In this deck, we will analyse the character of Mr Gabriel John Utterson, the lawyer who acts as the primary narrator and investigator in 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'. We will explore his role as a respectable Victorian gentleman, his values of loyalty and discretion, and how his rational perspective shapes the reader's understanding of the central mystery.

Stevenson introduces Utterson as a quintessential Victorian gentleman. He is described as a 'man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable.' This description establishes him as serious, reserved, and rational. In an exam, you can use this quotation to establish Utterson as a reliable, if unemotional, narrator whose view of events we are meant to trust.

Despite his reserved nature, Utterson is fiercely loyal. Stevenson notes that his friendships 'were founded in a similar catholicity of good-nature'. The word 'catholicity' here means broad-mindedness or tolerance. Utterson doesn't judge his friends, like the respectable Dr Jekyll or the disgraced Dr Lanyon. This loyalty is his driving force; he investigates Hyde not out of simple curiosity, but out of a deep-seated fear for his friend, Jekyll.