1.1.1
Chapters 1 & 2
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Chapter 1: The Story of the Door
Here's a summary of what happens in Chapter 1:
Utterson introduced
- Utterson is introduced as the first character. He is a rather dry and boring man who drinks gin when he is alone to try to prevent himself from drinking socially. He doesn’t indulge himself with hobbies or anything fun.
- He has a distant relation called Mr Enfield, a well-known man about town who he used to walk around London with.
Enfield's story
- One day, they are walking in the busy streets of Soho when they pass a “sinister block of building” that looks different from the rest.
- Enfield tells Utterson that he once “saw two figures: one a little man who was stumping along eastward at a good walk, and the other a girl of maybe eight or ten who was running as hard as she was able down a cross street.”
- This strange recount of events starts the investigation into Hyde, and invokes Utterson’s curiosity.
Chapter 2: The Search for Mr Hyde
Here's a summary of what happens in Chapter 2:
Jekyll's will
- Utterson goes to his study and gets out a will he drew up for his friend Dr Jekyll.
- It states that in the event of the death or disappearance of Jekyll, all of his property should be given to Mr Hyde.
- This strange will troubled Utterson for a while, and he has concerns that Hyde has a powerful influence over Jekyll.
- He seeks to unravel the mystery and he visits Dr Lanyon, a friend of Jekyll’s. Lanyon has not spoken to Jekyll in a long while, after a dispute over their medical theories. Lanyon refers to Jekyll’s most recent scientific research as "unscientific balderdash".
Utterson meets Hyde
- Later that same night, Utterson is haunted by nightmares in which a faceless man runs down a small child. Utterson is so disturbed that he decides to revisit the run-down building where Enfield saw Hyde enter, in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Hyde.
- Eventually, Hyde appears and Utterson approaches him and asks him to show his face, which Hyde eventually does.
- Hyde gives Utterson his address. Utterson sees this as a sign that Hyde hopes that Jekyll will soon die and that his will shall be released.
- Utterson is horrified. He cannot quite explain the "unknown disgust, loathing and fear" he feels towards Hyde.
Hyde's laboratory
- Utterson visits Jekyll, and discovers that the run-down building that Hyde frequently visits is actually a laboratory attached to Jekyll’s well-kept townhouse, which faces outward on a parallel street.
- Poole lets Utterson in, and he tells Utterson that Hyde has a key to the laboratory and that all the servants have orders to obey Hyde!
- The lawyer heads home, worrying about his friend. He assumed Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll, for some wrongdoings that Jekyll has committed in his youth.
1Plot Summary
2Characters
2.1Jekyll & Hyde
3Gothic Genre
4Key Themes
5Context & Author
6Literary Techniques
6.1Literary Techniques
7Grade 9 - Key Character & Theme Questions
7.1Key Character & Themes - Linked Questions
8Recap: Main Quotes
Jump to other topics
1Plot Summary
2Characters
2.1Jekyll & Hyde
3Gothic Genre
4Key Themes
5Context & Author
6Literary Techniques
6.1Literary Techniques
7Grade 9 - Key Character & Theme Questions
7.1Key Character & Themes - Linked Questions
8Recap: Main Quotes
Practice questions on Chapters 1 & 2
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1Chapter 1 SummaryPut in order
- 2How is Utterson presented in Chapter 1?True / false
- 3How did Utterson and Mr Enfield used to spend time together?Multiple choice
- 4
- 5Chapter 2 SummaryPut in order
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