After Utterson’s meets Hyde at his house (Chapter 1). In his distress, Utterson walks away from the house, thinking about

what he has discovered about Hyde (page 16). Where does he walk to?

Round the corner from the by-street, there was a square of ancient,

handsome houses, now for the most part decayed from their high estate

and let in flats and chambers to all sorts and conditions of men; map-

engravers, architects, shady lawyers and the agents of obscure enterprises.

One house, however, second from the corner, was still occupied entire; and

at the door of this, which wore a great air of wealth and comfort, though it

was now plunged in darkness except for the fanlight, Mr. Utterson stopped

and knocked. A well-dressed, elderly servant opened the door.

“Is Dr. Jekyll at home, Poole?” asked the lawyer. (p16)

Dr Jekyll is man of wealth, education and high status. How does Stevenson’s description of his house emphasise these positive

features?

Round the corner from the by-street, there was a square of ancient,

handsome houses, now for the most part decayed from their high estate

and let in flats and chambers to all sorts and conditions of men; map-

engravers, architects, shady lawyers and the agents of obscure enterprises.

One house, however, second from the corner, was still occupied entire; and

at the door of this, which wore a great air of wealth and comfort, though it

was now plunged in darkness except for the fanlight, Mr. Utterson stopped

and knocked. A well-dressed, elderly servant opened the door.

“Is Dr. Jekyll at home, Poole?” asked the lawyer. (p16)

Dr Jekyll is also a man with a dark secret: can you find the line which subtly hints at that sense of evil in Stevenson’s description

of Jekyll’s house? What effect does it have?

Round the corner from the by-street, there was a square of ancient,

handsome houses, now for the most part decayed from their high estate

and let in flats and chambers to all sorts and conditions of men; map-

engravers, architects, shady lawyers and the agents of obscure enterprises.

One house, however, second from the corner, was still occupied entire; and

at the door of this, which wore a great air of wealth and comfort, though it

was now plunged in darkness except for the fanlight, Mr. Utterson stopped

and knocked. A well-dressed, elderly servant opened the door.

“Is Dr. Jekyll at home, Poole?” asked the lawyer. (p16)

Dr Jekyll’s house is beautiful and welcoming indeed.

“I will see, Mr. Utterson,” said Poole, admitting the visitor, as he spoke, into a large, low-roofed, comfortable hall paved with flags (flagstones), warmed (after the fashion of a country house) by a bright, open fire, and furnished with costly cabinets (cupboards) of oak. (p16)

Identify and analyse two features which emphasise the positive nature of Jekyll’s house.

“I will see, Mr. Utterson,” said Poole, admitting the visitor, as he spoke, into a large, low-roofed, comfortable hall paved with flags (flagstones), warmed (after the fashion of a country house) by a bright, open fire, and furnished with costly cabinets (cupboards) of oak. (p16)

However, Stevenson works hard to make us aware that (like the Birlings’ house in An Inspector Calls) all is not well amid the

apparent superficial beauty.

This hall, in which he was now left alone, was a pet fancy of his friend

the doctor’s; and Utterson himself was wont (regularly) to speak of it

as the pleasantest room in London. But tonight there was a shudder in

his blood; the face of Hyde sat heavy on his memory; he felt (what was

rare with him) a nausea (sickness) and distaste of life; and in the

gloom of his spirits, he seemed to read a menace in the flickering of

the firelight on the polished cabinets and the uneasy starting of the

shadow on the roof. (p16-17)

Identify and analyse two features which emphasise the negative nature of Jekyll’s house.

This hall, in which he was now left alone, was a pet fancy of his friend

the doctor’s; and Utterson himself was wont (regularly) to speak of it

as the pleasantest room in London. But tonight there was a shudder in

his blood; the face of Hyde sat heavy on his memory; he felt (what was

rare with him) a nausea (sickness) and distaste of life; and in the

gloom of his spirits, he seemed to read a menace in the flickering of

the firelight on the polished cabinets and the uneasy starting of the

shadow on the roof. (p16-17)

Utterson then speaks to Jekyll’s butler, Poole, about Hyde. The discussion that follows deepens the

mystery of Hyde and worries Utterson enormously.

“I saw Mr. Hyde go in by the old dissecting room, Poole,” he said. “Is that right, when Dr. Jekyll is from home?”

“Quite right, Mr. Utterson, sir,” replied the servant. “Mr. Hyde has a key.”

“Your master seems to repose a great deal of trust in that young man, Poole,” resumed the other musingly.

“Yes, sir, he does indeed,” said Poole. “We have all orders to obey him.”

“I do not think I ever met Mr. Hyde?” asked Utterson.

“O, dear no, sir. He never dines here,” replied the butler. “Indeed we see very little of him on this side of the house; he mostly comes and goes by the laboratory.” (p17)

What do you think of the fact that Hyde accesses Jekyll’s house through “the old dissecting room” and “comes and goes by the

laboratory”? How is this significant in some way?

“I saw Mr. Hyde go in by the old dissecting room, Poole,” he said. “Is that right, when Dr. Jekyll is from home?”

“Quite right, Mr. Utterson, sir,” replied the servant. “Mr. Hyde has a key.”

“Your master seems to repose a great deal of trust in that young man, Poole,” resumed the other musingly.

“Yes, sir, he does indeed,” said Poole. “We have all orders to obey him.”

“I do not think I ever met Mr. Hyde?” asked Utterson.

“O, dear no, sir. He never dines here,” replied the butler. “Indeed we see very little of him on this side of the house; he mostly comes and goes by the laboratory.” (p17)

What is the impact for you of the fact that “Mr Hyde has a key” and that all the servants have “orders to

obey him”?

“I saw Mr. Hyde go in by the old dissecting room, Poole,” he said. “Is that right, when Dr. Jekyll is from home?”

“Quite right, Mr. Utterson, sir,” replied the servant. “Mr. Hyde has a key.”

“Your master seems to repose a great deal of trust in that young man, Poole,” resumed the other musingly.

“Yes, sir, he does indeed,” said Poole. “We have all orders to obey him.”

“I do not think I ever met Mr. Hyde?” asked Utterson.

“O, dear no, sir. He never dines here,” replied the butler. “Indeed we see very little of him on this side of the house; he mostly comes and goes by the laboratory.” (p17)

Setting

Learning Point

The setting of Dr Jekyll’s house, in relation to the “blistered” door that was the focus of chapter 1,

is a visual metaphor for the two sides of humanity: the positive, welcoming, warm side

and the evil, atavistic, savage side.

How and to what purpose does Stevenson use the setting of Jekyll’s

house?