The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - plus 'Markheim' recap

The collection pairs two studies of divided moral identity. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, lawyer Gabriel Utterson investigates the bond between his friend Henry Jekyll and the violent Edward Hyde. After Hyde murders Sir Danvers Carew and Jekyll retreats from society, documents left by Jekyll and Dr. Lanyon disclose that Jekyll and Hyde are transformations of the same man, produced by an experimental drug. Jekyll loses control of the change and dies as Hyde when the drug can no longer restore him. In Markheim, a man murders an antique dealer during a robbery and is confronted by a mysterious visitor who knows his crimes and offers to help him continue. Their argument forces Markheim to recognize that he can still choose his next act. He refuses further wrongdoing and confesses to the returning maid, accepting arrest.

Lawyer Gabriel Utterson learns from Richard Enfield that a disturbing man named Edward Hyde once knocked down a child and then paid compensation with a cheque linked to Dr. Henry Jekyll. Jekyll's will leaves his estate to Hyde if he dies or disappears. Utterson consults Dr. Lanyon, who has fallen out with Jekyll over his unusual research, then watches the mysterious doorway until he meets Hyde. Jekyll's butler confirms that Hyde has a key and authority over the servants. Utterson suspects that Hyde is blackmailing his old friend.

Jekyll refuses to explain the relationship but claims he can end it whenever he wishes. Months later a maid sees Hyde beat the elderly Sir Danvers Carew to death. Utterson identifies the murder weapon as part of a cane he gave Jekyll and assists Inspector Newcomen in searching Hyde's Soho rooms. Hyde has fled, leaving possessions behind. The police struggle to trace him because witnesses agree only on the powerful aversion his appearance provokes.

Jekyll says he has broken with Hyde and shows Utterson a letter promising that Hyde will disappear. Similarities between Hyde's handwriting and Jekyll's suggest that Jekyll may have composed the letter himself. Jekyll briefly resumes his social life, then withdraws again. Lanyon becomes mortally ill after an unexplained shock and leaves Utterson a sealed account to be read only after Jekyll's death or disappearance. Following Lanyon's death, Jekyll remains inaccessible.

After Utterson and Enfield see Jekyll recoil in terror at his window, Poole reports that someone unlike his master is locked in Jekyll's laboratory and urgently seeking a particular chemical. Utterson and Poole break in and find Hyde dead from poison, wearing Jekyll's oversized clothes. Jekyll is missing, but he has left papers for Utterson. Lanyon's narrative says Hyde mixed and drank chemicals, then transformed into Jekyll before him. Jekyll's confession explains that his drug gave bodily form to a side of himself freed from restraint. Hyde grew stronger, murdered Carew, and eventually appeared without the drug. The original chemical depended on an unknown impurity; unable to reproduce it, Jekyll could no longer prevent Hyde from taking over. His statement anticipates the death that Utterson and Poole discover.

In the second story, Markheim visits an antique dealer on Christmas Day and asks to buy a gift. Once they are alone, he murders the dealer and begins searching for money, tormented by noises, mirrors, and the prospect of discovery. A stranger enters the locked shop and demonstrates intimate knowledge of Markheim's life. He offers to help locate the money and argues that Markheim's pattern of choices already defines him. Markheim tries to distinguish the better self he once hoped to be from the crimes committed under pressure, but the visitor strips away his excuses and points out that the returning maid poses another obstacle. Markheim finally decides that, even if he cannot undo his past, he can refuse to deepen it. He rejects further help. When the maid arrives, he tells her that he killed the dealer and instructs her to summon the police. The stranger vanishes, seemingly answered by Markheim's decision to surrender.

In Jekyll and Hyde, Lanyon's narrative reveals that Hyde drank a chemical mixture and transformed into Jekyll before him. Jekyll's confession explains that he created the drug to separate his conflicting impulses, but Hyde became increasingly dominant and violent. When the original chemical could not be reproduced, Jekyll lost control of the transformations. Utterson and Poole find Hyde dead in the laboratory, while the documents account for Jekyll's disappearance and the end of their shared life. In Markheim, the murderer debates with a mysterious visitor who knows his past and offers practical help in further wrongdoing. Markheim rejects the claim that he is wholly committed to evil and chooses to stop. When the dealer's maid returns, he opens the door, tells her that he killed her master, and asks her to call the police. The stranger disappears with an expression that suggests Markheim's surrender has defeated the role he came to play.