The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Incident of the Letter Summary

Summary

Mr. Utterson goes to visit Dr. Jekyll in the doctor’s laboratory and finds him looking deathly ill; Poole admits him and leads him through the converted dissecting rooms into Jekyll’s cabinet. Jekyll, shaken by the news of Sir Danvers Carew’s murder, swears to Utterson that he has severed ties with Edward Hyde and insists he will never see Hyde again. He asks Utterson to judge a letter he has received from Hyde and says he burned the envelope; the letter, signed “Edward Hyde,” reassures Jekyll that Hyde need not fear detection.

Utterson worries about Jekyll’s claim and the terms Hyde dictated in Jekyll’s will, and leaves with more unease. He later sits with his head clerk Mr. Guest, asks him to examine the Hyde letter against a note from Jekyll, and Guest notes a striking resemblance between the two hands—essentially identical except for slant. Utterson is horrified at the possibility that Jekyll’s handwriting and Hyde’s are the same; he locks Jekyll’s note in his safe and begins to fear for his friend’s reputation and safety. The chapter closes on Utterson’s cold dread at the thought that Henry Jekyll might have forged handwriting for a murderer or otherwise been intimately bound to Hyde.

Key events

1. Utterson is admitted by Poole and reaches Jekyll’s laboratory cabinet.
2. Jekyll, ill and shaken, swears he will have nothing more to do with Edward Hyde.
3. Jekyll gives Utterson a letter from Hyde and says he burned the envelope; the letter promises Hyde’s safety.
4. Utterson questions whether Hyde dictated terms in Jekyll’s will; Jekyll admits it.
5. Utterson consults Mr. Guest, who compares Jekyll’s note with Hyde’s and finds the hands nearly identical.
6. Utterson locks Jekyll’s note in his safe, horrified at the implication.

Analysis

This chapter tightens the mystery by bringing documentary evidence—Hyde’s letter—into play and by exposing a disturbing physical link between Jekyll and Hyde through handwriting. Structurally it moves the narrative from external reports (murders and gossip) into personal, private spaces: Jekyll’s laboratory and Utterson’s study. The confined, dingy laboratory setting reinforces themes of secrecy and the inversion of respectable science into something eerie. Jekyll’s fevered protestations and his plea that Utterson judge the letter shift agency onto the lawyer, making Utterson both confidant and moral arbiter and deepening his role as the novel’s investigative center.

Symbolically, the burned envelope and the foggy, windowless lab suggest deliberate erasure and concealment; the letter itself becomes a paradoxical proof that also fosters doubt. The handwriting resemblance functions as foreshadowing: a physical trace that links two supposedly separate identities and undermines clean moral boundaries. Narratively, the chapter relies on close third-person reporting of dialogue and evidence rather than direct action, increasing suspense by piling on ambiguities and forcing readers to share Utterson’s anxious deductive process. The tone—uneasy, legalistic, cautious—reflects themes of reputation, guilt, and the limits of rational judgment when faced with uncanny facts.

Important quotes

““Utterson, I swear to God,” cried the doctor, “I swear to God I will never set eyes on him again. I bind my honour to you that I am done with him in this world.”

Henry JekyllJekyll fervently promises Utterson he has severed ties with Hyde and will not see him again, trying to reassure and absolve himself.

“The letter was written in an odd, upright hand and signed “Edward Hyde”:”

NarratorUtterson reads Hyde’s letter, which claims Hyde has means of escape, and the signature makes the note a crucial piece of evidence.

““there’s a rather singular resemblance; the two hands are in many points identical: only differently sloped.””

Mr. GuestGuest, comparing Jekyll’s note and Hyde’s letter, notes a troubling similarity in handwriting that suggests a link between the two men.

Characters in Incident of the Letter

• Gabriel John Utterson
• Henry Jekyll
• Edward Hyde
• Poole
• Mr. Guest
• Sir Danvers Carew