Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde: Chapter Analysis

In the novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the ingenious author, Robert Louis Stevenson, makes usage of shifts in the subject of the chapters and his differing methods of storytelling to draw parallels between the chapters “Dr. Jekyll Was Quite at Ease” and “The Carew Murder Case.” Within the contents of chapter three,“ Dr. Jekyll Was Quite at Ease”, Stevenson maintains a heavy focus on the friendship between Jekyll and Utterson as is clearly exhibited through Utterson heaving “[A]n irreversible sigh.” It is through this simple action that Stevenson show how far Utterson is willing to go for his friend, as it is through this that Utterson resolves to end his campaign against Hyde for the amenity of his colleague. On the contrary, chapter four,“The Carew Murder …show more content…
Chapter three maintains composure throughout, using conversation as the way to advance the plot. With the most drastic case of this being Jekyll telling Utterson “'I am painfully situated, Utterson; my position is a very strange-a very strange one. It is one of those affairs that cannot be mended by talking.'” Through this dominating quote, Stevenson successfully shows the raw emotion of fear through speech, enabling the reader to properly comprehend the severity of the situation involving Hyde. In chapter four, the reader is immediately presented with the reason of Jekyll’s fear, as four tells its part of the story through actions. An unsettling but memorable moment of this is when Stevenson describes the murder of Danvers Carew, writing that “[W]ith ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot, and hailing down a storm of blows, under which bones were audibly shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway.” Through this startling description of the brutal crime, Stevenson shows a form of anger that could not be properly expressed through