Form 3 - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Synopsis, Characters, Themes, Moral Values)

Synopsis

The cover of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde unabridged novel

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This story was about a scientist, Dr. Jekyll, who discovered a potion which allowed him to transform into Mr. Hyde, an ugly and cruel being. Dr. Jekyll believed that the good and evil in a person can be separated. Therefore, after 10 years of experiments, he succeeded in separating the two identities.

He then begins to lead a double life. As Dr. Jekyll, he lived a respectable life. He was close friends with the most respected people in the community such as Mr. Utterson, a lawyer and Dr. Lanyon, a doctor. As Edward Hyde, he was the evil monster. He did not think twice about doing brutal acts. He even murdered Sir Danvers Carew.

Dr. Jekyll continued to change into Hyde. Hyde began to grow stronger until Jekyll was unable to control the change. In the end, Mr. Utterson found out the truth about Jekyll and Hyde. Unfortunately, Hyde, who is also Dr. Jekyll, had died.

Main Characters

Character 1: Dr Jekyll

Physical characteristics

He was fifty years old, smooth-faced, heavy-footed, tall and healthy.

Brilliant

He succeeded in producing a drug that could separate the elements of good and bad in him.

Hypocritical

• He had a wild side in him and liked gaiety. He did many wrong things in secret, without anyone knowing.
• As a great scientist, he liked to be respected. However, he lived two lives. He was both good and bad. At times, he was completely bad. At other times, he wished only to do what was good and right.
• Whenever he wanted to do evil deeds, he would change to Mr. Hyde by drinking a drug that he successfully created. To prevent from getting caught by the authorities, he would drink the drug in his laboratory and change back into the respectable Dr Jekyll. 
• After the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, Mr Utterson went to see Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Utterson asked him whether he was hiding Mr. Hyde from the police. Dr. Jekyll pretended not to know where Hyde was. He also swore that we would never see Hyde again.

Watch the following 1932 movie clip on how Dr Jekyll transformed to Mr Hyde after drinking the potion that he concocted in his laboratory:

Kind

• He invited a few friends for dinner at his home.
• He wanted to stop being the evil Mr. Hyde after the murder of Sir Danvers Carew and began a new life as Dr. Jekyll. He invited all his old friends into his home and entertained them. He became religious.

Character 2: Mr Hyde

Physical characteristics

He was small, ugly and deformed. He had dark hair, heavy and arched eyebrows, as well as large and full-lipped mouth

Cruel

• He trampled over a girl named Edie and did not feel sorry for what he had done.
• He murdered Sir Danvers Carew when Carew asked for direction. Hyde struck Carew with his walking-stick and trampled on him with his feet.

Cowardly

• After trampling over Edie, Dr. Grant suggested that the matter should be handled by the police. Mr. Hyde became worried and agreed to pay Edie’s family a hundred pounds.
• He would drink the drug in his laboratory and change back into the respectable Dr Jekyll to prevent from getting caught by the authorities.

Character 3: Mr Utterson

Trustworthy

• Mr Utterson declined from giving too much information about the affair of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to Richard Enfield. They were having their usual walk together when this matter was brought up. Mr Utterson realized that it was better to not let anybody know about Dr. Jekyll’s relationship with Mr Hyde.
• Dr. Jekyll trusted Mr Utterson to keep his will in Mr Utterson’s safe. Although Mr Utterson was quite troubled by the request, he did it anyway and guarded it. When he knew about the evilness of Mr Hyde, he did not mention about Dr. Jekyll’s will that contains the monster’s name to a single soul. 
• Mr Utterson promised to obey Dr. Jekyll’s will although he disagreed with the contents of the will. As a lawyer and a friend who can be trusted, Mr. Utterson respected and obeyed Dr. Jekyll’s request.
• Mr Utterson kept his promise to read Dr. Lanyon’s letter after Dr. Jekyll’s tragic death.  He is a trustworthy fellow and did not to tell anyone about what had happened to Dr. Jekyll. He decided to let the events that had happened to be forgotten for the sake of his friend’s good name.

Determined

• He wanted see Mr. Hyde face-to-face. He waited outside the blackmail house and kept an eye, day and night, on the door of the house. His patience paid off when he finally got to meet Mr. Hyde.
• Mr Utterson wanted to learn more about Mr. Hyde. Based on Poole’s information, he concluded that Dr.Jekyll was being blackmailed by Mr. Hyde. So, he was determined to help his friend. He told his friend that he had heard bad things about Mr. Hyde and disagreed with the will. When Dr. Jekyll asked Mr. Utterson not to interfere in this matter, he promised to follow Dr. Jekyll’s will.
• He was determined to solve Sir Danvers Carew murder case. He started the investigation by analyzing the witness’ account and the evidence found at the murder scene. From the analysis, Mr Utterson learned that Mr. Hyde was linked to this murder. He and the police went to Mr. Hyde’s house in Soho and checked on Mr. Hyde’s bank account to collect more evidence and information. Mr Utterson also questioned Dr. Jekyll and asked him about Mr Hyde’s whereabouts but in vain.
• Dr. Jekyll claimed that he received a letter by hand from Mr. Hyde. Mr Utterson sensed that the letter might be written in Dr. Jekyll’s laboratory because Poole informed that nobody had sent any letter that day. Mr. Utterson asked Mr. Guest to compare the handwriting on Mr. Hyde’s letter and the handwriting on Dr. Jekyll’s dinner invitation letter. Mr. Guest found that both handwritings looked very much the same. Mr. Utterson concluded that Dr. Jekyll had written the letter for Mr. Hyde.
• After Sir Danvers Carew died, Mr Hyde disappeared and Dr. Jekyll began to go out once more. Soon after, Dr. Jekyll did not want to see anyone again. Mr. Utterson was worried about Dr. Jekyll and was determined to find out what had happened. He went to see Dr. Lanyon, hoping that the doctor would know what was happening to Dr. Jekyll but in vain. Then, Mr. Utterson wrote a letter to Dr. Jekyll to ask what was going on. Dr. Jekyll refused to tell Mr Utterson what was exactly happening. Mr Utterson finally stopped visiting Dr. Jekyll after all his attempts to see Dr. Jekyll failed.
• When Poole informed Mr Utterson that something was wrong with Dr. Jekyll, Mr Utterson followed Poole back to Dr. Jekyll’s house. When they reached the laboratory, they heard a voice that did not sound like Dr. Jekyll. Mr Utterson was determined to find out what was happening inside the laboratory. So, he and Poole, armed with a kitchen knife and a large axe, decided to break in the laboratory’s door. Once they stepped into the laboratory, they saw the body of Mr Hyde. There were notes on Dr. Jekyll’s laboratory. These notes unraveled the mysteries of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Themes

The main themes in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are:

• Responsibility
• The good and evil sides on man
• Friendship
• Hypocrisy

Moral Values

• Determination
• Be helpful to friends
• Do not be a hypocrite

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Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Synopsis, Characters, Themes, Moral Values