The bargain

The bargain is a private, solemn agreement of silence struck between Mr. Utterson and his distant kinsman Mr. Richard Enfield at the close of their first conversation about Mr. Hyde. It arises immediately after Enfield has narrated the shocking incident in which Hyde trampled a young girl in the street and then produced a cheque signed by a highly respectable man—a man Utterson immediately recognizes as his friend and client, Dr. Henry Jekyll. The pact is not a formal contract but a mutual, almost instinctive resolution to suppress further inquiry, and it becomes a defining constraint on the information that flows through the novel's early chapters.

Formation and Terms

The bargain is proposed by Enfield and accepted by Utterson in the by-street, immediately after the lawyer has pressed Enfield for the name of the man who walked over the child. Enfield, having revealed that the man was named Hyde, grows uneasy at his own loquacity. "Here is another lesson to say nothing," he declares, adding, "I am ashamed of my long tongue. Let us make a bargain never to refer to this again." Utterson responds without hesitation: "With all my heart. I shake hands on that, Richard." The handshake seals the agreement. Its terms are absolute: neither man will ever again mention the story of Hyde, the door, or the cheque. The bargain is thus a performative act—a verbal promise ratified by a physical gesture—that transforms a shared secret into a binding silence.

Motivation and Character

Enfield's motivation for proposing the bargain stems from his deeply held personal rule: "the more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask." He has already explained to Utterson that he feels a strong delicacy about putting questions, comparing the act to starting a stone that rolls downhill and eventually knocks an innocent person on the head. The bargain extends this principle from questioning to speaking: having already said too much, Enfield seeks to prevent further harm by locking the story away. Utterson's ready acceptance is more complex. He already knows the identity of the cheque's drawer—Jekyll—and his mind is racing with dark suspicions about the connection between his respected friend and the detestable Hyde. The bargain suits him because it gives him cover to pursue his own private investigation without having to explain his interest to Enfield. Yet it also reflects his own character: a man who is "austere with himself" and who keeps his own counsel, he is naturally inclined to silence.

Consequences and Narrative Significance

The bargain has immediate and far-reaching consequences for the story's structure. It ensures that Utterson's subsequent inquiries into Hyde—his haunting of the by-street door, his confrontation with Hyde, his visit to Jekyll—are conducted in isolation, without Enfield's knowledge or participation. This isolation heightens the atmosphere of secrecy and dread that pervades the early chapters. The bargain also creates a dramatic irony: the reader knows that Utterson is actively investigating the very matter he has promised never to discuss, and that his silence prevents him from sharing crucial information with the one person who might corroborate or challenge his suspicions. When the two men next appear together, in the "Incident at the Window" chapter, their conversation is constrained by the bargain; they can only allude obliquely to Hyde and the door, and their shared horror at Jekyll's sudden terror-stricken expression is communicated in silence. The bargain thus functions as a narrative device that controls the flow of information, creating gaps and tensions that drive the plot forward while reinforcing the novel's central theme of duality and concealment.

Thematic Significance

The bargain embodies the novel's preoccupation with secrecy, reputation, and the social codes that govern Victorian London. It is a pact of silence among gentlemen, designed to protect the reputations of all involved—including, unwittingly, the reputation of Henry Jekyll. The bargain reflects the broader social hypocrisy that Jekyll himself exploits: the public face of respectability that conceals private vice. By agreeing to silence, Utterson and Enfield become complicit in the very system of concealment that enables Hyde's crimes. The bargain also prefigures the many other secrets and withheld confessions that structure the novel—Lanyon's sealed narrative, Jekyll's full statement, the will with its disappearance clause—all of which are documents that are meant to be opened only after death or disappearance. The bargain is the first and most informal of these pacts, but it sets the pattern for the entire narrative: truth is dangerous, and silence is the price of social order.