Chapter 3: Dr Jekyll was Quite at Ease

A fortnight passes and, “by excellent good fortune,” Jekyll hosts a dinner for old friends and colleagues, including Utterson. Jekyll is described as a “large, well-made, smooth-faced” man with “something of a slyish cast” about him, but “every mark of capacity and kindness.” Stevenson once again uses antithesis to demonstrate the duplicity at play within the story: whilst Jekyll’s physical appearance suggests warmth and care, the “slyish” element to him hints at something ambiguous in his nature.