The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

This short chapter recounts a single, brief incident that serves as the turning point in the story. Utterson and Enfield actually witness the beginning of one of Jekyll’s transformations, before he flees and hides. One moment Jekyll appears normal, and the next moment his face contorts in an expression of “abject terror and despair” (86). Utterson and Enfield are puzzled and shocked by this, and they know that something is seriously wrong with Jekyll. It is revealed that Hyde’s place is a “back way” (85) to Jekyll’s, a significant detail that symbolizes how Hyde’s secret identity is accessed by way of Jekyll’s outwardly respectable persona.