The evaluation of tension, horror and mystery in chapters 1 and 2 of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Coursework piece no.1

(Version 2)

To create tension, horror and mystery Stevenson uses a variety of writing techniques. These include sentence structure, (e.g. complex sentences or short sentences) choice of vocabulary, language, repetition and style of description of characters, objects or situations. This use of style became a trademark of his, and his writing style made him famous. This is why his books are still with us today.

Chapter 1

The first example of such a descriptive technique is used on the first page for Mr Utterson (the reader’s representative for the larger part of the book). This description of Utterson could be seen building mystery in the story, and this is because Utterson is described as a dark character that has friends but, at the same time, does not seem very close to any of them. We get this impression on the first few pages when he takes a walk with Mr Enfield (a distant kinsman of his), nether of them speak, they walk at a brisk pace and they eagerly wait for the site of friends. If they obviously don’t have anything to say to each other and neither of them want to be there, why do they do this? The book says they do this regularly. That brings us back to mysterious-Mr-Utterson. Why does he have such a dark personality? And why is he so unexplained? The first mystery this book has to offer. The next is the door.

While on this walk with his distant kinsman (named Mr Richard Enfield) Utterson and his friend come across the door (the door we now know as Mr Hyde’s). Stevenson uses phrases such as, “a certain sinister block of building,” and,”sordid negligence.” He uses words like, “discoloured, blistered” and “distained”. These words and phrases (used to describe the house but more importantly the door) give the impression of something dying, decaying, and wrong (and perhaps a scent of evil too). I believe that the words and phrases used to describe the door are connected to Mr Hyde. Even before Hyde is mentioned in the book, we get a feeling of wrongness and evil (the same feeling we get with Hyde). Also the door could be a metaphor describing Hyde/Jekyll. I think this because a door has two sides to it (like Jekyll/Hyde) to word it in a better way, it could be a metaphor for their split personality (before Jekyll is even mentioned) and another clue to the nature of the book. This is a good example of Stevenson injecting mystery into the book.

And a page and a half later we know that this door now belongs to Hyde (He used a key). But before this, Enfield describes the incident of the “Juggernaut” running over the little girl in the street. This in its own is an odd event, as this doesn’t happen often. But its also odd as the man (Hyde) is described as being a terrible, unstoppable machine. This is an example of mystery because people are not often described as terrible machines. This man must not be normal. And during the explanation of this “accident” (as Hyde calls it) Enfield likens Hyde to the devil on how he responds to the incident (“a kind of black sneering coolness – really like Satan”). It is saying that Hyde is similar to the devil. This heightens the effect of horror of this incident because nothing is more horrifying than the devil.

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Next we get a strange (mysterious) incident with the cheque. Firstly, Hyde has used a cheque that does not belong to him. We know it is not a forgery, as Enfield says its real and he knows whom it belongs to. He does not say who this is. I think this is because Stevenson does not want to give away the story to quickly. It gets the reader to think and it heightens the feeling of tension (and mystery). To cover this up, Stevenson has Enfield saying that he does not like to ask questions (a “curiosity killed the cat” excuse). I think this is a bad excuse as, although Stevenson does not want the reader to know the identity of the owner of the cheque, any person would be curious. Any person would ask questions (Enfield doesn’t do this). From another point of view, this poor excuse adds mystery and compels the reader to read on (to find out the owner of the cheque).

The only piece of information Utterson can get out of Enfield is the man’s name, Hyde. Although having said that, we do get a description of Hyde where Enfield describes him as being, “extraordinary-looking and I can find nothing out of the way,” and that he was, “displeasing and downright detestable”. These adjectives give the impression of something wrong/bad/evil. The use of these adjectives greatly increases the feeling of horror and builds tension. This is also important as; every person who encounters Hyde for the rest of the book gives the same description full of disgust, hate and evil. This is clever as it links to Jekyll’s final confession in the last chapter (where he describes Hyde as pure evil). Utterson then asks if he was sure that Hyde used a key. This is because he already knows Hyde, as we will find out later. Then to finish the chapter Utterson reveals that he already knows the owner of the cheque as well (but doesn’t tell the reader who) and makes a deal with Enfield to never speak of this again. This is a great mystery, for how would Mr Utterson know the owner of the cheque. With the lack of information that Enfield has given us we, the readers cannot possibly work out who it is (as the character has not been introduced yet) so this mystery makes us want to read on to find out, not only whose cheque it belongs to, but how Utterson could possibly know whose it is.

Chapter 2

The chapter starts with Utterson returning to his bachelor home. He goes straight to his business room and looks in his private closet. In here is Dr Jekyll’s will. This is not odd as he is a lawyer. What is odd is the fact that in the case of Dr Jekyll’s demise all his wealth is to be passed to Mr Hyde. This is a great example of mystery as this person, Jekyll, who is supposed to be a person; “very pink of the proprieties” (according to Enfield) has just basically left everything he owns to a murderous, evil, unstoppable machine. Why on earth would he have done this? Utterson and Enfield suspect blackmail, and as we are given no other evidence we are supposed to agree. This builds tension perfectly. That’s because this makes the twist at the end so much more shocking (horrifying).

Utterson then has an idea. He thinks that if anyone would know Hyde or would have seen him before, it would be his friend Dr Lanyon. While there at Lanyon’s house, he brings up the subject of their old friend Henry Jekyll. Directly after mentioning him, Lanyon’s tongue slips and he likens him to, ”such unscientific balderdash.” This is another example of mystery, for this means that Lanyon and Jekyll must have had an argument over some important scientific matter. What was it? Is it important? These questions build tension and compel the reader to read on and find out more on the subject.

But the subject is not mentioned again in this conversation. Instead Utterson allows Lanyon to regain his composure and then moves the conversation along to the subject of Hyde.

All Utterson can ascertain from Lanyon is that he has never heard of him. Utterson then leaves to return home. All night he wrestles with the problem, and the issues concerning Hyde, the will and the unstoppable juggernaut fill his rather vivid dreams. These dreams were filled with figures with unknown faces running through the street, crushing children and haunting Mr Utterson’s mind all night. These images he sees are perfect examples of horror in this book. Stevenson describes the, “figure” and this builds tension perfectly. This is because if a call somebody a figure, it means you can’t see their face. It means that they are mysterious. When Utterson wakes up from his nightmare he makes a promise to himself that he will find Mr Hyde.

For days, during his free time, Mr Utterson stood outside the door which Mr Hyde came from on the day of the, “unstoppable Juggernaut” incident. To me, this seems odd as this, is slightly obsessive behaviour (just to meet someone your suspicious of). This begs the question, why is Utterson so bothered? Why has he allowed his nightmares to affect him so much? I suppose that his nightmares could be so horrifying that he cannot get it out of his head, and he needs to confront Hyde, not just to serve his curiosity, but to confront his dreams and tell himself that they aren’t real. Confront his “inner demons” as it were. Nevertheless, this is odd. After a few days, his patient waiting was rewarded. At 10 o’clock one night, a figure comes to the end of the street. It is Hyde and he has come back to his house/apartment/home. It is dark and Utterson cannot see Hyde’s face. Just as Hyde draws his key, Utterson confronts him.

Hyde, “shrank back with a hissing intake of breath.” Very much like an animal, a snake perhaps (a snake is said to be the image of the devil). This is another example of Stevenson injecting horror into this story - through clues. Hyde’s fear is only momentary however, as he then resumed his cool, sneering posture. And Hyde does ask how Utterson knew him, almost in fear, and throughout the duration of this conversation he sounds very defensive. He reminds me of a caged animal, or a man with his back against wall (cornered). For example it seems like Hyde is trying to get this little talk over with quickly and get inside. Is this just because it is a cold night? Personally, I don’t think so. What has Hyde got to hide? (If excuse the pun.) But the conversation is well written and Hyde’s obvious rudeness makes the reader dislike him even more (which is what Stevenson wants). And Hyde does let something slip. When Utterson mentions Jekyll, Hyde firstly loses his temper. He then answers with, “Jekyll wouldn’t have told you!” This means that there is something going on between Jekyll and Hyde, and it is probably more than simple blackmail.

Hyde then quickly finishes the conversation and then runs inside his house. Utterson’s thoughts on the way back to his house describe Hyde as, “hardly human”, and that he regards him with, “unknown disgust, loathing and fear.”

Both of these phrases play (again) on the idea that Hyde is not human, and that he is evil. And yet it is unknown disgust that Utterson has, he just can’t seem to put his finger on what is wrong with Mr Hyde. All of the phrases build to the tension in Stevenson’s book. The unknown phrase adds to mystery. And the, “hardly human”, “disgust, loathing and fear,” all contribute to the horror in this book. And there is one final phrase in this paragraph, which contributes to horror in this book, and to Mr Hyde; “O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if I ever read Satan’s signature upon a face it is on that of your new friend.” This contributes to horror in this book because it mentions the devil (again) and in the time of this book no one feared anything more than the devil (as some people still do).

As an end to the chapter, Mr Utterson goes to see Jekyll to confront him about the whole “Hyde” business. But arrives to find that Dr Jekyll has gone out. Utterson then asks why Hyde had used the old dissecting room door earlier. Jekyll’s servant Poole says that Hyde is allowed to go to-and-fro about Jekyll’s estate as he pleases and has his own key. This is one of the last examples of mystery in this chapter and is one of the more important examples, purely for this reason. If Hyde has a key to Jekyll’s estate then this “blackmail” (if that’s what is going on asks the reader) has been going on for a long time and has gotten pretty serious. And of course, if it is not blackmail then what are Jekyll and Hyde doing? What is the connection? That is the very last use of mystery in this chapter. And it builds tension perfectly for the next chapter where Mr Utterson meets Dr Jekyll.

Conclusion

That is my essay on the first two chapters of “the Mysterious case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”. I have covered all the points concerning mystery, tension and horror in the first two chapters. There was a lot of mystery in those chapters as well as tension. But there wasn’t much in the way of horror. This is because most of the horrifying incidents happen later in the book, nearer the end. The murder of sir Danvers Carew is an example. People in Stevenson’s time feared the devil more than anything, so this is why the devil is mentioned often. Also people were very superstitious at this time. So this is why the story is about the metamorphosis, the evil within and the devil. This is because these are things, which people, not only feared, but also saw as a reality. Also this book has some historical significance too. For at the time when this book was written Darwin had just said that man was not put on the earth as man, but as ape (the theory of evolution). Considering that people followed religion like the law in those days, this was a huge shock/scandal. And in the midst of all this, for some one to write a novel, not about ape evolving into man, but good evolving into evil. This would have been considered a very tense, mysterious and horrifying book.