himself to himself and nobody really knows him.
The door helps to understand the characters more, for example the door is mainly linked to Hyde and his like his character. The door is mysterious and run down, it doesn’t fit in with the atmosphere and Hyde is described as evil and deformed, practically same description as the door. Also I think Stevenson is also trying to show the contrast between good and evil to link with doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde because the door is on one side of the house and it is the only part of the house which is run down. The rest of the house is clean and well looked, this shows the opposite sides.
Stevenson use similes and personification in chapter 12 for example it says “like a fire in a forest” this is a simile showing it stands out he also says “like rows of smiling saleswomen” , this is another positive simile which is used, this is also showing the area stands out, but there is also negative descriptions used for example to describe there door “ sinister block of building” and “thrust forward” this is contrasting negative and positive within one area, in a close space as thrust forward is a aggressive personification, this links to Hyde as he is two people Jekyll positive Hyde negative and aggressive.
Stevenson shows two sides of London by the description of the door and the street, this is trying to show a good side and a bad side of London, this is also linking to the main theme of the duality of nature, good and bad. As the door is described as “sinister” and the street is as though it “shone” this is a contrast of London on one street. The whole chapter is full of contrasts good and bad, always linking to the theme of the duality of nature two sides to everything.
In chapter two, we see Utterson reading Jekylls will and is troubled by the contents, so he then takes it upon him self to visit Jekylls old friend Lanyon and discovers, Jekyll and Lanyon had a disagreement about work.Utterson then had a sinster dream about a man called Hyde that Enfield had told him about earlier that day, but the character has no face. so he goes back to the door himself and Enfield passed on their walk, and waited so he could see Hyde for himself. Utterson has a bad impression of Hyde. He then goes to Jekyll house and questions Poole about Hyde, he tells him that Hyde is Jekylls assistant and has the run of the house and only enters by the back door.
In chapter two the street of London are described as mysterious. One of the phrases which is used is “under the face of a fogged moon”, this makes the streets sound as if there is darkness and hidden away, as its covered so it cant be seen properly, giving a feel of secretive and mystery. The description of the town also helps us to understand more of the character Hyde. It says Hyde is “at home”, when his in the dark, mysterious place, with the city been covered by darkness nobody can see and he can get away with unspeakable acts if crime.
In Uttersons dream, about Hyde he is called a “juggernaut” but Hyde has no name or face, this is so the reader is still kept interested by the mystery of not knowing who Hyde is. In the dream certain phrases are repeated like “move more swiftly and still the more swiftly” these are repeated so we remember this description about Hyde. This once again is trying to show the evil side of a person in the duality of nature.
In chapter four a maid witnesses Hyde murdering the wealthy sir Danvers Carew, the weapon used to kill him is recognized by Utterson as Dr Jekylls and as the police investigate they find a burnt cheque book of Jekylls. The violent description of the murder helps us to understand and see who the real murderer is and how evil he is, and what Hyde is really capable of. “She was surprised to recognize him as a certain Mr. Hyde”, this shows Hyde is known to many people around.
We get to see the duality of nature in Utterson which we haven seen before, as he shows his hate for Hyde by taking the police to his house
In soho. Showing he is also has evil within him. In this chapter we also see how evil Hyde actually is by how he brutally murder sir Danvers Carew.
