Minor Characters
English Lit: AQA GCSE Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, topic 2.2.3
Minor Characters
Here are some short descriptions of minor characters of the story:
Mr Enfield
- Enfield is a life-long friend of Utterson.
- Like Utterson, Enfield is reserved, and an archetypal gentleman who does not engage in gossip.
- He is a good-willed man and the person that narrates the first description of Hyde in Chapter 1: Story of the Door.
- Enfield embodies typical Victorian values - he understands the importance of reputation and he forces Hyde to pay for his crime by threatening to ruin his reputation.
Mr Poole
- Jekyll is a wealthy man, so he has a butler.
- Mr Poole is also a servant in his household.
- He is loyal and he has worked for Jekyll for over two decades.
- Poole is the one that notices when Jekyll’s behaviour starts to change, so he notifies Utterson for help.
- "O, sir...do you think I do not know my master after twenty years? Do you think I do not know where his head comes to in the cabinet door, where I saw him every morning of my life? No, sir, that thing in the mask was never Dr Jekyll."
Mr Guest
- Mr Guest is Utterson’s clerk and friend.
- Guest is also an expert in reading people’s handwriting and deciphering what type of character they are. Utterson wants him to inspect a letter with Hyde’s handwriting, and this is his main role in the plot. Guest notices that Hyde’s script is the same as Jekyll’s, but it slants in a different direction.
Sir Danvers Carew
- Carew is a member of Parliament and friend of Utterson.
- He is murdered by Hyde, who attacks him with a walking stick.
- He is a minor character in the novella and a victim of Hyde’s cruelty.
Test yourself on Minor Characters
Which of these are true of Enfield?
Which of these is NOT true of Mr Guest?