Strange Case
of
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Study Questions

Story of the Door
1. What influenced Enfield to tell Utterson a story about what happened late one night?
2. Why did Enfield refuse to reveal the name on the check?
3. Whom does Utterson claim to know after Enfield's description?
Search for Mr. Hyde
1. What does the will of Dr. Jekyll state?
2. When Utterson interacts with Hyde what does he ask of him?
3. Why does Utterson assume that Hyde is blackmailing Dr. Jekyll?
Dr. Jekyll Was Quite at Ease
1. Why does Jekyll tell Utterson to leave Mr. Hyde's situation alone?
2. What does Jekyll make Utterson promise him?
The Carew Murder Case
1. What does the maid witness while sitting on her porch?
2. What does the police inspector learn about Hyde?
3. When the police enter Hyde's home, what do they find?
Incident of the Letter
1. What two people meet on the day Carew was murdered to talk about Hyde?
2. How does Jekyll try to deceive Utterson?
3. Whom does Utterson use to help him figure out the mystery of the letters?
Remarkable Incident of Dr. Lanyon
1. What does Utterson do after being denied contact with Dr. Jekyll?
2. After realizing both Jekyll and Lanyon were ill what does Utterson do?
3. Who dies at the end of the chapter and what is opened?
Incident at the Window
1. What does Jekyll say when Utterson and Enfield ask him to walk with them?
The Last Night
1. What is so strange about what happens when Poole asks if Utterson can enter into Jekyll's laboratory?
2. What seems to be the motive of the person inside of Jekyll's laboratory?
3. Whom do Utterson and Poole discover on the floor of the laboratory with a vial?
4. What is missing in the laboratory?
Dr. Lanyon's Narrative
1. What does Jekyll's letter to Lanyon state?
2. What did the potion Hyde drunk do?
Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
1. What is Jekyll's explanation for Hyde stature?
2. What were his thoughts after looking in the mirror after the transformation?
3. What were Jekyll's last written words?

Robert Louis Stevenson, the Author

-Stevenson was born in 1850 and died in 1894. Died at the age of 44 due to cerebral hemorrhage.
-He had a troubled relationship with his parent's Thomas and Margaret.
-Stevenson preferred literature growing up. He studied the writing styles of authors such as Hazlitt, Lamb, Wordsworth, Sir Thomas Browne, and many more.
-In the 1870's his journey to France inspired the two books An Island Voyage and Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes.
-In 1876, while in France he met a woman named Fanny Osbourne. He followed her to California where he married her.
-In the 1880's despite poor health he was still able to write Treasure Island, A Child's Garden of Verses, Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, and Kidnapped.
-The idea of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde came to Stevenson in a dream. He wrote for three days straight to come up with the first draft of the novel.
-Since his childhood, Stevenson suffered from tuberculosis.

Themes

The Duality of Human Nature: Dr. Jekyll'sconception of humanity is of a dual in nature. When the complete story of Jekyll and Hyde comes out, the duality is shown between the two. Jekyll states that "man is not truly one, but truly two." With that, Jekyll hoped that his potion would seperate his evil side from his good side. This action only leads to Hyde being unleashed and the beginning of Dr. Jekyll slowly diminishing away. According to this theory, the potion hides the dark side, exposing man's basic nature. The novel portrays Hyde as an animal--he is hairy and very ugly. For an animalistic creature, Hyde seems at home in an urban landscape. All of these obeservations imply that civilization also has a dark side.
Even our own English teacher has a good and bad side.
Click this link to see his two sides.
WARNING: This image maybe too shocking.
The Importance of Reputation: One's reputation seems to be very important in the novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Men such as Utterson and Enfield avoid gossip because they see gossip as a great destroyer of reputation. The importance of reputation in the novel also reflects the importance of appearance, facades, and surfaces. Even though Utterson suspects a lot of things going on, he does not make his suspicions known to anyone but himself.
Mood: The mood of the novel is mysterious and has an atmosphere of suspense which spreads throughout the novel. The ambition that Dr. Jekyll has leads him to making a new discovery; but what he fails to know is that this discovery will lead to his downfall and deterioration.
Evil: Evil is in Mr. Hyde. According to the most angelic person, the world itself may have a hidden side of evil. When this evil is released, it can cause brutal and murderous behavior.
Curiosity Killed the Cat: Dr. Jekyll is curious as to whether his theory about the duality of man is true. In order to find out, he tests his theory on himself. After concucting the formula, he was able to discover his inner devil. However, his experiment and curiosity have lead him to a point-of-no-return.

Literary Elements

Settings	Dark, scary streets of London.
Motifs	-Innocent People Terrorized: The story suggests Hyde was deprived. His killing of innocent beings who did not deserve death and have not done anything to harm him or permit him to have a grudge against them suggests he was deprived.
	-Silence: The characters throughout the novel cannot describe Hyde's physical characteristics with words from their mouths. Stevenson chose to make his characters unable to describe Hyde to prove how ugly and hideous he was.
	-Crimes in the Streets: The streets were dark, scary, narrow, and curvy. In these dark streets, Hyde commits his murders and crimes so no one can see him.
Symbols	-Jekyll's House/Lab: The lab seems miskept and neglected. The house symbolizes Dr. Jekyll due to its structure and the way it is taken care of. The lab is messy and dirty, which matches Hyde's appearance perfectly. The house and lab are connected, though no one can see. This represents Jekyll and Hyde and how their relationship is overlooked and no one can see that they are the same person.
	-Hyde: Hyde is very ugly physically which also symbolizes his corrupt morals on the inside. Hyde may be a little small because he has been kept in for so long which has prevented his growth and maturity.
Allegory	The conflict between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde represents the inner struggle among all humans, the struggle of doing good and avoiding evil. Humanity has been set to do what is permitted by morality and to avoid what is out of morality. More precisely, people everyday are faced in a situation of deciding what is right and what is wrong.

Extras, Parodies, Rip-offs, and such

	Yin Yang: -A Chinese symbol that represents the two oppossite and complementary forces found in the world. Yang means "sunny", it corresponds to the day and more active functions. Whereas yin, meaning "shady", corresponds to night and dormancy. This idea has been around for centuries throughout the Orient, and Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is similar to its idea. In the western and more Christianized world, this idea is sometimes known as "dualism."
There are a stage plays and movies that are rip-offs from Stevenson's novel. Some are exactly as the novel is written, but some have some overwhelming modifications.
Incredible Hulk - Similar to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, both stories the main character's body transforms. However, in Jekyll and Hyde, Jekyll actually becomes smaller, while in the Hulk, the main character becomes much larger. Also, Jekyll's transformation was the result of his scientific experiments on himself, while the Hulk's transformation was the result of the main character's interaction with gamma rays in his studies to develop a gamma bomb. The Hulk's reaction is caused by anger, while a potion causes Jekyll's reaction (however after a certain amount of time Jekyll cannot control his transformations, in the beginning Jekyll's transformations are caused strictly by the potions).	A cover of a Marvel comic that features Hulk.
	At 1990s, an animated TV series titled Batman featured Two-Face as one Batman's greatest enemies.
	Two-Face- Appeared in Batman comics, Two-Face's character was born of when a District Attorney is splashed in acid by gang leader during a trial. At the burning of his face, Harvey's alter-ego came to surface. From this multiple personality disorder, Harvey abandoned the life of law, and lived the life as a criminal. However, his two sides are always disputing about what to do with a victim and such; in order for Two-Face to pick a decision, he relies on a flip of a coin in order to prevent the dispute between his two personalities.
This cover of Marvel's Spider-Man comic shows Dr. Calvin Zabo transform to an ugly monster called Mr. Hyde!	Mister Hyde - A character in a marvel comic book. This Hyde's original human form is named Calvin Zabo. The main difference between Stevenson's Hyde and Marvel's Hyde is that Marvel's Hyde becomes larger while Stevenson's Hyde becomes smaller. Almost every other detail is the same or similar (motives, cause of reaction).
Mr. Hyde and Cobra are working together to fight Marvel's Daredevil.
Lyrics for "Ticket To Hyde" by Johnny D.	"Ticket to Hyde" - Johnny D. (Originally "Ticket to Ride" by the Beatles).
"Devil Inside" by Utada Hikaru. The concept of the song is similar to the Jekyll's theory of duality of humans. The song is about a teenage girl wanting to be bad and is growing aware of her evil side.	Utada Hikaru's live performance of "Devil Inside".
	Utada Hikaru is a Japanese pop singer. Her 2004 album Exodus featured the song "Devil Inside."

Answers for the Study Questions

Story of the Door
1. What influenced Enfield to tell Utterson a story about what happened late one night? A neglected building that Utterson and Enfield noticed.
2. Why did Enfield refuse to reveal the name on the check? Because he does not like to gossip.
3. Whom does Utterson claim to know after Enfield's description? Mr. Hyde
Search for Mr. Hyde
1. What does the will of Dr. Jekyll state? It states that all Dr. Jekyll's property is to be given to Edward Hyde.
2. When Utterson interacts with Hyde what does he ask of him? Utterson asks Hyde to reveal his face.
3. Why does Utterson assume that Hyde is blackmailing Dr. Jekyll? Because Poole, Jekyll's butler, states that Dr. Jekyll said that when he is not home, they must obey Mr. Hyde.
Dr. Jekyll Was Quite at Ease
1. Why does Jekyll tell Utterson to leave Mr. Hyde's situation alone? Because he states that Mr. Hyde is exceptional and cannot be solved by talking.
2. What does Jekyll make Utterson promise him? To promise that he will carry out his will and testament.
The Carew Murder Case
1. What does the maid witness while sitting on her porch? She witnesses Mr. Hyde beating an old man named Sir Danvers Carew.
2. What does the police inspector learn about Hyde? That he still has an account at the bank, but no family or friends.
3. When the police enter Hyde's home, what do they find? They find the murder weapon and the burned remains of Hyde's checkbook.
Incident of the Letter
1. What two people meet on the day Carew was murdered to talk about Hyde? Utterson and Jekyll meet in Jekyll's laboratory.
2. How does Jekyll try to deceive Utterson? Jekyll pretends that he has received a letter from Hyde but Jekyll actually forges it.
3. Whom does Utterson use to help him figure out the mystery of the letters? Mr. Guest, his clerk.
Remarkable Incident of Dr. Lanyon
1. What does Utterson do after being denied contact with Dr. Jekyll? Utterson goes to meet with Dr. Lanyon to ask him about Jekyll.
2. After realizing both Jekyll and Lanyon were ill what does Utterson do? He writes to Jekyll to ask him what was really going on among the three of them.
3. Who dies at the end of the chapter and what is opened? Lanyon dies and Utterson opens an envelope that belongs to Lanyon.
Incident at the Window
1. What does Jekyll say when Utterson and Enfield ask him to walk with them? Jekyll says he can't go out and starts to act strange.
The Last Night
1. What is so strange about what happens when Poole asks if Utterson can enter into Jekyll's laboratory? A voice other than Jekyll's says no visitors can enter.
2. What seems to be the motive of the person inside of Jekyll's laboratory? The unknown person seems to want a special ingredient not available in any London drugstore.
3. Whom do Utterson and Poole discover on the floor of the laboratory with a vial? Mr. Hyde
4. What is missing in the laboratory? After searching the premises they do not find Jekyll nor his corpse.
Dr. Lanyon's Narrative
1. What does Jekyll's letter to Lanyon state? It tells Lanyon to retrieve some contents from Jekylls lab and go home and wait for someone to pick them up.
2. What did the potion Hyde drunk do? The liquid made Hyde transform into Jekyll instantly.
Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
1. What is Jekyll's explanation for Hyde stature? It represented an evil side that had been repressed.
2. What were his thoughts after looking in the mirror after the transformation? Jekyll actually felt a sense of freedom and relief.
3. What were Jekyll's last written words? That by the time Utterson reads this letter Dr. Jekyll will be no more.

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde