A quick plot summary:
1) Utterson finds out about the young girl and the
evil man who apparently trampled over her. He
also finds out this man is known to his friend, Dr
Jekyll.
2) Utterson is intrigued by Hyde and goes to find
him. Meeting him, he is puzzled why a
respectable man like Jekyll would want anything
to do with him.
3) After a year, the respected gentleman Sir
Danvers Carew is killed by Hyde. Dr Jekyll will
not speak to anyone –at the same time, Mr
Hyde disappears.
4) Utterson is concerned about his friend and goes
to speak to Dr Lanyon about Hyde. Like Jekyll,
Lanyon will not speak to him about it. However,
he does give Utterson a letter that he says must
not be read until Jekyll either disappears or
dies.
5) Utterson is called to Jekyll’s house in the middle
of the night. In the laboratory lies Hyde’s body.
Utterson reads Jekyll’s new will and takes
Jekyll’s confession back to his house to read.
6) Now that Jekyll has disappeared, Utterson reads
Lanyon’s letter. It discusses Jekyll’s
experiments. It reveals Jekyll IS Hyde and vice
versa.
7) Jekyll’s confession explains to Utterson and the
reader HOW and WHY he became Hyde.
The plot in more detail:
Utterson and Enfield are taking a walk, during which they find a bizarre and very mysterious
looking door. This door is attached to Dr Jekyll’s house – who is a friend of Utterson’s.
The door reminds Enfield of the person who lives there, a Mr Hyde, and recalls an incident
where Hyde trampled over a young girl without feeling any apparent guilt.
Utterson is intrigued by Hyde and wants to find out more about him, and so he begins to
gather information and see if he can meet him.
Utterson meets Hyde and is genuinely shocked by his appearance. When he speaks to Hyde,
Hyde is blunt and violent and Utterson begins to worry for his friend Dr Jekyll. Utterson
heads to Dr Jekyll’s house to warn him, but Poole – Jekyll’s servant – says his master is not
there. Additionally, Poole reveals that Jekyll has told all the staff to let Mr Hyde go in and out
of the house whenever he likes.
After two weeks, Utterson speaks to Jekyll at a mutual friend’s dinner party. As a lawyer,
Utterson has seen Jekyll’s latest will, which names Hyde as the man to inherit his fortune.
Jekyll tells Utterson not to worry and requests that he does not speak of Hyde anymore as he
has everything firmly under control.
After a year, Sir Danvers Carew –a very well respected individual –is murdered by Hyde. The
murder weapon is Dr Jekyll’s walking cane, linking Utterson’s friend to the crime. A maid,
who witnessed the attack, is distraught at the sheer violence she saw. Utterson is now
further motivated to solve this mystery and help his friend.
After the murder, Jekyll no longer sees his friends and becomes increasingly isolated. Jekyll
tells Utterson that he no longer has any links to Hyde. The police investigating Carew’s
murder say Hyde has disappeared. When Jekyll hears of this, he seems to become happier
and more social with his friends.
Out of nowhere, Jekyll once more becomes isolated and will not speak to Utterson. Utterson
goes to Dr Lanyon, who is one of Jekyll’s oldest friends. Lanyon is very ill and will soon die –
but refuses to speak about Jekyll. He leaves a letter for Utterson to read once Jekyll has
either disappeared or died –further adding to the mystery of the novella.
Poole arrives at Utterson’s house and requests that he go with him to Jekyll’s home. Outside
of Jekyll’s laboratory (the door is locked), he can hear strange noises coming from inside.
Poole reveals that the door has been locked for several days. Whoever is inside keeps asking
for different chemicals. This person has complained to Poole that the chemicals provided to
him contain impurities.
Frustrated and deeply concerned, Utterson and Poole break down the door to the
laboratory. Lying on the floor is a very small, deformed individual who is dressed in Jekyll’s
clothes. On the desk is a new will with Utterson named as the new inheritor of Jekyll’s
fortune, not Hyde. Jekyll has also left a confession. Utterson returns home to read all the
documents.
Now that Jekyll has disappeared, Utterson reads Dr Lanyon’s letter which reveals the
experiments Jekyll was carrying out. Jekyll’s confession explains his thoughts during the
experiments and that Jekyll is Hyde.
Plot Overview
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert
Louis Stevenson begins not from Dr Jekyll’s perspective
but is told by a reliable and neutral narrator and
follows Dr Gabriel Utterson, a Victorian gentleman with
rigid and strict moral beliefs and behaviours.
