Chapter 2: Search for Mr Hyde

The novella’s second chapter opens on the same evening, with Utterson returning home in “sombre spirits,” his mood tarnished by his conversation with Enfield. It is noted that his usual routine on a Sunday night would be to read “a volume of some dry divinity” for the hours after dinner until midnight, going “soberly and gratefully to bed.” This communicates to the modern reader the quotidian nature of religious practice within Victorian life, reinforcing how intrinsic the teachings and morality of Christianity were to the sense of self. This night, however, Utterson goes to his business room and removes from his safe the Will of Dr Henry Jekyll, written as a “holograph handwritten by the author/person who it concerns” as Utterson refused any help in the making of it, suggesting his disapproval. The reader is informed that the Will leaves Jekyll’s entire estate to his “friend” Edward Hyde on the occasion of his death or “unexplained absence for any period exceeding three calendar months.” The Will is described as being an “eyesore” to Utterson, offending him as “a lawyer and a lover of the sane and customary sides of life.” He did not understand how Jekyll, a wealthy and prominent doctor, could leave this man all of his fortune with very little repercussion and now, upon learning of Hyde’s villainy, is even more disturbed. This alludes to the inherent disapproval or prejudice within the British class system, hinting that Utterson’s disdain is due to both Hyde’s character and his lack of rank.