GCSE-readyDr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: narrative structure and key passages
Stevenson tells his story like a mystery, through several narrators and documents. Its language of violence, animals and the inhuman makes Hyde terrifying because he is never fully described.
Structure and narrators
Detective structure: clues, a mystery to solve and a final explanation.
Restraint: respectable gentlemen avoid gossip and scandal, so key facts are hidden or unspoken, which builds suspense.
Key passages
| Moment | Quotation | Method and effect |
|---|---|---|
| Enfield's story (Ch. 1) | "trampled calmly over the child's body" | The adverb 'calmly' makes the violence cold and inhuman |
| Enfield's story (Ch. 1) | "like some damned Juggernaut" | Simile: Hyde as an unstoppable, crushing force |
| Utterson meets Hyde (Ch. 2) | "pale and dwarfish"; "Something troglodytic" | Hyde as primitive, less evolved |
| Utterson meets Hyde (Ch. 2) | "Satan's signature upon a face" | Religious imagery: Hyde as evil |
| The Carew murder (Ch. 4) | "ape-like fury" | Animal imagery: Hyde as savage |
| Jekyll's statement (Ch. 10) | "the thorough and primitive duality of man"; "man is not truly one, but truly two" | The central idea of duality |
Practice: analysing an extract
for the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground. It sounds nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see. It wasn't like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut.
How does Stevenson make Hyde seem inhuman in this extract?
- The adverb 'calmly' shows Hyde feels no guilt.
- The contrast 'nothing to hear' but 'hellish to see' stresses the horror.
- The simile 'like some damned Juggernaut' compares him to a crushing machine, not a man.
Answer: The adverb 'calmly', the religious word 'hellish' and the simile 'like some damned Juggernaut' combine to present Hyde as a cold, unstoppable force rather than a human being.
Multiple narrators and documents create a detective structure that hides the truth until Jekyll's statement. Hyde is shown through animal, primitive and devilish imagery, never fully described. Duality is the central idea.
- Structure
- How a text is organised and develops: its order, shifts, turning points, openings and endings.
- Imagery
- Language that creates a picture or appeals to the senses, including similes, metaphors and personification.
All GCSE and International GCSE English Literature key terms and definitions →
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What is Utterson's role in the narrative?
- The villain
- The investigator through whom we follow the mystery
- The narrator in the first person
- A minor character
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Answer: The investigator through whom we follow the mystery
We discover the truth with him.
What is the final chapter of Jekyll and Hyde?
- Story of the Door
- The Carew Murder Case
- Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- The Last Night
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Answer: Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
The confession explains all.
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- Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0) specification
- Project Gutenberg: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Checked by the GCSE-ready editorial team, 23 October 2026. Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.