Throughout the chapter there are many breakdowns in etiquette that help to build up suspense for the reader. The first starts when Poole decides to leaves Jekylls house and visit Utterson uninvited and without permission,breaking rules of social etiquette because it does not normally happen unless there is an emergency and creating tension because of that. When inside Uttersons house Poole continues to disregard the rules if social etiquette, he doesn't look directly at Mr Utterson, which creates suspense for the audience because it implicates Utterson in whatever is happening, it is also a sign of disrespect, and of being very rude when Poole has been invited in unexpected. This is also not the social norm, where Poole would have explained his intrusion of Uttersons home while he was looking into his eyes and he would have answered all questions quickly and explicitly however he would has done none of this. There could be suspense created because of this and because how Utterson will react to this is not known. Poole continues to disrespect and be rude towards Utterson when he is offered a glass of wine to calm his nerves, he does not drink it during the course of their conversation and this behaviour would be seen as Poole rejecting any form of help from Utterson which he then goes on to contradict when he asks Utterson for a favour, another breakdown in etiquette. Asking someone of a higher social status such as Utterson was considered impolite because a servant like Poole was paid to help his master and friends of his master such as Utterson if he was asked to and they would not be asked to help Poole. This would have added to the suspense because readers would again be waiting to see how Utterson would react. Poole is not the only character to break the rules of Victorian etiquette, upon arrival at Jekylls house the other servants, both men and women, are huddled together. This would have caused suspense because not only are the servants not working but the men and women are huddled together, something that was not normal in Victorian households and makes the reader wonder what is going on. What would cause more tension is the fact that one of the female servants “ran forward as if to take him in her arms” because of the mixing in between the social classes and because of the mixing between the sexes, something that was extremely unusual. Another thing that might have caused suspense is the fact that when the servants are reminded that they should be on duty they do not start to work, they just stand in front of him weeping, weeping would have been very irregular as public displays of affection, especially from servants was frowned upon and would make the reader wonder why.
Stevensons use of imagery helps to add suspense in this chapter, he uses a combination of figurative language, pathetic fallacy, personification and emotive language. The use of these techniques creates suspense because of the ways in which they are used, for example “It was a wild, cold, seasonable night of March, with a pale moon lying on her back as though the wind had tilted her” uses personification and pathetic fallacy. The effects of these suggests to the reader that there is something wrong because the moon is tilted and pale and the use of personification make the moon seem human and if a person is pale is is a sign that something is wrong so this would create suspense because the reader would wonder what is wrong. The fact that “the streets are unusually bare of passengers” suggests to the reader that people are staying off the street, suggesting that they know that there is something wrong and something dangerous so they should not leave their houses. Stevenson uses further personification when describing the trees outside Uttersons house. He describes them as “lashing themselves along the railings” inferring that the trees are angry, scared , frustrated and trapped. This creates suspense because it creates an image for the reader that the trees are trying to escape from something or someone and would make the reader wonder what it is. It could also create suspense because it adds to the feeling that there is something wrong already created in the chapter, this could also imply that Jekyll has something to do with it because of the feeling that the closer they are to his house the more thing things that are wrong. In this chapter Stevenson uses several metaphors to help add suspense, the metaphor “moisture of some strangling anguish” adds suspense because it shows that Poole is sweating even though the weather has already been described as cold which shows that there is something wrong because it is not normal and against social norms to sweat in public because it is not polite and what is more unusual is the fact that it is cold and it is not normal to sweat when cold. Stevenson also a simile to create suspense, he uses the simile “like a flock of sheep” to describe the way the servants of Mr Utterson are huddled together, this behaviour would have been considered very inappropriate in Victorian society because the men and women are mixing together, something that does not happen unless there is an emergency and this would also make the reader wonder what is causing the strange behaviour.
At the start of this chapter the reader sees a change in the behaviour of Mr Utterson, he starts to break the rules of social conduct and starts to trade social status with Poole, Dr Jekylls servant. This helps to create tension and suspense because the reader would know from the earlier chapters that Mr Utterson is a strong, stern man who has a set routine and does not like to change. Uttersons behaviour in the chapter is typical and is what would have been expected when someone of a lower class turned up on his door. When Mr Utterson asks Poole questions this is also typical behaviour because Utterson is a lawyer, something the readers have already found out. Mr Uttersons behaviour starts to change when it is revealed to him that there is suspicion of foul play. It is at this point when he agrees to go with Poole to Jekylls house,this would have seen to be unusual because Poole had asked him when he was uninvited and unexpected, especially when it was late at night. This would have created tension because it would have intrigued the readers and made the want to know why. Uttersons behaviour continues to change when he follow Poole to Jekylls house, instead of Poole following him something that would not have happened and is not the norm. Upon arrival at Jekylls house Utterson reverts back to his original behaviour of asking questions and ordering servants around and trying to retain his social status, however this attempt fails and he then carries on taking orders from Poole, this would have created tension for the reader because unless there were extremely unusual or dangerous circumstances the servants would have taken the orders and Utterson would have continued to shout and give orders until he was obeyed. Utterson continues to take instructions from Poole and becomes more nervous, something that would have caused tension because a strong and stern man like Utterson would not have been expected to show emotion in Victorian society. He tries to regain control of his emotions but does not hide it well “replied the lawyer, very pale” after he has been asked to listen to Jekylls voice. This would create tension because the reader would wonder why his face is pale, the reader would also be wondering why he has tried not to alarm Poole.
In conclusion Robert Louis Stevenson used a variety of different techniques that use the Victorian social norms to create a very successful sense of tension of suspense for Victorian readers. He uses the rules of social conduct and norms and creates the characters to bend these rules and to push the limits and boundarys of these rules as well as to reflect the ways people behave to an extent that would shock the readers of Victorian novels but still make them interested in reading the book.
