The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Reading Guide
Story of the Door
1. Describe Mr. Utterson’s appearance and character.
2. Who is Mr. Richard Enfield, and why do he and Utterson never miss their Sunday
walks together?
3. Where is the “door” of the chapter title? Describe its appearance in contrast to the
other buildings in the neighborhood.
4. What story is Enfield reminded of when he sees the door?
5. Why does Enfield compare the man to a juggernaut? How does this help
characterize the man?
6. What is the Edinburgh doctor’s response to the man? Why is Enfield particularly
struck by it?
7. How do Enfield and the doctor threaten the man?
8. What does Enfield mean when he describes the woman at the scene as being “as
wild as a harpie”?
9. Why does the man agree to pay money to the girl’s family? How much does he pay?
10. Where does the man go to get the money? In what two forms does he pay?
11. Why does Enfield think the check must be forged?
12. What convinces Enfield that the check is genuine?
13. What conclusion does Enfield draw from the check written by “a well-known” man
that the callous man produces?
14. What analogy does Enfield use to explain why he never “asked about the place with
the door”?
14. Whose name does Utterson ask Enfield to tell him?
15. When questioned about Hyde’s appearance, what is Enfield’s response?
16. Why does Enfield say, “I am ashamed of my long tongue”?
17. What is the tone of this chapter?
18. What does this chapter suggest about the importance placed on one’s reputation
during the Victorian Era?
Search for Mr. Hyde
19. What does holograph mean? What is unusual about the fact that Jekyll’s will is a
holograph? What is Utterson’s involvement with the will now?
20. Describe Dr. Lanyon. What is his relation to Utterson?
21. Describe Jekyll and Lanyon’s friendship.
22. Who are Damon and Pythias? Why is Lanyon’s allusion to them appropriate?
23. What question has Utteson come to ask Lanyon? What information does he
receive?
24. Why does Utterson decide he must see Hyde? How does Utterson go about
finding Hyde?
25. How does Robert Louis Stevenson create a mood of mystery in this chapter?
26. Describe Hyde’s appearance.
27. Who lives around the corner from the door? Why does Utterson go there?
28. Who is Poole? What does Utterson find out from him about Hyde?
Dr. Jekyll was Quite at Ease
29. Why does Utterson stay behind after the others have left Jekyll’s dinner party?
30. Describe Dr. Jekyll.
31. When Utterson voices concerns about Jekyll’s relationship with Hyde, how does
Jekyll respond?
32. What does Jekyll ask Utterson to promise him? How does Utterson reply?
The Carew Murder Case
33. How does the maid describe the meeting between Hyde and Carew?
34. Why does Utterson recognize the broken stick that was used for the murder
weapon?
35. As Utterson and Inspector Newcomen travel through London to Hyde’s Soho
house, Utterson says the area is “like a district of some city in a nightmare.” What
physical details of the setting make him feel this way? How does Stevenson use
personification in this description?
36. Describe Hyde’s house. What details about it suggest the personality of Henry
Jekyll as well?
37. What evidence does Newcomen find at Hyde’s house indicating that Hyde killed Sir
Danvers Carew?
38. How does Newcomen intend to apprehend Hyde? Why isn’t Hyde captured as
easily as Newcomen had assumed?
Incident of the Letter
39. How does the news of the murder affect Jekyll?
40. What is Jekyll’s attitude toward Hyde and his letter?
41. Why does Utterson choose his head clerk, Mr. Guest, as the person from whom he
seeks advice about the letter?
42. What comments does Guest make on Hyde’s handwriting?
Remarkable Incident of Doctor Lanyon
43. What has happened to Hyde since Carew’s murder?
44. How has Jekyll’s countenance and behavior changed since the disappearance of
Hyde?
45. What is unusual about the letter that Utterson receives from the deceased Lanyon?
46. Why doesn’t Utterson decide to solve the mystery right away and read the contents
of the envelope?
Incident at the Window
47. What does Enfield now know about this door that he didn’t know the last time the
two stood in front of it?
48. What happens when Utterson and Enfield enter Jekyll’s courtyard?
The Last Night
49. Why does Poole go to see Utterson? What does Poole ask Utterson to do? What
details reveal Poole’s extreme unrest?
50. What do Poole and Utterson agree about the sound of Jekyll’s voice? What does
Poole speculate has happened to Jekyll?
51. According to Poole, what has happened in Jekyll’s household during the past
week?
52. What makes Poole think the man in Jekyll’s room is not Jekyll, even though the
note is written in his handwriting?
53. What two final pieces of evidence convince both Utterson and Poole that the
person in Jekyll’s room must be Hyde?
54. How do Utterson and Poole finally get into the room?
55. What stark contrasts are revealed when Utterson and Poole finally break into
Jekyll’s laboratory? What has happened to Hyde?
56. In the course of his search, what surprising things does Utterson find in Jekyll’s
room?
Doctor Lanyon’s Narrative
57. Why is Lanyon surprised to receive registered mail form Jekyll?
58. What favor does Jekyll ask of Lanyon? How does Jekyll explain this request?
59. Although Lanyon doesn’t know the visitor is Hyde until later, what clues foreshadow
this conclusion?
60. What final instruction does Hyde give Lanyon? How does Hyde’s last remark refer
to the differences between Jekyll and Lanyon?
61. What happens when Hyde drinks the final compound?
62. Why is Lanyon mortally shocked by what he sees and hears from Jekyll? How
does he describe his feelings?
Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case
63. What reason does Jekyll give for the physical differences between him and Hyde?
64. How does Jekyll react to the sight of himself as Hyde? Compare his reaction to
others. How does Jekyll explain the reactions of others?
65. Why does Jekyll feel protected from Hyde’s actions and crimes?
66. In what way does Hyde change as time passes?
67. Why is Jekyll’s allusion to the Babylonian finger on the wall appropriate? What
does he now fear?
68. When forced with the decision, why does Jekyll choose to be Jekyll rather than
Hyde? What is the result of this choice?
69. Why does the murder force Jekyll to give up Hyde forever? How does Jekyll
respond to the situation?
70. What happens in Regent’s Park when Jekyll unexpectedly turns into Hyde again?
How does the setting heighten the horror of the scene?
71. After he becomes himself once again at Lanyon’s, what change occurs within
Jekyll?
72. Why does Hyde seem to grow stronger and Jekyll weaker?
73. Why can’t Jekyll save himself with a stronger dose of chemical?
74. Under what conditions does Jekyll write his final statement?
75. Robert Louis Stevenson ends the novella with the two letters. Why do you think he
chose not to reveal Utterson’s response?
Most questions adapted from Perfection Learning Masterprose