Secrecy

• C1 Story of the Door: "an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth"


  • determiner 'some' emphasises the lack of detail about Jekyll's past, vague, creates intrigue
  • what was Jekyll like in his youth and could it link to his behaviour as Hyde (foreshadowing)?
  • noun 'capers' suggests that Jekyll was involved in ridiculous activities
• C2: "If he be Mr. Hyde...I shall be Mr. Seek"

  • 'Hyde' is a homophone for the word hide, conveying secrecy
  • imperative 'shall' highlights the extent Utterson will go to uncover the mystery of Hyde
• C5 "Windows barred with iron"

  • description 'barred with iron' creates the image of a jail cell, reader will wonder if Jekyll has committed crimes and trying to atone them with his perfect reputation
  • verb 'barred' shows that Jekyll is covering up something, why does Jekyll feel the need to hide?
• C9 Lanyon: "The door was very strong, the lock excellent"


  • repeated motif of the door reminds the reader of the ambiguousness surrounding it in the first chapter
  • adjective 'excellent' suggests that the lock is extremely difficult to get through, why is it so hard to break through to get to the truth, what is being hidden?
• C2 Search for Mr Hyde: "must have secrets of his own; black secrets, by the look of him"


  • imperative 'must' suggests that EVERYONE has secrets and it was a normal part of life
  • adjective 'black' demonstrates evil, darkness, and mystery
  • comma separating 'by the look of him' from the rest of the statement isolates it, emphasising that Hyde just looks wrong