The Loyal Personality of Gabriel Utterson in the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Within Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde novella, Mr. Gabriel Utterson demonstrates loyal conduct. To this end, Mr. Utterson abides by the instructions he receives from Dr.

Hastie Lanyon. In addition, Mr. Utterson follows up on the murder of a major client and thus indentifies not only the murderer and the murder weapon, but also locates the corpse.

This essay highlights Mr. Utterson by examining the following aspects: Mr. Utterson abides by the instructions he receives from Dr. Hastie Lanyon; and Mr. Utterson follows up on the murder of a major client and thus indentifies not only the murderer and the murder weapon, but also locates the corpse. To illustrate his loyal personality, Mr. Utterson abides by the instructions he receives from Dr. Lanyon. In this regard, as he dies, Dr. Lanyon leaves Mr. Utterson an envelope. Within this envelope is another envelope.

Nevertheless, Dr. Lanyon instructs Mr. Utterson not to immediately open this envelope. Rather, Dr. Lanyon instructs Mr. Utterson to open this second envelope only after Dr. Henry Jekyll dies or disappears. True to Dr. Lunyon’s instructions, Mr. Utterson does not immediately open this second envelope (Stevenson, n.d.). While reviewing this scenario, a reader would validly hold that Mr. Utterson is loyal to Dr. Lanyon. Such loyalty causes Mr. Utterson to faithfully follow the instructions of Dr. Lanyon, a close friend. This is more so because Dr. Lanyon is already dead and cannot thus realistically punish Mr. Utterson in case Mr. Utterson fails to abide by these instructions. If he were not loyal, Mr. Utterson would disregard the instructions given by Dr. Lanyon?

Considering that he instead chooses to stick to these instructions, Mr. Utterson highlights his loyal personality. Mr. Utterson further demonstrates his loyal personality by following up on the murder of a major client to the extent that he identifies not only the murder and the murder, but also locates the corpse. Due to his investigative activities, Mr. Utterson finds out that Mr. Edward Hyde is responsible for this murder. Moreover, Mr. Utterson finds out the identity of the murder weapon that Mr. Hyde has used. Mr. Utterson also locates the corpse of his murdered client (Ibid.). To be able to make all these discoveries, Mr. Utterson obviously uses much time and other resources. Given this fact, a reader would think that the murdered client is Mr. Utterson’s relative. Given that this client is not a relative of Mr. Utterson, Mr. Utterson’s input in investigating the murder of this client highlights his (Mr. Utterson’s) loyalty. A reader can validly hold that Mr. Utterson seeks to repay this client for the cooperation that this client has extended to Mr. Utterson.

In this way, without compulsion, Mr. Utterson devotes his resources to investigating his client’s murder. From this analysis, it is clear that Mr. Utterson is a loyal character. In conclusion, Mr. Utterson illustrates the character trait of loyalty within Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. To this end, Mr. Utterson abides by the instructions he receives from Dr. Lanyon. Moreover, Mr. Utterson follows up on the murder of a key client and identifies not only the murderer and the murder weapon, but also locates the dead body. It is interesting that Stevenson uses Mr. Utterson to highlight the virtue of loyalty. Based on this idea, a reader could investigate the views of Stevenson’s contemporaries concerning loyalty.

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