Select a character to explore their role, symbolism, and exam tips.
Protagonist / Scientist
A respected Victorian doctor who experiments with separating his good and evil natures. Jekyll is both victim and perpetrator — he creates Hyde, loses control of him, and is ultimately destroyed by him. His tragedy is self-inflicted.
Antagonist / Jekyll's Dark Self
Hyde is Jekyll's repressed self given physical form. He is smaller than Jekyll (suggesting the suppressed nature), physically repulsive, and capable of extreme violence. He represents everything Victorian society refuses to acknowledge.
Narrator / Moral Compass
Jekyll's lawyer and friend, Utterson is the reader's guide through the mystery. He is rational, loyal, and deeply conventional — representing the respectable Victorian professional who cannot conceive of the truth until it is forced upon him.
Jekyll's Scientific Rival
Lanyon represents orthodox science and its limits. He witnesses Hyde's transformation back into Jekyll and is so horrified that he dies of shock — suggesting that the truth of human duality is literally unbearable for the Victorian mind.