The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde · Chapter
The Carew Murder Case explained
Nearly a year after the events of the door, Sir Danvers Carew is brutally murdered by Edward Hyde in a moonlit lane, witnessed by a maid.
What happens
Nearly a year after the events of the door, Sir Danvers Carew is brutally murdered by Edward Hyde in a moonlit lane, witnessed by a maid. The murder weapon, a broken cane, is identified by Mr. Utterson as one he gave to Dr. Jekyll. Utterson leads Inspector Newcomen to Hyde's Soho lodgings, which appear ransacked with evidence of burned papers and a checkbook. The police set a trap at the bank, but Hyde has vanished, leaving few clues to his identity.
Themes in this chapter
Good vs. Evil
The innocent Sir Danvers Carew is brutally slain by the demonic Hyde, embodying the stark clash between virtue and pure malice.
Appearance vs. Reality
Hyde's luxurious yet ransacked rooms and the maid's initial peace before witnessing horror underscore the deceptive surface of people and places.
Victorian Society and Hypocrisy
The maid's romantic musings and the polite accosting of a stranger contrast with the savage violence, exposing the veneer of civility.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Utterson
Identifies the broken cane as his gift to Jekyll, leads the police to Hyde's home, and recognizes the victim as Sir Danvers Carew.
- Mr. Edward Hyde
Brutally murders Sir Danvers Carew with a cane, then flees; his rooms are found ransacked with evidence of a hurried departure.
- Sir Danvers Carew
The victim of Hyde's savage attack; an aged and beautiful gentleman whose murder shocks London.
- Dr. Henry Jekyll
Mentioned as the original recipient of the cane used in the murder, linking him indirectly to the crime.
- Mr. Richard Enfield
Not directly present, but the maid who witnessed the murder had previously seen Hyde visiting her master, echoing Enfield's earlier encounter.
Key passages
“Never had she felt more at peace with all men or thought more kindly of the world.”
The maid felt an unusual sense of universal goodwill and serenity just before witnessing the murder.
Highlights the dramatic irony and the sudden intrusion of evil into a peaceful moment.
“Mr. Utterson had already quailed at the name of Hyde; but when the stick was laid before him, he could doubt no longer; broken and battered as it was, he recognized it for one that he had himself presented many years before to Henry Jekyll.”
Utterson was already disturbed by the mention of Hyde, but seeing the broken cane confirmed his worst fears—it was the same one he had given to Jekyll.
Connects the murder directly to Jekyll, deepening the mystery and Utterson's dread.
“The dismal quarter of Soho seen under these changing glimpses, with its muddy ways, and slatternly passengers, and its lamps, which had never been extinguished or had been kindled afresh to combat this mournful reinvasion of darkness, seemed, in the lawyer’s eyes, like a district of some city in a nightmare.”
The foggy, squalid streets of Soho appeared to Utterson as a nightmarish landscape, reflecting his inner turmoil.
Uses setting to mirror Utterson's psychological state and the moral decay of Hyde's world.