Chapter 3: Dr. Jekyll Was Quite at Ease
Summary:
Two weeks later, Dr. Jekyll is holding a dinner party at which Mr. Utterson is a guest. After the guests leave, Utterson confronts Jekyll over the matter of his will and tells him that he has been learning about Mr. Hyde. Jekyll becomes upset when he hears of this and tells Utterson to drop the subject. Utterson urges Hyde to confide in him, but again Jekyll tells Utterson to leave the subject alone and assures him that he can be rid of Mr. Hyde at any point. As Mr. Utterson gets up to leave, Jekyll tells him that he does have a great interest in "poor Hyde" and apologizes for his rude behavior, but begs him to make sure that he takes care of Hyde when Jekyll is no longer there.
Analysis:
At the beginning of chapter, Dr. Jekyll is described as a "smooth-faced man of fifty with something of a slovish cast." As with Hyde, Jekyll's hypocritical character has left its mark on his features, although not as obvious as Hyde's apparent physical deformity. In fact, Dr. Jekyll is dishonest with his closest friends and hides his scientific experiments.
Throughout the chapter, Jekyll lies to Utterson, one of his closest and most loyal friends, which foreshadows the degree to which Hyde's evilness will gain power over the otherwise respectable Jekyll. Interestingly, Jekyll also believes he can be "rid of Hyde at any point," which later proves to be tragically false. Thus, Stevenson examines the issue of control. Jekyll's addiction to Hyde's personality proves fatal, and although he believes to be in control of the situation, he is not.