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The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde key quotes: every quotation analysed
44 quotations from The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson), each with its speaker and scene, what the words are doing, the techniques at work and how to use it in a AQA GCSE English Literature essay. By character: Dr Henry Jekyll (13), Edward Hyde (13), Gabriel John Utterson (6), Dr Hastie Lanyon (6), Enfield and Poole (6). Indexed by theme below.
A quotation is worth marks only when it is exact and doing work. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is examined on 8702 Paper 1, Section B — The 19th-century novel (closed book; a printed extract, then the novel as a whole), and what scores is the analysis. Every entry here gives the analysis first: read the quotation, then the line on what it is doing, then close the page and say it back. The character studies linked from each section carry the readings and essay arguments the quotations serve; the Grade 9 Notes hold the whole text.
By theme
Science, religion and the supernatural (13) · Duality and the divided self (12) · Narrative, testimony and the unspeakable (9) · Reputation, secrecy and respectability (9) · Violence and the beast within (9) · London: the city, the door and the fog (1)
Dr Henry Jekyll — 13 quotations
Dr Henry Jekyll: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →
“a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty”
Narrator · Chapter 3, Dr Jekyll Was Quite at Ease
What it is doing. The respectable surface: size, polish and age.
Techniques. physical description
In an essay. Contrast with Hyde's small, young body to show the two selves.
Themes: Reputation, secrecy and respectability · Duality and the divided self
“the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde.”
Jekyll · Chapter 3, Dr Jekyll Was Quite at Ease
What it is doing. Jekyll's confidence that he controls Hyde.
Techniques. dramatic irony
Structure. Answered by the involuntary changes of Chapter 10.
In an essay. Open an argument about loss of control.
Themes: Duality and the divided self
“I bind my honour to you that I am done with him in this world.”
Jekyll · Chapter 5, Incident of the Letter
What it is doing. An oath on his honour to break with Hyde.
Techniques. oath · dramatic irony
In an essay. Show reputation being spent to cover a secret.
“If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also.”
Jekyll · Chapter 6, Remarkable Incident of Dr Lanyon
What it is doing. Confession turned into a plea for sympathy.
Techniques. religious allusion · parallelism
In an essay. Evidence for the self-pitying reading of Jekyll.
“You must suffer me to go my own dark way.”
Jekyll · Chapter 6, Remarkable Incident of Dr Lanyon
What it is doing. He asks Utterson to stop asking.
Techniques. imperative · light and dark imagery
In an essay. Link to the gentlemen's code of silence.
“I am very low, Utterson”
Jekyll · Chapter 7, Incident at the Window
What it is doing. His last words to his friend before the change at the window.
Techniques. understatement
In an essay. Show Jekyll's isolation before the final crisis.
Themes: Duality and the divided self
“I concealed my pleasures”
Jekyll · Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
What it is doing. The root of the double life is concealment.
Techniques. confession
In an essay. Argue that the double life came before the drug.
Themes: Reputation, secrecy and respectability · Duality and the divided self
“a profound duplicity of life”
Jekyll · Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
What it is doing. He was already living two lives.
Techniques. abstract noun
In an essay. Pair with 'I concealed my pleasures' for the respectability argument.
Themes: Duality and the divided self
“man is not truly one, but truly two.”
Jekyll · Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
What it is doing. His theory of the divided self.
Techniques. antithesis
In an essay. State the theory the novella then complicates.
Themes: Duality and the divided self
“This, too, was myself.”
Jekyll · Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
What it is doing. He owns Hyde as part of himself.
Techniques. short sentence · mirror motif
In an essay. Use against his later claim that Hyde alone was guilty.
Themes: Duality and the divided self
“I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self”
Jekyll · Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
What it is doing. Hyde is gradually replacing Jekyll as the dominant self.
Techniques. repetition · balanced syntax
In an essay. Track the reversal of power between the two selves across Chapter 10.
Themes: Duality and the divided self · Violence and the beast within
“I chose the better part and was found wanting in the strength to keep to it.”
Jekyll · Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
What it is doing. His relapse explained as weakness.
Techniques. Biblical echo
In an essay. Support a religious reading of his failure.
“this is my true hour of death”
Jekyll · Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
What it is doing. He ends his own story before his body dies.
Techniques. dramatic irony
In an essay. Discuss the ending and the reader's knowledge from Chapter 8.
Edward Hyde — 13 quotations
Edward Hyde: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →
“the man trampled calmly over the child's body”
Enfield · Chapter 1, Story of the Door
What it is doing. Hyde's first act shows cold, indifferent cruelty to a child.
Techniques. adverb
In an essay. Open the escalation argument that runs from Chapter 1 to Chapter 4.
Themes: Violence and the beast within
“It wasn't like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut.”
Enfield · Chapter 1, Story of the Door
What it is doing. Hyde as an unstoppable crushing force.
Techniques. simile · dehumanisation
In an essay. Show Hyde is less than human from the start.
Themes: Violence and the beast within
“something downright detestable”
Enfield · Chapter 1, Story of the Door
What it is doing. Enfield feels a disgust he cannot give a name to.
Techniques. vague diction
In an essay. Use as evidence of the witnesses' failed descriptions of Hyde.
“I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why.”
Enfield · Chapter 1, Story of the Door
What it is doing. Enfield's revulsion is instinctive and has no reason he can state.
Techniques. paradox
In an essay. Link to physiognomy: the face should explain the feeling, and does not.
“pale and dwarfish”
Narrator · Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
What it is doing. Small and sickly, not monstrous.
Techniques. physical description
In an essay. Argue Hyde is the less-developed self.
Themes: Duality and the divided self
“an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation”
Narrator · Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
What it is doing. The deformity is felt, not seen.
Techniques. negation
In an essay. Central evidence for the unspeakable.
“Something troglodytic”
Utterson · Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
What it is doing. Utterson sees Hyde as like a primitive cave-dweller.
Techniques. primitive imagery
Context. Post-Darwinian fears of regression.
In an essay. Link Hyde to the post-Darwinian fear of the animal past.
Themes: Violence and the beast within · Science, religion and the supernatural
“Satan's signature upon a face”
Utterson · Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
What it is doing. Evil written on Hyde's face.
Techniques. metaphor
In an essay. Show religion and physiognomy combined.
“with ape-like fury”
Narrator · Chapter 4, The Carew Murder Case
What it is doing. Animal rage in the murder.
Techniques. animal imagery
In an essay. Central evidence for the beast within.
Themes: Violence and the beast within
“hailing down a storm of blows”
Narrator · Chapter 4, The Carew Murder Case
What it is doing. The violence is like weather, sudden and beyond control.
Techniques. metaphor
In an essay. Analyse the force and frenzy of the Carew murder scene.
Themes: Violence and the beast within
“like a monkey”
Poole · Chapter 8, The Last Night
What it is doing. The masked figure among the chemicals.
Techniques. simile
In an essay. Complete the animal imagery chain.
Themes: Violence and the beast within
“Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.”
Jekyll · Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
What it is doing. Jekyll's own verdict, separating Hyde from himself as pure evil.
Techniques. absolute statement
In an essay. Question it as self-serving, set against 'This, too, was myself'.
Themes: Duality and the divided self
“My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring.”
Jekyll · Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
What it is doing. Repression makes the release more violent.
Techniques. metaphor
In an essay. Explain the escalation to the Carew murder.
Themes: Violence and the beast within · Duality and the divided self
Gabriel John Utterson — 6 quotations
Gabriel John Utterson: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →
“a man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile”
Narrator · Chapter 1, Story of the Door
What it is doing. Utterson is introduced as severe, reserved and joyless in appearance.
Techniques. light imagery
In an essay. Introduce the reserved lens through which eight chapters are seen.
“and yet somehow lovable”
Narrator · Chapter 1, Story of the Door
What it is doing. Beneath the dryness lies a warmth the narrator cannot explain.
Techniques. turn
In an essay. Show that even the lawyer has two sides to him.
Themes: Duality and the divided self
“I incline to Cain's heresy”
Utterson · Chapter 1, Story of the Door
What it is doing. He does not judge other men.
Techniques. Biblical allusion
In an essay. Argue his tolerance becomes complicity.
Themes: Reputation, secrecy and respectability · Science, religion and the supernatural
“the last good influence in the lives of down-going men”
Narrator · Chapter 1, Story of the Door
What it is doing. Utterson is known for standing by men in moral decline.
Techniques. compound adjective
In an essay. Use ironically: he is Jekyll's last good influence and cannot save him.
“I shall be Mr. Seek.”
Utterson · Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
What it is doing. A rare pun as Utterson turns from keeper of the will to investigator.
Techniques. pun
In an essay. Mark the start of the investigation and its hide-and-seek structure.
“God forgive us, God forgive us”
Utterson · Chapter 7, Incident at the Window
What it is doing. Utterson answers the face at the window with prayer, not description.
Techniques. repetition
In an essay. Show the unspeakable at the window and the gentlemen's silence.
Themes: Science, religion and the supernatural · Narrative, testimony and the unspeakable
Dr Hastie Lanyon — 6 quotations
Dr Hastie Lanyon: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →
“a hearty, healthy, dapper, red-faced gentleman”
Narrator · Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
What it is doing. Lanyon is introduced full of confident health and vigour.
Techniques. list of adjectives
In an essay. Contrast with the dying man of Chapter 6 to measure his shock.
“such unscientific balderdash”
Lanyon · Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
What it is doing. Lanyon dismisses Jekyll's work as nonsense outside true science.
Techniques. colloquial dismissal
In an essay. Set orthodox science against Jekyll's transgressive experiment.
“I have had a shock”
Lanyon · Chapter 6, Remarkable Incident of Dr Lanyon
What it is doing. He hints at, but withholds, the cause.
Techniques. understatement
In an essay. Show withheld information driving suspense.
“I shall never recover”
Lanyon · Chapter 6, Remarkable Incident of Dr Lanyon
What it is doing. Lanyon knows that the shock he has suffered will kill him.
Techniques. foreshadowing
In an essay. Argue that knowledge itself becomes a fatal shock in the novella.
“you who have derided your superiors”
Hyde · Chapter 9, Dr Lanyon's Narrative
What it is doing. Hyde mocks Lanyon for scorning Jekyll's kind of science.
Techniques. taunt
In an essay. Show the rivalry of two sciences reaching its climax in Chapter 9.
“O God!”
Lanyon · Chapter 9, Dr Lanyon's Narrative
What it is doing. Reason breaks down at the transformation.
Techniques. exclamation
In an essay. Language fails at the revelation.
Themes: Science, religion and the supernatural · Narrative, testimony and the unspeakable
Enfield and Poole — 6 quotations
Enfield and Poole: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →
“the more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask.”
Enfield · Chapter 1, Story of the Door
What it is doing. For Enfield, suspicion is a reason to stay silent, not to inquire.
Techniques. aphorism
In an essay. State the gentlemen's code of silence in a single line.
“it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgment”
Enfield · Chapter 1, Story of the Door
What it is doing. To ask is to judge.
Techniques. religious allusion
In an essay. Explain why gentlemen do not ask.
Themes: Reputation, secrecy and respectability · Science, religion and the supernatural
“neither bell nor knocker”
Narrator · Chapter 1, Story of the Door
What it is doing. The back door is built to refuse visitors and hide its owner.
Techniques. setting as symbol
In an essay. Show how setting mirrors the secrecy of the respectable man.
“weeping like a woman or a lost soul”
Poole · Chapter 8, The Last Night
What it is doing. Despair heard from the cabinet.
Techniques. simile
In an essay. Create pity and fear in the last night.
“like a monkey”
Poole · Chapter 8, The Last Night
What it is doing. The figure seen among the chemicals.
Techniques. simile
In an essay. Servant's plain sight versus gentlemen's silence.
Themes: Violence and the beast within
“Something troglodytic”
Utterson · Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
What it is doing. Utterson sees Hyde as like a primitive cave-dweller.
Techniques. primitive imagery
In an essay. Link Hyde to the post-Darwinian fear of the animal past.
The quotations by theme
Science, religion and the supernatural (13)
- “If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also.” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 6, Remarkable Incident of Dr Lanyon
- “I chose the better part and was found wanting in the strength to…” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- “Something troglodytic” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
- “Satan's signature upon a face” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
- “I incline to Cain's heresy” — Gabriel John Utterson, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
- “God forgive us, God forgive us” — Gabriel John Utterson, Chapter 7, Incident at the Window
- “a hearty, healthy, dapper, red-faced gentleman” — Dr Hastie Lanyon, Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
- “such unscientific balderdash” — Dr Hastie Lanyon, Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
- “I shall never recover” — Dr Hastie Lanyon, Chapter 6, Remarkable Incident of Dr Lanyon
- “you who have derided your superiors” — Dr Hastie Lanyon, Chapter 9, Dr Lanyon's Narrative
- “O God!” — Dr Hastie Lanyon, Chapter 9, Dr Lanyon's Narrative
- “it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgment” — Enfield and Poole, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
- “weeping like a woman or a lost soul” — Enfield and Poole, Chapter 8, The Last Night
Duality and the divided self (12)
Duality and the divided self in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, taught in full →
- “a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 3, Dr Jekyll Was Quite at Ease
- “the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde.” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 3, Dr Jekyll Was Quite at Ease
- “I am very low, Utterson” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 7, Incident at the Window
- “I concealed my pleasures” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- “a profound duplicity of life” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- “man is not truly one, but truly two.” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- “This, too, was myself.” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- “I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- “pale and dwarfish” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
- “Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- “My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring.” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- “and yet somehow lovable” — Gabriel John Utterson, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
Narrative, testimony and the unspeakable (9)
- “this is my true hour of death” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- “something downright detestable” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
- “I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why.” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
- “an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
- “I shall be Mr. Seek.” — Gabriel John Utterson, Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
- “God forgive us, God forgive us” — Gabriel John Utterson, Chapter 7, Incident at the Window
- “I have had a shock” — Dr Hastie Lanyon, Chapter 6, Remarkable Incident of Dr Lanyon
- “O God!” — Dr Hastie Lanyon, Chapter 9, Dr Lanyon's Narrative
- “Something troglodytic” — Enfield and Poole, Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
Reputation, secrecy and respectability (9)
- “a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 3, Dr Jekyll Was Quite at Ease
- “I bind my honour to you that I am done with him in this world.” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 5, Incident of the Letter
- “You must suffer me to go my own dark way.” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 6, Remarkable Incident of Dr Lanyon
- “I concealed my pleasures” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- “a man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile” — Gabriel John Utterson, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
- “I incline to Cain's heresy” — Gabriel John Utterson, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
- “the last good influence in the lives of down-going men” — Gabriel John Utterson, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
- “the more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask.” — Enfield and Poole, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
- “it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgment” — Enfield and Poole, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
Violence and the beast within (9)
Violence and the beast within in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, taught in full →
- “I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self” — Dr Henry Jekyll, Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- “the man trampled calmly over the child's body” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
- “It wasn't like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut.” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
- “Something troglodytic” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 2, Search for Mr Hyde
- “with ape-like fury” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 4, The Carew Murder Case
- “hailing down a storm of blows” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 4, The Carew Murder Case
- “like a monkey” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 8, The Last Night
- “My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring.” — Edward Hyde, Chapter 10, Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case
- “like a monkey” — Enfield and Poole, Chapter 8, The Last Night
London: the city, the door and the fog (1)
- “neither bell nor knocker” — Enfield and Poole, Chapter 1, Story of the Door
Think you know them?
Knowing a quotation is the start. On Incandio a character or theme counts as mastered only once you have taught it back and defended your reading of it against Robert Louis Stevenson — the two things a quotation list cannot ask of you.
- Teach Dr Henry Jekyll · Defend your reading against Stevenson
- Teach Edward Hyde · Defend your reading against Stevenson
- Teach Gabriel John Utterson · Defend your reading against Stevenson
- Teach Dr Hastie Lanyon · Defend your reading against Stevenson
- Teach Enfield and Poole · Defend your reading against Stevenson
- Grade 9 Notes: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde · The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde on Incandio · Every set text
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